America's Grand Strategy Choices

The demise of the Soviet Union brought an end to the Cold War, the bipolar structure of the international system, and to Americas grand strategy of containment. Over the past decade, America has struggled to define its role in the post-Cold War era. The purpose of this paper is to research Americas grand strategy choices. Grand strategies are executed within a strategic construct so the research begins with an overview of the strategic environment. Additionally, grand strategies are developed to focus Americas instruments of national power to accomplish national objectives. Therefore, the next section evaluates different methods to manage world power, including the concepts of balance of power, collective security, and world government. The next section discusses four grand strategy options, primacy, neo-isolationism, cooperative security, and selective engagement. The final section analyzes the nature of the international system, how to manage power in the international system, and which grand strategy is right for America in the post-Cold War era. The conclusion is that the international system remains an anarchic collection of states and balance of power dynamics will tend to dominate international affairs and that selective engagement is best grand strategy for America in this new era.