Rules and institutions act as a loose system of governance and are in part autonomous from the exercise of state power. Openness is created when states reciprocally engage in trade and exchange based upon mutual gains. The United States has used its preponderance since 1945 to be the driving force behind the construction of an open and loosely rules-based liberal order. The source of American power is in part due to its construction of the liberal order. The multifaceted nature of US power suggests that even as its economic weight is overtaken by China – perhaps as early as the 2020’s based on some forecasts – the US most likely will remain ”first among equals” alongside the other great powers in 2030. Nevertheless, the report also states strategy that: Indeed, the National Intelligence Council Global Trends 2030 report believes there will be a diffusion of power and that there will in fact be no hegemonic power in 2030 power will shift to create a multipolar world.
Though this assessment may be true in part, a sharper analysis shows how the liberal order created by the United States keeps American power unchecked and China locked in. Proponents of American decline cite both its failure to win the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq due to imperial overstretch and the rapid economic growth of China relative to that of the United States as their evidence. The logic of grand strategy fusion is that liberal internationalism locks rivals into an open and rules based system, whilst offshore balancing allows the United States to maintain an over-the-horizon military posture and use it should the former fail. Finally, the piece will advocate that the best course for the United States to take would be to fuse both offshore balancing and liberal internationalism grand strategies. Each will be explored and their strengths and weaknesses highlighted.
There are three grand strategies the United States may pursue: primacy, offshore balancing and liberal internationalism. Given American power and the apparent demise of the liberal hegemonic order, what grand strategy should the United States pursue? An American grand strategy is a set of coordinated and sustained policies designed to address the long-term threats and opportunities that lie beyond its shores. The piece first argues that the open door policy and public goods provided by this liberal order ensures that the United States remains uniquely strong and is ranked first amongst its equals, despite declinist arguments. It was an order with many parts, features, and layers–global, regional, economic, political, military, social, and ideological. It made strategic choices, deployed power, built institutions, forged partnerships, and produced a sprawling order. had the power not just to pursue its own interests but to shape its global environment. As John Ikenberry (2011) notes, American preponderance has allowed the United States to create a liberal order based upon its own identity and interests: However, under American preponderance, Wilsonian notions of liberal order building have boomed and a pax- Americana established. The logic of the statement can be drawn from its rising economic competitor China and its military imperial overstretch in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Which One Would You Follow and Why?Īmerica’s unipolar moment is arguably at an end. In the Context of Debates Over US Decline and Rising Powers, Critically Compare and Contrast US Grand Strategy Options.
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