Sharing Power? Prospects for U.S. Concert-Balance Strategy

Grand strategy is an important subject. It is about the dialectical relationship between power and commitments, ends, and means. Grand strategy concerns not only the alignment of resources with goals, but it is about the identity of the security community. What kind of country does it want to be, and what kind of country does it have the power to be? Debating U.S. grand strategy is a difficult subject in the public domain. First, it is often a reductionist debate. The author of this monograph contends that the overwhelming consensus among the two political parties is that Americans should focus on how to preserve America's liberal hegemony, in which the world is ordered under American leadership and dominance in order to secure its institutions and values at home. Dissent from that agenda, the author argues, is often dismissed too quickly as narrow isolationism. He observes that America does not have to choose between dominating the world and hiding from it. Instead, he asks how can Washington best remain a heavyweight among other heavyweights? He raises a Second important point: critics of America's liberal hegemony need to think harder about how alternatives should be designed and implemented, and what trade-offs, costs, risks, and dilemmas they would generate. He worries that too much collaboration and "pullback" could lead to a dangerous vacuum occasioned by regional rivalries and spirals of insecurity. Finally, he concludes that too much competition could lead to avoidable clashes between America and states bidding for regional dominance. Like Goldilocks's bears, it might be time to think about getting the mix "just right."