{"id":4423,"date":"2018-06-22T08:30:33","date_gmt":"2018-06-21T22:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/?p=4423"},"modified":"2023-08-06T14:59:36","modified_gmt":"2023-08-06T04:59:36","slug":"rethinking-grand-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Rethinking grand strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/tag\/peter-layton\/\">PETER LAYTON<\/a>\u00a0|<\/p>\n<p>Grand strategy may seem an irrelevant idea but it\u2019s not. As Colin Gray declares \u201call strategy is grand strategy.\u201d Without a grand strategy that explains the ends, works the means and sets out the ways, lower-level strategies will be uncoordinated, work at odds with each other and be unlikely to succeed. Grand strategy seems superfluous as its gotten unhelpfully confused with the National Security Strategy. It should be instead thought of as a practical problem-solving methodology you can apply to particular real-world problems. This article rethinks grand strategy to provide just that.<\/p>\n<p>Grand strategy has a bad wrap but it\u2019s not the concept\u2019s doing. A perception has developed that the National Security Strategy (NSS) and grand strategy are the same. This is a major error. The NSS addresses certain matters of particular Congressional concern as required under the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act. The NSS is simply a particular example of a grand strategy, not the whole of grand strategy as a problem-solving approach.<\/p>\n<p>Worse the NSS seems disoriented. The NSS is a late Cold War creation when the Soviet Union was the obvious central focus. Similarly if more generically, grand strategy in originating in war stressed staying focused on the adversary. Post Cold War though, with the USSR dismantled, the NSS lost its concentration, drifting into what John Ikenberry calls a milieu grand strategy, one aiming to shape the general international environment.[i]<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s easy to be sceptical of this sub-type of grand strategy. As a recent book, \u2018The End of Grand Strategy\u2019, nicely argues it\u2019s really hard to see how one grand strategy can address all the problems a state faces.[ii] But the book goes a step too far in deciding that, as the NSS is a poor grand strategy format, the idea of grand strategy is now of little value.<\/p>\n<p>This confusion is important as the post-Cold War era ends and our problems intensify. It\u2019s not just the Greater Middle East\u2019s \u2018forever wars\u2019, North Korea\u2019s rockets or Russian malfeasance but crucially the rise of China. China has both the economic potential to outspend America and its allies on defense and the population base to man any size military force structure acquired. The West\u2019s post-Cold War era military and economic overmatch is receding. Our edge may become using our national power better, more effectively and more efficiently. Better thinking could be crucial.<\/p>\n<p>Please click here to read the full\u00a0\u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/smallwarsjournal.com\/jrnl\/art\/rethinking-grand-strategy\">Rethinking grand strategy<\/a>\u201d\u00a0article published at Small Wars Journal,\u00a0written by Griffith Asia Institute Visiting Fellow, Dr Peter Layton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PETER LAYTON\u00a0| Grand strategy may seem an irrelevant idea but it\u2019s not. As Colin Gray declares \u201call strategy is grand strategy.\u201d Without a grand strategy that explains the ends, works the means and sets out the ways, lower-level strategies will be uncoordinated, work at odds with each other and be unlikely to succeed. Grand strategy<a href=\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"sr-only\">&#8220;Rethinking grand strategy&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":4424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[245],"tags":[787,788,1082],"class_list":["post-4423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-china-and-north-east-asia","tag-grand-strategy","tag-national-security-strategy","tag-peter-layton"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"Jill Moriarty","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Rethinking grand strategy | Griffith Asia Insights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"PETER LAYTON\u00a0| Grand strategy may seem an irrelevant idea but it\u2019s not. As Colin Gray declares \u201call strategy is grand strategy.\u201d Without a grand strategy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rethinking grand strategy | Griffith Asia Insights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PETER LAYTON\u00a0| Grand strategy may seem an irrelevant idea but it\u2019s not. As Colin Gray declares \u201call strategy is grand strategy.\u201d Without a grand strategy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Griffith Asia Insights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/griffithasiainstitute\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-06-21T22:30:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-06T04:59:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/06\/rethinking-grand-strategy-900x500.jpg?fit=900%2C510&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"510\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Griffith Asia Institute\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@GAIGriffith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@GAIGriffith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Griffith Asia Institute\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Griffith Asia Institute\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#\/schema\/person\/8121b8aa336749474cbaca380c03029a\"},\"headline\":\"Rethinking grand strategy\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-21T22:30:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-06T04:59:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/\"},\"wordCount\":432,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Grand strategy\",\"National Security Strategy\",\"Peter Layton\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Region | China and Northeast Asia\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/\",\"name\":\"Rethinking grand strategy | Griffith Asia Insights\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-21T22:30:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-06T04:59:36+00:00\",\"description\":\"PETER LAYTON\u00a0| Grand strategy may seem an irrelevant idea but it\u2019s not. As Colin Gray declares \u201call strategy is grand strategy.