US Grand Strategy

Course Number: 84-380

This class examines different philosophies of US strategy toward other countries and how US strategies impact people in other times and places. By doing so, students are both exposed to different ideas about US foreign policy than they may have otherwise, along with how those ideas interact with diverse populations both inside the United States and around the world. In some instances, those strategic ideas work well in some places but not in others because of particular ethnic, historical, religious, or other background issues in that place. 

The class presents a series of four main proposed US grand strategies, many of which students will not have encountered before, depending on their background. We then cover how each of those grand strategies is promoted by different groups in the United States, how it interacts with the world, and how it is received by people in diverse sets of other countries. This encourages students to examine their preexisting assumptions about what US strategy "should" be, both by looking at it through the lens of different American groups and different regions of the world.

Academic Year: 2025-2026
Semester(s): Fall
Units: 9
Location(s): Pittsburgh