The End of Grand Strategy

US Maritime Operations in the Twenty-First Century

Simon Reich, Peter Dombrowski

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781501714627
• eBook ISBN: 9781501714634
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: Politics & International Relations

In The End of Grand Strategy, Simon Reich and Peter Dombrowski challenge the common view of grand strategy as unitary. They eschew prescription of any one specific approach, chosen from a spectrum that stretches from global primacy to restraint and isolationism, in favor of describing what America's military actually does, day to day. They argue that a series of fundamental recent changes in the global system, the inevitable jostling of bureaucratic politics, and the practical limitations of field operations combine to ensure that each presidential administration inevitably resorts to a variety of strategies.

Proponents of different American grand strategies have historically focused on the pivotal role of the Navy. In response, Reich and Dombrowski examine six major maritime operations, each of which reflects one major strategy. One size does not fit all, say the authors—the attempt to impose a single overarching blueprint is no longer feasible. Reich and Dombrowski declare that grand strategy, as we know it, is dead. The End of Grand Strategy is essential reading for policymakers, military strategists, and analysts and critics at advocacy groups and think tanks.

Table of contents

• Preface and Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Grand Strategies and Everyday Conflicts
• 1. Naval Operations and Grand Strategy in a New Security Environment
• 2. Comparing Grand Strategies—and Their Inherent Limitations
• 3. A Maritime Strategy of Primacy in the Persian Gulf
• 4. Playing a Follow-the-Leader Strategy on the High Seas
• 5. Pirates, Terrorists, and Formal Sponsorship
• 6. Navigating the Proliferation Security Initiative and Informal Sponsorship
• 7. Racing for the Arctic with a Strategy of Restraint
• 8. Controlling the Southern Maritime Approaches with an Isolationist Strategy
• Conclusion: Moving beyond the Current Debate
• Appendixes
• Notes
• Index