Grand Strategy for America

Robert J. Art is Christian A. Herter Professor of International Relations at Brandeis University. He is the author of The TFX Decision: McNamara and the Military and coeditor of The United States and Coercive Diplomacy (with Patrick Cronin) and U.S. Foreign Policy: the Search for a New Role (with Seyom Brown).

• Foreword by Richard C. Leone, President of The Century FoundationIntroduction1. The International Setting2. America's National Interests3. Dominion, Collective Security, and Containment4. Selective Engagement5. Isolationism and Offshore Balancing6. Selective Engagement and the Free Hand Strategies7. Implementing Selective EngagementAppendix A. Civil Wars Active between 1991 and 2000Appendix B. International Wars Active between 1991 and 2000NotesIndex

A brilliant distillation and synthesis of some of the best contemporary scholarship on American grand strategy, Art's new book offers a clear exposition of U.S. national interests and how to defend them.(Foreign Affairs) "Art believes the U.S. should maintain its military deployments in Europe, East Asia, and the Persian Gulf, and wage war when vital or highly important interests are threatened and occasionally to head off a Rwanda-style genocide, but deplores the unilateralismism and 'arrogance,' and feels the U.S. should pay attention to world opinion, help combat global warming, and eschew missile defense."—Publishers Weekly, 15 July 2003"Art sees six major national interests for the US in the world: preventing an attack on the homeland, preventing major Eurasian arms races and wars, preserving access to foreign oil, preserving an open economic system, promoting democracy and human rights, and protecting the environment, with special attention to global warming... Art's preference for a grand strategy of selective engagement with the world is generally well argued.... Highly recommended. All levels."—ChoiceArt, a senior and seasoned scholar, deploys his craft masterfully. In A Grand Strategy for America he presents a clearheaded, classical, national-interest analysis that starts with a ranking of America's basic interests.... Art then dissects eight grand strategies to promote American interests against these threats.... Art's analysis is a sober reminder to European and American multilateralists that the use of force remains essential for managing world peace beyond the Atlantic region.- Henry R. Nau (Perspectives on Politics) For this American-led international system to continue to be effective, some version of Art's military strategy is an essential component. No clever political or economic scheme, for example, the 'democratic peace' or 'globalization', can compensate for it. Art has given us a first-rate and very useful book.- William E. Odom (Political Science Quarterly) This is a truly excellent book, destined to become a classic in the genre. Political leaders would benefit greatly reading it. It should be essential reading for anyone interested in international relations and U.S. foreign policy.(Political Studies Review)