grand strategy
Long-term war planning
Grand strategy is the highest level of strategic planning, coordinating military, economic, diplomatic, and other national resources toward long-term objectives.
Where military strategy concerns winning battles and campaigns, grand strategy concerns winning wars and securing a nation's position in the world: The containment of Soviet expansion was America's grand strategy during the Cold War.
The term appears in historical analysis, international relations, and increasingly in business contexts where organizations pursue ambitious, multi-front goals.
Equal distribution of influence
- hegemonyDominant group's control
- sphere of influenceZone of dominant authority
- multipolarityMultiple competing power centers
- containmentPreventing hostile expansion
world order · superpower · national interest · realpolitik · expansionism · bipolarity · deterrence · buffer state
Formal union of parties
- treatyBinding pact between nations
- negotiationDiscussion seeking mutual accord
- foreign policyInternational relations strategy
- coalition buildingCreating partnerships among groups
détente · summit · accord · sanctions · diplomatic pressure · soft power · mediation · rapprochement
Principles guiding armed forces
- campaignOrganized effort toward goal
- logisticsCoordination of complex activities
- attritionGradual reduction through loss
- mobilizationOrganizing for action
total war · theater of operations · naval supremacy · air superiority · blockade · combined arms · supply lines · military alliance
How authority is exercised
- sovereigntySupreme independent authority
- nation-buildingConstructing governmental institutions
- legitimacyLawful or rightful status
- reformImprove by correcting faults
centralization · resource allocation · succession planning · ideology · propaganda · national unity
Rules governing international exchange
- economic warfareHostile financial statecraft
- embargoOfficial prohibition on trade
- industrial capacityManufacturing output potential
- war productionManufacturing for military purposes
mercantilism · tariffs · financial leverage · autarky · infrastructure investment · economic coercion
balance of power
Equal distribution of influence
- hegemonyDominant group's control
- sphere of influenceZone of dominant authority
- multipolarityMultiple competing power centers
containment · world order · superpower · national interest · realpolitik · expansionism · bipolarity · deterrence · buffer state · client state
alliance
Formal union of parties
- treatyBinding pact between nations
- negotiationDiscussion seeking mutual accord
- foreign policyInternational relations strategy
coalition building · détente · summit · accord · sanctions · diplomatic pressure · soft power · mediation · rapprochement · neutrality
military doctrine
Principles guiding armed forces
- campaignOrganized effort toward goal
- logisticsCoordination of complex activities
- attritionGradual reduction through loss
mobilization · total war · theater of operations · naval supremacy · air superiority · blockade · combined arms · supply lines · military alliance · conscription
governance
How authority is exercised
- sovereigntySupreme independent authority
- nation-buildingConstructing governmental institutions
- legitimacyLawful or rightful status
reform · centralization · resource allocation · succession planning · ideology · propaganda · national unity
trade policy
Rules governing international exchange
- economic warfareHostile financial statecraft
- embargoOfficial prohibition on trade
- industrial capacityManufacturing output potential
war production · mercantilism · tariffs · financial leverage · autarky · infrastructure investment · economic coercion
- tabletop gamesboard games, board game, card games, card game, backgammon
- strategytactics, tactic, tactical, military tactics, master plan
- strategy gameschess, checkers, go, Go, StarCraft
- long gamesMonopoly, Civilization, Test cricket, MMORPGs, World of Warcraft
- foreign policydiplomacy, diplomatic negotiations, sanctions, containment, deterrence
- geopoliticsbalance of power, bipolarity, bloc, blocs, brinkmanship
grand strategytactics
Methods to achieve goals
battlefield tactics · tactical maneuvering · skirmishing · micro-management · short-term planning
grand strategyimprovisation
Spontaneous, unplanned creation
muddling through · drift · directionlessness · firefighting · crisis management
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