History 38.9: History and Grand Strategy

Professors KC Johnson & Steven P. Remy

 

Professor Steven Remy

521 Whitehead Hall

718-951-5303

sremy@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Office hours: Mondays & Wednesdays, 12-1

Professor KC Johnson

501A Whitehead Hall

718-630-1031

kcjohnson9@yahoo.com

Office hours: Monday, 5-6; Wednesday, 3-4

 

This course examines the theory and practice of grand strategy in both historical and contemporary contexts from a variety of perspectives. It defines “grand strategy” as "the capacity of the nation's leaders to bring together all of the elements [of power], both military and nonmilitary, for the preservation and enhancement of the nation's long-term (that is, in wartime and peacetime) best interests" (Paul Kennedy, Grand Strategies in War and Peace, 1991). In this respect, grand strategy requires the articulation of both policy goals and interim objectives, as well as a definition of power that extends well beyond the use of the military. The strategists considered range over two and a half millennia. Some of them are responsible for the best thinking and writing on this subject; others exemplify success or failure in the implementation of grand strategy.

 

requirements/assignments

links

 

September

October

November

   
 

Presentation assignments, readings, and other materials

August 30: Introduction to Grand Strategy; Sun-Tsu’s “The Art of War”

 

1. Defining “grand strategy” (discussion leaders: Profs. Johnson & Remy)

 

Reading assignment:

  • Paul Kennedy, “Grand Strategy in War and Peace: Toward a Broader Definition”

 

2. Sun-Tsu’s “The Art of War” (discussion leader: Prof. Andrew Meyer, Dept. of History)

 

Reading assignment:

  • Andrew Meyer & Andrew Wilson, “Sunzi Bingfa as History and Theory;”

  • Ralph D. Sawyer, “Main Concepts in the Art of War”

  • Sun-Tsu, The Art of War

 

September 13: Thucydides & the Romans

 

1. Thucydides’ classic history of the Peloponnesian War (Discussion leader: Prof. Johnson)

 

Reading assignment:

  • Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War (introduction; Book I, pp. 72-87; Book II, pp. 124-168; Books VII-VIII)

 

2. The Roman Empire (Discussion leader: Prof. Remy)

 

Reading assignment:

  • Jane Gardner, Introduction, and Julius Caesar, Books I & II, from The Conquest of Gaul;

  • Robert Luttwak, “Defense-in-depth. The Great Crisis of the Third Century and the New Strategies,” from The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire;

  • Arther Ferrill, “The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire,” from Paul Kennedy, ed., Grand Strategies in War and Peace

 

Analysis Paper 1 due in class 9-20.

Last name A-L: Based on the Thucydides reading, what are the strengths and weaknesses of formulating grand strategy in a democracy? To what extent was the outcome of the war based on the broad strategic decisions of the two sides?
Last name M-Z: How, according to Julius Caesar, did the Romans defeat the rebellious Belgic tribes in Gaul around 57 B.C.,
and what "lessons" - military or otherwise - might be learned from this account?

Groups and topics assigned for final presentations in class 9-20.

 

September 20: Machiavelli, Grotius, & Vattel; Philip II of Spain

 

1. Machiavelli & the origins of internationalism (Discussion leader: Prof. Johnson)

 

Reading assignment:

 

2. The Grand Strategy of Philip II of Spain (Discussion leader: Prof. Remy)

 

Reading assignment:

  • Paul Kennedy, “The Hapsburg Bid for Mastery, 1519-1659,” from The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers;

  • Geoffrey Parker, The Grand Strategy of Philip II

 

Analysis Paper 2 due in class 9-20.

Last name A-L: Assess the relative importance of internal versus external factors in the decline
of Spanish imperial power by the middle of the 17th century.
Last name M-Z: What do you see as the principal weakness in the strategic visions
outlined by (a) Machiavelli and (b) Vattel/Grotius? Why?

 

September 27: Kant, Metternich, and Bismarck

 

1. Immanuel Kant: Peace & International Institution-Building (Discussion leader: Prof. Johnson)

 

Reading assignment:

  • Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “Peace,” from On the Law of Nations;

  • Immanuel Kant, “Perpetual Peace";

 

2. Metternich, Bismarck, & the Balance of Power after Napoleon, and a case study of a grand strategist in crisis mode (Discussion leader: Prof. Remy)

 

Reading assignment:

  • Henry Kissinger, chapters 4-6, from Diplomacy;

  • Walter Isaacson, “Two Weeks in September: An Hour-by-Hour Look at the Art of Crisis Juggling,” from Kissinger: A Biography

 

Analysis Paper 3 due in class
Last Name A-L: What do you see as the principal difference between Kant and the grand
strategy outlined by Grotius and Vattel?
Last Name M-Z: What strategic principles - if any - guided Henry Kissinger as National Security Adviser
during the two week period of crises in September, 1970?

