American Grand Strategy under Obama

Georg Löfflmann is Teaching Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick. He has published in the journals Geopolitics and Critical Studies on Security. His first monograph was published in German: German Security Policy between Multilateralisms and Reticence – The Mission of the Bundeswehr in Afghanistan (Diplomica, 2008).

• Acknowledgements; List of Tables and Illustrations; 1. Introduction; 2. Reimagining grand strategy; 3. Filming hegemony: Hollywood and the Manichean script of geopolitics; 4. Competing visions for America on the New York Times best sellers list; 5. The American grand strategy debate in International Relations; 6. Think tanks and the Washington consensus on hegemony; 7. Strategic vision: National security and the geopolitics of military pre-eminence; 8. The ‘Obama Doctrine’ – Vision for Change?; 9. Conclusion; 10. List of abbreviations; 11. Appendix; 12. Bibliography.

Löfflmann’s sophisticated analysis brings together a wealth of empirical material with a theoretical framework that is persuasive and insightful. As a study of how to study grand strategy, it is unmatched. In the forest of materials on the inner workings of American political culture, it stands tall.