1. Grand strategy International politics traditionally focuses on the relationship between states and international organisations. Despite the fact that the geography may remain inert, the geopolitical situations in regions are shifting over time, and changes in global environment can make an influence on the regional powers. The world’s great powers are the main and decisive actors among states, which make an enormous influence on the processes of the international relationship. Throughout history, the world environment has demanded from nations to get more resources in order to develop their economy and military power. Therefore, countries struggled to get more possessions and territory in order to survive. A high developed economic industry …show more content…
The grand strategy is an ‘instrument’, which directs all sources of power such as military power, economy, civil population, diplomacy to support national interests of the state. It is also a long-term arrangement in order to shape the future position of the country or an alliance. The term of grand strategy appeared in the twentieth century and it means that ability of precise thinking and extended planning for the state by using all national means to achieve its strategic ends. According to Julian …show more content…
However, when situations are not foreseeable and obscure, it is possible to implement other alternative grand strategy options such as opportunism and risk management. According to P. Layton, both ‘opportunism and risk management are means-centred, not ends-centred as a grand strategy is’ (Layton, 2012). In other words, if the situation is unclear grand strategy, that planned, might not be an appropriate instrument for country’s policymakers to act. For instance, during analysing US strategy in the Middle East since 1975, it is obvious that they followed opportunistic approach to exercise their grand strategy. Because there actually was ‘no grand strategy in the Gulf since 1975 for US policy simply, there were continuing reactions to unexpected events and surprises’ (Layton, 2012, p. 59). The purpose of the grand strategy is to assemble and outline all strategies to the focal objective that nation willing to accomplish it in upcoming years. In other words, the grand strategy is a nation’s ‘tool’ or ‘intent’ to achieve decisive conditions in the future in order to achieve strategic aims. It gives broad plan for ‘minor strategies’ and serves as a general structure to guide national policy to act as a state in geopolitical environment. The ‘grand strategy’ should always
Strategy depends on numerous analytical factors and some of these present challenges to planners. This essay will identify some of these challenges that strategists encountered during WWII. Moreover, it will present strategy as a fluid process requiring refinement throughout.
The Four Ps of framework of foreign policy is the idea that all state behavior and outcome of their behavior is predictable based on the simple idea that all states go to war for these four reasons. Although our policy states that all acts of war are for the “preservation of independence and territory” it is understood by all other states that we, the United States of
Current military leadership should comprehend the nature of war in which they are engaged within a given political frame in order to develop plans that are coherent with the desired political end state. According to Clausewitz, war is an act of politics that forces an enemy to comply with certain conditions or to destroy him through the use of violence. A nation determines its vital interests, which drives national strategy to obtain or protect those interests. A country achieves those goals though the execution of one of the four elements of power, which are diplomatic, informational, military and economical means. The use of military force...
Wit, BD & Meyer, R 2010, Strategy: process, content, context : an international perspective, Cengage Learning EMEA, London.
is that the right side won each of them.” Colin Gray’s above optimistic premise from “Why Strategy is Difficult” provides a lens by which one can understand that although our democracy is messy and at times our strategies out of step with historical lessons; generally the United States has succeeded in its endeavors. This success may have come from purposeful effort (strategy) or tactical brilliance but nonetheless successful. Williamson Murray in, On Strategy, states succinctly that “strategy is a process, a constant adaptation to shifting conditions and circumstances in
The first portion of the novel is centered on understanding the essence of strategy. The understanding strategy, according to the author, is derived from truly comprehending what strategy
In modern military theory, the highest level is the strategic level, in which activities at the strategic level focus directly on policy objectives, both during peace and warfare. In the study of modern military strategy, there is a distinction between military strategy and national strategy, in which the former is the use of military objective to secure political objectives and the latter coordinates and concentrates all the elements of national...
