Strategy and Grand Strategy

Wartime leaders should understand the link between violent means and political ends. They should also have a sense of how strategic decisions will affect the post-war peace. Yet they often fail to make these connections. Mistaking strategy for grand strategy, or misunderstanding the relationship between them, can frustrate soldiers and statesmen alike. Sometimes it can lead to national ruin. In this Adelphi book, Joshua Rovner offers a lucid analysis of strategy (a theory of victory) and grand strategy (a theory of security). He demonstrates vividly how these concepts interact in case studies from antiquity to the present, and he describes the implications for war and peace at a time of extraordinary technological change. Rovner's work will prove indispensable to policymakers, scholars and anyone seeking to grasp these essential but often misunderstood concepts.

Joshua Rovner is an Associate Professor of International Relations in the School of International Service at American University. He previously served as the John Goodwin Tower Distinguished Chair in International Politics and National Security at SMU, and as a professor of strategy and policy at the US Naval War College. In 2018-19 he served as scholar-in-residence at the National Security Agency and US Cyber Command. Rovner is the author of Fixing the Facts: National Security and the Politics of Intelligence (Cornell University Press, 2011), and the co-editor of Chaos in the Liberal Order: The Trump Presidency and International Politics in the 21st Century (Columbia University Press, 2018) and Chaos Reconsidered: The Liberal Order and the Future of International Politics (Columbia University Press, 2023).

Introduction: Two theories Chapter One: Strategy and grand strategy in the Peloponnesian War Chapter Two: Britain and France in the American Revolution Chapter Three: Strategy and grand strategy in the Cold War Chapter Four: Strategy and grand strategy after September 11 Chapter Five: Strategy, grand strategy and emerging technologies Conclusion: Open questions.