Grand Strategy in 10 Words

“This is a timely analysis that – crucially – also manages to feel both very real for the time it is written and future-proof in terms of the insights it includes and the lessons it uncovers… a great contribution to the global debates around the current and future dynamics of great power politics.” The Progressive Post

“Elegant and sophisticated” Journal of Common Market Studies

“A leading European expert giving wise counsel to strategy makers on both sides of the Atlantic, for a community of values that has choppy waters behind it, likely to face further rough seas ahead. Strongly recommended empirically-derived navigation aids for practitioners!” Beatrice Heuser, University of Glasgow

“An excellent and readable book. His analysis is clear and his suggestions for the future pertinent. He provides a comprehensive framework for understanding strategies in general, let alone the Grand Strategies of major powers.” General Sir Rupert Smith KCB DSO OBE QGM

“A timely work accessible to practitioners, illuminating to scholars, and instructive to students....elegantly combines theory, history, and current-policy analysis to provide not only a primer on Grand Strategy, but a guide to how to mobilize the concept to understand and navigate an increasingly multi-polar world.” Barry R. Posen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

“This book is both a conceptual treatment of grand strategy and a prescriptive argument about 21st century geopolitics. While I do not agree with all of its conclusions, I believe all readers will find it most stimulating.” Hal Brands, Johns Hopkins University and American Enterprise Institute

“At a time when it faces a double ‘no deal’ on Brexit and the Coronavirus Recovery Plan, the European Union badly needs a strategy. Sven Biscop, who has spent his entire career analysing the Union’s strengths and weakness is well-placed to help her to start thinking about one. My recommendation can be summarised in fewer than ten words: ‘buy this book’.” Brendan Simms, University of Cambridge

Sven Biscop is Director of the Europe in the World Programme at the Egmont–Royal Institute for International Relations in Brussels and Professor at Ghent University. He is an Honorary Fellow of the European Security and Defence College (ESDC), and an Officer in the Order of the Crown of the Kingdom of Belgium.

Introduction: No Peace from Corona – Why Grand Strategy and Great Powers Remain Important

1. Simple: But Not Easy

2. Competitive: The Other Players Have a Strategy Too

3. Rational: Reason Trumps Ideology, Religion, and Emotion

4. Allied: One Needs Allies but Cannot Always Choose Them

5. Comprehensive: There Is No Hard, Soft or Smart Power – Just Power

6. Creative: An Art as Well as a Science

7. Agile: Taking Decisions, Acting, and Taking New Decisions

8. Courageous: Dare to Go in, Dare to Get out, Dare to Stay out

9. Dirty: No Great Power Can Keep its Hands Clean

10. Proactive: A Strategy for Action

Conclusion: Power to Engage