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What Good Is Grand Strategy?: Power and Purpose in American Statecraft from Harry S. Truman to George W. Bush Paperback – December 19, 2014

by Hal Brands (Author)

4.3 43 ratings

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This is a solid piece of scholarship that should be of great value in modern American history classes, foreign policy surveys, and course work in international relations.― Brooks Flippen â•H-Net Reviews

Grand strategy is one of the most widely used and abused concepts in the foreign policy lexicon. In this important book, Hal Brands explains why grand strategy is a concept that is so alluring—and so elusive—to those who make American statecraft. He explores what grand strategy is, why it is so essential, and why it is so hard to get right amid the turbulence of global affairs and the chaos of domestic politics. At a time when "grand strategy" is very much in vogue, Brands critically appraises just how feasible that endeavor really is.

Brands takes a historical approach to this subject, examining how four presidential administrations, from that of Harry S. Truman to that of George W. Bush, sought to "do" grand strategy at key inflection points in the history of modern U.S. foreign policy. As examples ranging from the early Cold War to the Reagan years to the War on Terror demonstrate, grand strategy can be an immensely rewarding undertaking—but also one that is full of potential pitfalls on the long road between conception and implementation.

Brands concludes by offering valuable suggestions for how American leaders might approach the challenges of grand strategy in the years to come.

Editorial Reviews

Review

For a young academic historian, Brands has an unusually subtle and accurate sense of the challenges that US policymakers face in implementing grand strategies.... Brands's masterful work also serves as a reminder that the legacies of the more recent and controversial presidential foreign policies will need to be evaluated by subsequent generations not emotionally attached to the events themselves.

-- Russel Crandall ― Survival: Global Politics & Strategy

This is a solid piece of scholarship that should be of great value in modern American history classes, foreign policy surveys, and course work in international relations.

-- Brooks Flippen ― H-Net Reviews

This remarkable book catapults Brands into the foremost ranks of a new generation of U.S. strategic thinkers. Brands brilliantly combines an analysis of the grand strategies of selected presidents (Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush) with an investigation into the nature and value of the very concept of grand strategy. Throughout, his analysis is evenhanded and insightful.... Future presidential administrations would do well to embrace this vision at a time when the United States faces limited resources and a bewildering array of challenges. On the evidence of this closely reasoned book, Brands will have much to contribute to the strategic debates that lie ahead.

-- Walter Russell Mead ― Foreign Affairs

Review

This is an exceptionally good book. In it, Hal Brands looks to clarify both the nature and the possibilities of grand strategy within the American context. In order to do so, he examines four historical cases―Truman, Nixon, Reagan, and Bush―and draws a number of timely lessons from them regarding the perennial nature of the subject. The book concludes with these lessons. Brands suggests that even at the best of times, the making of grand strategy is an immensely complicated, messy, and difficult process, characterized by surprises, pushback, infighting, and incremental changes. Overall, this is simply one of the best and most useful books on grand strategy that I have seen.

-- Colin Dueck, George Mason University, author of Hard Line: The Republican Party and U.S. Foreign Policy since World War II

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cornell University Press; Reprint edition (December 19, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0801456738
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0801456732
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.12 x 0.81 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #248,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #258 in National & International Security (Books)
- #894 in History & Theory of Politics
- #7,017 in United States History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 43 ratings

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Hal Brands

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Hal Brands is the Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor of Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He is also a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. He is the author or editor of several books, including American Grand Strategy in the Age of Trump (2018), Making the Unipolar Moment: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Rise of the Post-Cold War Order (2016), What Good is Grand Strategy? Power and Purpose in American Statecraft from Harry S. Truman to George W. Bush (2014), and Latin America’s Cold War (2010). His newest book is The Lessons of Tragedy: Statecraft and World Order, co-authored with Charles Edel. Hal previously served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Strategic Planning and lead writer for the Commission on the National Defense Strategy for the United States.

Learn more about Hal Brands: https://halbrands.org/

Follow Hal Brands on Twitter: @HalBrands

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Nathan
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Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2020
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Retired Reader
Understanding Grand Strategy
Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2014
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This is a remarkably good book. For one thing at the start of the book Brands explains his definition of “grand strategy” as the framework that guides the formulation of foreign policy. For another this book describes historic examples of the formulation and execution of grand strategy by four U.S. Presidents in a non-political series of discussions.

Brands discusses U.S. Grand Strategy as it was developed under Presidents Truman, Nixon, Reagan, George W. Bush. He does so in an apolitical and objective manner that is refreshing in this age ideology. The development of a Grand Strategy for the Cold War under President Truman has been discussed in much more detail in other books, but this book provides a good summary of the processes involved. The exploration of the efforts of President Nixon and his national security advisor Henry Kissinger to develop the ultra Grand Strategy and their failure to do so makes for fascinating reading. Perhaps the biggest surprise for this reviewer in this book was the revelation of what a really brilliant strategist President Reagan was and the power of a simple, but clear and consistent vision can have on Grand Strategy. The final discussion of Grand Strategy under George W. Bush is a sad example of what happens when ideologues allow their own delusions to replace objective analysis in the formulation Grand Strategies.

In short this is an excellent book that ought to be required reading for anyone who actually wants to understand what grand strategy is and it can be executed.

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Amazon Customer
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2017
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Awesome! Book was perfect!

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Stephen M. Keating
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2015
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Received the book in good condition

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Richard Schaffer
And what good is all this to me an average American who ...
Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2016
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And what good is all this to me an average American who works hard, raises a family, obeys the law and pays his taxes. Why should I care if our country is the biggest frog in the pond.

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Robert P.
Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2015
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Excellent overview using relevant examples

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Jeff
Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2015
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Excellent book.

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