The Grand Strategy Sessions Chris Preble and Emma Ashford: First Among Equals
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Oct 1, 2025 Christopher Preble, Director of the Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy Program at the Stimson Center, joins Emma Ashford to discuss the decline of U.S. relative power and the need for a more realistic foreign policy. They explore the necessity to prioritize Americans' security and reorient alliances to serve U.S. interests. Preble critiques the current grand strategy as outdated for a multipolar world, while Ashford advocates for focused engagement in Asia and Latin America and a balanced approach to economic statecraft, highlighting the limits of sanctions.
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Use Positive Economic Engagement
- Move beyond coercive tools like sanctions and export controls and build positive engagement instruments.
- Use access and partnerships to offer attractive economic options, not just punishments.
Restraint Requires Realist Constraints
- Restraining temptation to use power requires reintroducing realist constraints and judgment into policymaking.
- Historical debates show realism once balanced U.S. choices; reestablishing that will curb overuse of force.
Essay Series Shows New Strategic Directions
- The essay series maps the wide range of emerging U.S. grand-strategy views and avoids rehashing old debates.
- Contributors propose varied new strategies rather than simply defending the status quo.
