The United States And The Lost Art of Grand Strategy - Flynt Leverett At Penn State

The United States And The Lost Art of Grand Strategy - Flynt Leverett At Penn State 

By Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett 
The Race for Iran
April 18, 2012

Earlier this month, Flynt gave a public lecture at Pennsylvania State University’s School of International Affairs and Dickinson School of Law, where he teaches.  His presentation was entitled “Energy, Economics, and the Lost Art of Grand Strategy:  American Policy Toward the Persian Gulf and Rising Asia in the 21^st Century,” and can be seen here.

In this lecture, Flynt makes a number of points that should be of interest to those who care about Iran and its geopolitics, including its vexed relationship with the United States.  He argues (and is hardly alone in making the point) that “if one considers where America was 20 years ago and compares that to where the United States is today, in terms of its ability to achieve its own stated, high-priority objectives in the world, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the United States is a declining power.”  It is declining “because, since the end of the Cold War, American political and policy elites have failed to do their job as strategists.  They have failed to define clear, ‘reality-based’ strategic goals and to relate the diplomatic, economic, and military tools at Washington’s disposal to realizing these goals in a sober and efficacious manner.”  (This is “the lost art of grand strategy” referred to in the lecture’s title.)

 Continued. . .