Grand Security: The Nature and Character of U.S. Grand Strategy

Abstract

This dissertation investigates U.S. grand strategy as articulated by the U.S. National Security Strategy through a comparative case study analysis of the George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush administrations. This study’s primary argument is that U.S. grand strategy remains consistent in its nature to achieve stability via national security while the character of U.S. grand strategy evolves in response to domestic political considerations and the international security environment. A new typology of grand strategists is central to this study: universalists, defenders, and geostrategists. This is an important distinction as the type of strategic orientation of senior policymakers can determine the character of U.S. grand strategy, influencing subordinate practitioners and institutions throughout the government.

This study used qualitative methodology influenced by David Mayhew’s two-sweep method, including content analysis, for a comparative case study of the George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush Administrations. The first sweep of each case study examined the political, military, and economic Administration policies as published in each respective U.S. National Security Strategy. The second sweep included relevant National Security Council documents, personal memoirs, and think tank commentary. Together, these sweeps provided contemporary and retrospective lenses to analyze each case study’s strategic articulation and execution to triangulate its strategic orientation, or typology.

The key research findings were both theoretical and practical, revealing a parallel dynamic between grand strategy and the Clausewitzian observation of war: while the ways and means (character) fluctuate, the underlying logic of ends (nature) persists. In addition, this study found that geostrategists, as categorized in the literature review, are uniquely positioned within the strategic typology to develop and execute U.S. grand strategy in a dynamic global security environment.

These findings mean that there is utility in knowing the type of grand strategic approach influencing an Administration’s policymakers that will disseminate throughout the U.S. government, often long outlasting a single presidency. Furthermore, awareness of the nature and character of U.S. grand strategy can add stability to an anarchic international system when those characteristics are so readily available to all audiences through the U.S. National Security Strategy. Lastly, these findings conclude that U.S. grand strategy is advisable, executable, and achievable in the 21st Century.

Disciplines

International Relations | Political Science | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration

Subject Area

International relations; Political science; Public administration

Department

International Relations (INR)

First Advisor

Buckman, Kirk A.

Second Advisor

Sotiriadis, Jacob S.

Third Advisor

Giannakos, Symeon A.

Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

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