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Grand Strategy

Grand strategy is the centerpiece of a nation’s foreign policy, setting national priorities to match available means with vital security goals. The United States’ post-Cold War grand strategy has proven to be a costly failure that has overstretched U.S. capabilities. A fundamental realignment of U.S. grand strategy emphasizing restraint is long overdue, and more urgent than ever.

GRAND STRATEGY EXPLAINED

GRAND STRATEGY EXPERTS

Benjamin
Friedman

Policy Director

Defense Priorities

Jennifer
Kavanagh

Senior Fellow & Director of Military Analysis

Defense Priorities

Christopher
McCallion

Fellow

Defense Priorities

Daniel
Davis

Senior Fellow & Military Expert

Defense Priorities

Daniel
DePetris

Fellow

Defense Priorities

Rajan
Menon

Former Non-Resident Senior Fellow

Defense Priorities

William
Ruger

Non-Resident Senior Fellow

Defense Priorities

William
Walldorf

Senior Fellow

Defense Priorities

Erik
Gartzke

Non-Resident Fellow

Defense Priorities

op-edGrand strategy, Asia, China

America shouldn’t pivot to Asia

By Jennifer Kavanagh

October 28, 2025

Speaking to the Australian parliament in late 2011, then-President Barack Obama announced that after a decade of fighting in the Middle […]

op-edGrand strategy

Trump’s foreign policy of short-termism

By Daniel DePetris

October 23, 2025

op-edMiddle East, Grand strategy, Israel, Israel‑Hamas

Now is not the time for new U.S. commitments to the Middle East

By William Walldorf

October 21, 2025

Symposia: Realistic recommendations for Trump II

Defense Priorities organized this symposium to stimulate thinking about policies that should be adopted by the incoming administration. Top experts shared their insights in an effort to inform and improve U.S. policy. Each contributor provided an answer to the same question: “What is the most important, realistic policy the incoming administration should adopt to advance U.S. national interests?”