ABSTRACT
During World War I, the French statesman Gorges Clemenceau famously defended his right to direct his country’s military aairs over the objections of the military. He is oen quoted as saying “War is too serious a matter to entrust to military men.” I would like to amend that: American grand strategy is too serious a matter to entrust solely to academics, or politicians and policy-makers, or issue-advocates and lobbyists. It is the proper purview of all Americans and is too serious a business to entrust to anyone but them. e spirit that animates this book is that the American people, as well as people in other countries, should understand the costs and benets of American grand strategy and debate the grand strategic alternatives available to the United States.
