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# Posted 10:39 AM by Ariel David Adesnik

THINK BIG: A while back, I talked about the importance of long-term thinking, a.k.a. "grand strategy" in the design of US foreign policy. While the term "grand strategy" suggests a certain arrogance on the part of those who talk about it, I think it refers to an important concept which is extremely relevant to the United States at the moment.

In general, talking about grand strategy is something done by professors of international relations. In this post, I'm just going to provide a couple of links to recent essays on American grand strategy by prominent thinkers, so that anyone with an interest can start reading.

The one question to keep in mind while reading the following essays is this: "Is the author a moral relativist?" While the essays listed below are sophisticated enough to warrant extensive analysis, I think that analysis must begin with the exploration of the authors' moral foundation. As I see it, the authors' relativism compels them to recommend that the United States court allied opinion rather than striking out on its own and doing what is right.

That said, I'll shut up and give you the links:

Fareed Zakaria, "Our Way", The New Yorker, Oct. 14/21, 2002

G. John Ikenberry, "America's Imperial Ambition", Foreign Affairs, Sept./Oct. 2002

Michael Mandelbaum, "The Inadequacy of American Power", Foreign Affairs, Sept./Oct. 2002

John L. Gaddis, "A Grand Strategy", Foreign Policy, Nov./Dec. 2002

UPDATE/CORRECTION: John Gaddis' article doesn't really belong with the other three. While he seems somewhat equivocal in his positive assessment of Bush's democracy promotion strategy, there is no trace of the traditional realist line he has often advocated following.

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