Strategic Competition
Grand Strategy for Strategic Competition
Standing at the Great Wall—a monument to an ambitious grand strategy that ultimately failed. Its legacy reminds us that true security requires adaptability, unity, and strategic foresight beyond walls. (The Ming dynasty was overrun by the Manchu anyway.)
Strategic Framing
- Strategic competition is not a tactical contest—it is a test of national purpose and strategic coherence.
- The U.S. must articulate a grand strategy that transcends election cycles, ensuring unity of effort across economic, military, technological, and diplomatic fronts.
- China’s state-driven model challenges not just U.S. power, but the principles of openness, freedom, and human dignity. The response must be equally comprehensive.
- Grand strategy aligns vision with action—uniting allies, mobilizing assets, and advancing a world that favors freedom.
What Is Grand Strategy in This Era?
“Grand strategy is the calculated relationship of means to large ends.”
- In an age of multipolar tension and technological flux, grand strategy must do more than deter conflict—it must shape the environment to favor U.S. interests and values.
- This means integrating:
The challenge is not merely reacting to China—it is outcompeting it by revitalizing American dynamism, diplomacy, and direction.
How Strategic Competition Differs from the Cold War
- More economically entangled, yet strategically contested
- More technologically driven, with AI and data at the core
- More multipolar, involving Russia, India, the EU, and the emerging markets
- More digital and decentralized, requiring agile responses beyond state actors
A Strategy to Shape, Not Just Survive
Strategic competition is not a defensive crouch. It is an opportunity to:
- Reinvigorate democratic capitalism
- Strengthen the free world’s industrial and innovation base
- Forge a coalition of nations aligned in purpose and values
Grand strategy is America’s roadmap—not just to outcompete China, but to lead a freer, more resilient world.
Related Media & Events
🏛️ Engaging Administration or Congress, 📰 Op-Ed / Ariticle / Quoted 🎙️ Podcast ✍️ Policy Brief 👥 Roundtable / Event 🎤 Speaking 🎥 TV/Video 🌐 Global
Historical Background
🔷 Featured Insights
Raimondo's China Trip Proves That Just Engaging Beijing Isn't Enough - Quoted in Josh Rogin Washington Post Op-Ed - August 31, 2023
“All of these policy changes do not make sense if the goal is to promote long-term economic growth, but they could make sense if they are meant to help endure a conflict with the West,” Mark Kennedy, director of the Wilson Center’s Wahba Institute for Strategic Competition, told me.
Strategic Competition in the Second Trump Administration - Moderated Wilson Center Event - January 22, 2025
Speech: Issues Driving the US Foreign Policy Debate - Delivered at Scienes Po School of International Affairs - October 14, 2024
U.S. Strategic Interest in Deterring Aggression Against Taiwan is Paramount - Wilson Center Policy Brief - September 22, 2023. Photo: Kennedy with Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian.