U.S. Strategy on Great Power Rivalry

Since the end of the Cold War, U.S. national security strategy has undergone a remarkable evolution, judging by the policy guidelines declared by successive American administrations during this period. When the failure of attempts to integrate Russia and China into the U.S.-centric international order became obvious in the second half of the 2010s, a confrontational approach to relations with these powers prevailed in the U.S. policy. Rivalries with Russia and China, which are referred to as great powers in American political discourse, largely determine the essence of U.S. strategy nowadays. However, as an unfolding foreign policy debate in the United States reveals, there is a widening discord between ‘liberal interventionists’ and pragmatic conservatives regarding U.S. involvement in world affairs. The outcome of this controversy will entail far-reaching implications for shaping the grand strategy of the United States. D. Trump’s triumph in the U.S. presidential elections in 2024 will have a profound effect on the strategic choices Washington is to make.

great powers, rivalry, Russia, United States, China