ABSTRACT

This book examines the role and importance of the Presidency in the formulation and conduct of US grand strategy.

The text discusses US strategic history, with particular emphasis on the period from the end of the Cold War to the present day. While the United States periodically has enjoyed exceptional presidential leadership in the past, this book argues that few future presidents will meet high standards of leadership in foreign affairs. In turn, this will undermine the ability of the United States to construct and maintain a coherent grand strategy appropriate to the multipolar world of the twenty-first century.

Grand Strategy and the Presidency explores the role that the holders of the presidential office have played in the past development of the United States as a great power. Drawing upon examples from history, the textual analysis is shaped around the description of the long-term strategic development of the United States. The author then considers what the events of recent decades portend for the future of US strategy and foreign policy.

This book will be of interest to students of Presidential Studies, US foreign policy, Strategic Studies, and IR/Security Studies in general.

chapter |13 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|32 pages

Beyond All Expectations

The American Rise to Preeminence

chapter 2|23 pages

Victory Disease

Cold War Triumph and Its Aftermath

chapter 3|18 pages

The Slow Drift

Power Without Strategic Clarity

chapter 4|21 pages

The Decider

The importance of Presidential Greatness

chapter 5|12 pages

Feet of Clay

Making Inadequate Strategists and War Leaders

chapter 6|35 pages

Lost Wars, Bleak Peace

The Tragedy of Presidential Weakness

chapter |4 pages

Conclusion