Groups submit preliminary list of documents on their topics

 

October 4: Clausewitz & Mahan

 

1. Carl von Clausewitz’s classic study of war (Discussion leader: Prof. Remy)

 

Reading assignment:

  • Michael Howard, preface and introduction, A Short Guide to Clausewitz On War;

  • Carl von Clausewitz, “On War” (Book V, “Plan of War”)

 

2. Alfred Thayer Mahan & Halford John Mackinder: Sea versus Land Power (Discussion leader: Prof. Johnson)

 

Reading assignment:

  • Jon Tetsuro Sumida, preface, introduction, & chapter 1, from Inventing Grand Strategy and Teaching Command: The Classic Works of Alfred Thayer Mahan Reconsidered;

  • Mahan, “The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783;”

  • H.J. Mackinder, “The Geographical Pivot of History”

 

Analysis Paper 4 due in class

Last Name A-L: How does Carl von Clausewitz characterize the relationship between war and politics?
Provide an example, from a time and place of your choosing, of how Clausewitz's conceptualization has applied
successfully OR unsuccessfully.

Last Name M-Z: Should historians see more similarities or more differences between the strategic
worldviews of Mackinder and Mahan?

 

October 18: Theodore Roosevelt & Woodrow Wilson

 

1. Roosevelt and Reviving Realpolitik (Discussion leader: Prof. Johnson)

 

Reading assignment:

  • Frank Ninkovich, “The Emergence of Normal Internationalism, 1900-1913,” from The Wilsonian Century: U.S. Foreign Policy since 1900;

 

2. Wilsonianism as Grand Strategy (Discussion leader: Prof. Johnson)

 

Reading assignment:

  • Frank Ninkovich, “The Great War: Wilsonianism as Crisis Internationalism,” from The Wilsonian Century: U.S. Foreign Policy since 1900;

  • Tony Smith, “Wilson and a World Safe for Democracy,” from America’s Mission: The United States and the Worldwide Struggle for Democracy in the Twentieth Century;

  • Frederick S. Calhoun, “The Uses of Force in Wilsonian Foreign Policy,” from The Uses of Force in Wilsonian Foreign Policy

 

Analysis Paper 5 due in class

Groups submit briefing books to instructors and classmates

 

October 25: Lenin and Mao

 

1. Lenin & the Revolution in & beyond Russia (Discussion leader: Prof. Remy)

 

Reading assignment:

  • Richard Pipes, “The New Empire” & “Communism for Export” from A Concise History of the Russian Revolution;

  • Lenin, various statements on imperialism and war;

  • Lenin, “Political Report of the Central Committee RKP[b] to the Ninth All-Russian Conference of the Communist Party,” from Richard Pipes, ed., The Unknown Lenin: From the Secret Archive

2. Mao Zedong & the Cold War in Asia (Discussion leader: Prof. Remy)

 

Reading assignment:

  • Chen Jian, from Mao’s China & the Cold War, pp. 1-117

 

Analysis Paper 6 due in class

Last Name A-L: Assess the significance of ideology in EITHER Lenin's
and the early Bolshevik grand strategy OR Mao's
relations with the Soviet Union in the 1950s and early 1960s.

 

November 1: World War II

 

1. Hitler’s global strategy & the fall of France (Discussion leaders: Profs. Johnson & Remy)

 

Reading assignment:

  • From Gerhard Weinberg, Germany, Hitler, and World War II: Essays in Modern German and World History;

  • Ernest R. May, introduction, chapter 17-18, 24, 25-26, from Strange Victory: Hitler’s Conquest of France

 

2. Wartime leadership: Franklin Roosevelt & Winston Churchill (Discussion leader: Prof. Johnson)

 

Reading assignment:

 

Draft recommendations due to instructors only

Analysis Paper 7 due in class

Last name A-L: Assess the respective roles of traditional balance of power diplomacy ("Realpolitik"),
personalities, and ideology in German foreign policy in the period
leading up to the outbreak of war in September 1939.
Last name M-Z: Based on their speeches, do you see more similarities or more differences
between the strategic visions of FDR and Churchill?

 

November 8: The Cold War & Nuclear Weapons

 

1. The Cold War and the Bipolar World Order (Discussion leader: Prof. Johnson)

 

Reading assignments:

  • From George Kennan, “X” article;

  • From Melvyn Leffler, Preponderance of Power

 

2. Nuclear Strategy (Discussion leader: Professor Johnson)

 

Reading assignments:

  • From Fred Iklé, "Can Nuclear Deterrence Last Out the Century?”

  • Robert Jervis, “The Meaning of the Nuclear Revolution;”

  • McGeorge Bundy, from Danger and Survival: Choices about the Bomb in the First Fifty Years, pp. 197-261

 

Analysis Paper 8 due in class

 

November 15: After the Cold War: The new classics of grand strategy

 

1. Grand Strategy after the Cold War (Discussion leader: Prof. Remy)

 

Reading assignment:

  • From Samuel Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations;”

  • From Joseph Nye, “The Paradox of American Power;”

  • From Paul Kennedy, “Preparing for the 21st Century”

 

2. The National Security Strategy of the United States in Historical Perspective (Discussion leaders: Profs. Johnson & Remy)

 

Reading assignment:

 

Analysis Paper 9 due in class

How does the Bush administration conceive of the nature and uses of American power 
in its National Security Strategy? Feel free to draw upon relevant portions of 
Samuel Huntington, Joseph Nye, and Paul Kennedy.

 

November 22, 29 & December 6 & 13: in-class student presentations