\u201d Without a grand strategy\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rethinking grand strategy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/\",\"name\":\"Griffith Asia Insights\",\"description\":\"Asia Insights is published by the Griffith Asia Institute. It offers latest commentary on Asia-Pacific affairs and aims to inform and foster academic scholarship, public awareness and considered and responsive policy making.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Griffith Asia Institute\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/10\/GU_Griffith-Asia-Institute_rgb_red_horizontal.png?fit=2930%2C308&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/10\/GU_Griffith-Asia-Institute_rgb_red_horizontal.png?fit=2930%2C308&ssl=1\",\"width\":2930,\"height\":308,\"caption\":\"Griffith Asia Institute\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/griffithasiainstitute\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GAIGriffith\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#\/schema\/person\/8121b8aa336749474cbaca380c03029a\",\"name\":\"Griffith Asia Institute\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f133de65681da3b20ddbc1917f066f458d355d7dfa1f214b10ff4bd135d5ab6c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f133de65681da3b20ddbc1917f066f458d355d7dfa1f214b10ff4bd135d5ab6c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Griffith Asia Institute\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/author\/gaigriffith-edu-au\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rethinking grand strategy | Griffith Asia Insights","description":"PETER LAYTON\u00a0| Grand strategy may seem an irrelevant idea but it\u2019s not. As Colin Gray declares \u201call strategy is grand strategy.\u201d Without a grand strategy","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rethinking grand strategy | Griffith Asia Insights","og_description":"PETER LAYTON\u00a0| Grand strategy may seem an irrelevant idea but it\u2019s not. As Colin Gray declares \u201call strategy is grand strategy.\u201d Without a grand strategy","og_url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/","og_site_name":"Griffith Asia Insights","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/griffithasiainstitute\/","article_published_time":"2018-06-21T22:30:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-08-06T04:59:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":510,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/06\/rethinking-grand-strategy-900x500.jpg?fit=900%2C510&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Griffith Asia Institute","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@GAIGriffith","twitter_site":"@GAIGriffith","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Griffith Asia Institute","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/"},"author":{"name":"Griffith Asia Institute","@id":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#\/schema\/person\/8121b8aa336749474cbaca380c03029a"},"headline":"Rethinking grand strategy","datePublished":"2018-06-21T22:30:33+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-06T04:59:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/"},"wordCount":432,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#organization"},"keywords":["Grand strategy","National Security Strategy","Peter Layton"],"articleSection":["Region | China and Northeast Asia"],"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/","url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/","name":"Rethinking grand strategy | Griffith Asia Insights","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-06-21T22:30:33+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-06T04:59:36+00:00","description":"PETER LAYTON\u00a0| Grand strategy may seem an irrelevant idea but it\u2019s not. As Colin Gray declares \u201call strategy is grand strategy.\u201d Without a grand strategy","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/rethinking-grand-strategy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rethinking grand strategy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#website","url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/","name":"Griffith Asia Insights","description":"Asia Insights is published by the Griffith Asia Institute. It offers latest commentary on Asia-Pacific affairs and aims to inform and foster academic scholarship, public awareness and considered and responsive policy making.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#organization","name":"Griffith Asia Institute","url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/10\/GU_Griffith-Asia-Institute_rgb_red_horizontal.png?fit=2930%2C308&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/10\/GU_Griffith-Asia-Institute_rgb_red_horizontal.png?fit=2930%2C308&ssl=1","width":2930,"height":308,"caption":"Griffith Asia Institute"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/griffithasiainstitute\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/GAIGriffith"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#\/schema\/person\/8121b8aa336749474cbaca380c03029a","name":"Griffith Asia Institute","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f133de65681da3b20ddbc1917f066f458d355d7dfa1f214b10ff4bd135d5ab6c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f133de65681da3b20ddbc1917f066f458d355d7dfa1f214b10ff4bd135d5ab6c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Griffith Asia Institute"},"url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/author\/gaigriffith-edu-au\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/06\/rethinking-grand-strategy-900x500.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"featured_image_thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/06\/rethinking-grand-strategy-900x500.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}