From Containment to Integration: A Grand Strategy for the 21st Century
Abstract
As containment was the grand strategic response to the threat posed by the Soviet Union to U.S. interests an innovative approach is again needed in response to the threat posed by radical Islamists who seek to replace the U.S.-led secular democratic global system with an Islamic world order using jihadist Islamic terrorism as a tactic to achieve that end. This paper presents an examination of and proposal for the formulation and implementation of a grand strategy for the 21st century. In examining U.S. strategic objectives in going to war in Iraq the paper illustrates how policies led inadvertently to a strategic construct that holds the potential for the formulation of a new grand strategy - a strategy of integration. The purpose is to expand upon the eventual justification for going to war and explore the validity implications and possible means of application of a new strategic security paradigm. The assessment suggests that a war of co- option entails a fundamental paradox that must be addressed through the exercise of cultural intelligence and the analysis and manipulation of cultural control measures appropriate to the cultural milieu which is an integral element of a grand strategy for the 21 St century - a strategy of integration.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 06, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA449395
Entities
People
- Warren P. Gunderman
Organizations
- United States Army War College