John G. S., 2008: Strategically thinking about the subject of Strategy [e-journal] 9(4) p.2 Available through:
Whenever world politics is mentioned, the state that appears to be at the apex of affairs is the United States of America, although some will argue that it isn’t. It is paramount we know that the international system is shaped by certain defining events that has lead to some significant changes, particularly those connected with different chapters of violence. Certainly, the world wars of the twentieth century and the more recent war on terror must be included as defining moments. The warning of brute force on a potentially large scale also highlights the vigorousness of the cold war period, which dominated world politics within an interval of four decades. The practice of international relations (IR) was introduced out of a need to discuss the causes of war and the different conditions for calm in the wake of the first world war, and it is relevant we know that this has remained a crucial focus ever since. However, violence is not the only factor capable of causing interruption in the international system. Economic elements also have a remarkable impact. The great depression that happened in the 1920s, and the global financial crises of the contemporary period can be used as examples. Another concurrent problem concerns the environment, with the human climate being one among different number of important concerns for the continuing future of humankind and the planet in general.
The international system is an anarchical system which means that, unlike the states, there is no over ruling, governing body that enforces laws and regulations that all states must abide by. The International System in today’s society has become highly influential from a number of significant factors. Some of these factors that will be discussed are Power held by the state, major Wars that have been fought out in recent history and international organisations such as the U.N, NATO and the W.T.O. Each of these factors, have a great influence over the international system and as a result, the states abilities to “freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social, and cultural development”.
The problem in grand strategy is choosing the right instrument and balancing the instruments to achieve the national policy. Military strategy is main element of grand strategy (Alexdra:). The military is divided into operational and tactical level. The military strategy is based on military planning and operation. The military capability and inadequacy can influence the national policy. The politicians plan the military administration of personnel , recruit and train people, logistic, man power for the armed force, money to procure military equipment and all the military materials(extract-4). The incompetent of politician and military command is very harmful to the nation. Military strategy is the application of grand strategy (D&S-19). The military strategy is all about the force development, employment and deployment control by grand strategy. In military strategy is the stage to determine how is the military force deployed, nature of environment , the type of the enemy military force and the possible major challenges(D7S-103). The decision are..........................................
He later explained further in his definition of strategic partnerships, saying that strategic partnerships need to take care of their aim, nature, commitment, and concerns. And a goals-based mechanism means that a state will consider the increasing ease of championing her strategic goals before committing to any strategic partnerships. Simply speaking, a goals-oriented strategic partnership can be viewed as a new, loose fore of cooperation in international relations. It is usually originated from some degree of cooperation among parties, especially close economic cooperation. When these partners try to escalate the relationship, they will consider forming strategic partnerships. This aims at expanding the cooperation from emphasizing on economic aspect to a more comprehensive one. The strategic side of the partnership, then, focuses on championing states’ strategic goals.
One of the most important factors in a nation’s success in war is strategy, and it is also the
Today's world is full of problems present on an international scale. Yet, differences amongst states compel them to eschew cooperation. The division between the global North and South is the greatest challenge to global governance. The contrast in economic welfare, political stability, and culture among states creates many dilemmas for the international community. The economic differences between highly developed economies and the rest of the world deters cooperation. In addition, social differences between North and South create cultural clashes that breed violence, and adds difficulty to forming international norms. Moreover, the political weakness of some states in the global South create security dilemmas and keep global governance initiatives away from success. The international order is skewed in favour of the global North and serves to empower them. However, international leaders can solve these issues by promoting global equity. In order for global governance to achieve its fullest potential, the world must first address the inequality of states.
There is an undeniable fact that there has been a rise in globalization. It has become a hot topic amongst the field of international politics. With the rise of globalization, the sovereignty of the state is now being undermined. It has become an undisputed fact that the world has evolved to a new level of globalization, the transferring goods, information, ideas and services around the globe has changed at an unimaginable rate. With all that is going on, one would question how globalization has changed the system that is typically a collection of sovereign states. Do states still have the main source of power? What gives a state the right to rule a geographically defined region? It is believed by many that due to the introduction of international systems and increasing rate of globalization, the sovereignty of the state has been slowly eroded over time. My paper has two parts: First, it aims to take a close look at how globalization has changed the way the economy worked, specifically how it opened doors for multinational corporations to rise in power. Second, to answer the question, is it possible for it to exist today? And even so, should it?