Grand Strategy in Theory and Practice: The Need for an Effective American Foreign Policy

This book explores fundamental questions about grand strategy, as it has evolved across generations and countries. It provides an overview of the ancient era of grand strategy and a detailed discussion of its philosophical, military, and economic foundations in the modern era. The author investigates these aspects through the lenses of four approaches - those of historians, social scientists, practitioners, and military strategists. The main goal is to provide contemporary policy makers and scholars with a historic and analytic framework in which to evaluate and conduct grand strategy. By providing greater analytical clarity about grand strategy and describing its nature and its utility for the state, this book presents a comprehensive theory on the practice of grand strategy in order to articulate the United States' past, present, and future purpose and position on the world stage.

Author: William C. Martel
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 01/12/2015
Pages: 530
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 2.20lbs
Size: 9.90h x 6.90w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9781107442214

Review Citation(s):
Choice 08/01/2015

About the Author
Martel, William C.: - William C. Martel is Associate Professor of International Security Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Massachusetts. His research and teaching interests are in international security and public policy. He is the author of Victory in War: Foundations of Strategy (2011). Martel was a professor of national security affairs at the Naval War College and served on the professional staff of the RAND Corporation in Washington, DC. He also served as an advisor to the National Security Council from 2002 to 2003. From 2007 to 2010, he was a consultant for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the US Air Force, and the USAF Scientific Advisory Board, and he served on the Defense Department's Threat Reduction Advisory Committee.