| ID | 076851 |
| Title Proper | Revitalizing grand strategy |
| Other Title Information | America's untapped market power |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | McDonald, Patrick J |
| Publication | 2007. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | The costs and unmet expectations of the democracy promotion project in Iraq and the wider Middle East have sparked a broad debate about the future of U.S. grand strategy. In the chorus for change, some suggest that the United States should return to such principles of liberal internationalism as multilateralism and financial beneficence, which marked the golden era of U.S. diplomacy in the years immediately following the end of World War II. Others insist that U.S. foreign policy needs to be reestablished in a more pragmatic realism that responds to the global balance of power and resists the overuse of military muscle to promote democracy around the world.
Greater reliance on U.S. economic power can inject more prudence into foreign policy without abandoning the historical U.S. goal of promoting freedom and political reform around the world. The United States possesses the largest and most vibrant market in the global economy and can integrate this unique political asset more effectively in the larger global struggle against terrorism and radical Islam. Unilaterally eliminating trade barriers on imported goods from moderate Islamic states critical to combating terrorism, such as Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Tanzania, and Turkey, could strengthen Washington's capacity to promote political moderation and cultivate local influence within these countries.
As foreign businesses and workers come to depend on U.S. consumers for profits and jobs, they become important allies in internal struggles taking place around the world between the forces of modernization, globalization, and tolerance against those of tradition, introversion, and hatred. Expanded access to the U.S. consumer market cultivates an enduring foundation for common political interests with the United States by creating jobs and economic opportunities in potential havens for terrorist activity while strengthening liberty and domestic political reform abroad |
| `In' analytical Note | Washington Quarterly Vol. 30, No.3; Summer 2007: p21-38 |
| Journal Source | Washington Quarterly Vol. 30, No.3; Summer 2007: p21-38 |
| Key Words | Grand Strategy ; United States ; Diplomacy ; Foreign Policy |