Grand Strategy

A state's most complex form of planning toward the fulfillment of a long-term objective. The formulation and implementation of a grand strategy require the identification of a national goal, a thorough assessment of the state's resources, and, ultimately, the marshalling of those resources in a highly organized manner to achieve the set goal. Although a grand strategy is concerned with national affairs both in times of war and peace, national strategies historically have operated under the assumption of the existence of an enemy that needs to be overcome. To that end, policymakers attempt to develop the best possible way of coordinating military prowess, political leverage, diplomatic ability, and economic might to achieve a cohesive national strategy. To this day, the vocabulary of grand strategies is one of conflict, with politicians vowing to enable their country to fight against all perceived opponents.

The label “grand strategy” is a notoriously elusive concept because scholars, politicians, and generals tend to define it in considerably different ways. Most people do, however, agree with the assertion that the formulation of a grand strategy is an extremely complex operation incorporating a wide array of political, economic, military, and even psychological dimensions. A strategy is said to become “grand” when it is concerned not only with winning a war, but also with securing a comfortable, lasting peace. A grand strategy is a vision for the future and a precise plan for the fulfillment of that vision.

Achieving the goals of a grand strategy presupposes more than the successful prosecution of a war or the economic development of a nation. It also requires a concerted effort on the part of a significant segment of the society. In other words, on its formulation by policymakers, a grand strategy requires a measure of countrywide consensus or, at the very least, the absence of a general resistance to its goals. In addition, a grand strategy needs to exhibit considerable flexibility. Dramatic events such as the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks can inflict unpredictable changes in the political and economic environment, and a solid grand strategy needs to be able to adapt to such developments.

Formulating an effective grand strategy is a matter of balancing means and ends, setting realistic goals for one's state, and then devoting all the necessary resources to achieving those goals. When drafting a national strategy, a state's decision makers need to carefully consider a series of historical and psychological factors, such as the country's foreign policy traditions and the nation's tolerance for different levels of confrontation. For example, a strategy that relies heavily on creating multilateral defense alliances is arguably more easily implemented by a country that has a history of internationalism than by one that has sought isolation or political neutrality.

Those who attempt to devise a grand strategy also have to identify, with a high degree of accuracy, the number and quality of the country's available resources. If, for example, a state is to run its affairs in accordance with a strategy that relies on the prosecution of war, the state's leaders need to know how much money they can devote to the armed forces, as well as the exact situation of available manpower and weaponry. In terms of military choices, the makers of a grand strategy have to decide between such things as offensive versus defensive operations, wars of attrition versus surprise attacks, and regional conflicts versus global conflicts.

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