Grand Strategy, Culture, and Strategic Choice: A Review

Authors

  • David S. McDonough Department of Political Science (Balsillie School of International Affairs) at the University of Waterloo

Abstract

The Canadian debate on security matters has rarely been discussed in terms of either grand strategy or strategic culture. But it would be imprudent to prematurely discard such concepts, which if more fully incorporated into Canada’s own scholarly debate could potentially generate some useful dialogue with wider strategic studies literature. To better clarify these concepts, this review essay will provide an overview on both grand strategy and the explanations for strategic behaviour, with a particular emphasis on international relations theory and strategic culture. As it concludes, grand strategy offers a promising description not only for how a great power approaches strategic affairs, but also potentially for that of a middle power like Canada. And an explanation rooted in strategic culture, despite some lingering conceptual and methodological issues, still provides a good starting point to understanding the sources of grand strategy.  

Author Biography

David S. McDonough, Department of Political Science (Balsillie School of International Affairs) at the University of Waterloo

David S. McDonough is a SSHRC post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Political Science (Balsillie School of International Affairs) at the University of Waterloo. He completed a PhD in political science at Dalhousie University in 2011 and is a research fellow at Dalhousie’s Centre for Foreign Policy Studies.. He is a recipient of the SSHRC Canadian Graduate Scholarship (2006–9), the SDF Dr Ronald Baker Doctoral Scholarship (2009–10), and Killam Doctoral Scholarships (2008–11). He held positions at the Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies, the Royal Canadian Military Institute, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He has published widely on international security in International Journal, RUSI Journal, Strategic Survey, Orbis, Journal of Military and Strategic Studies, Canadian Naval Review, SITREP, Strategic Datalink, and Third World Quarterly. He completed a monograph in the IISS Adelphi Paper series on Nuclear Superiority: The New Triad and the Evolution of Nuclear Strategy (2006), and is the editor of a forthcoming edited volume from the University of Toronto Press, titled Canada’s National Security in the Post-9/11 World: Strategy, Interests, and Threats.

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Issue

Vol. 13 No. 4 (2011): Summer 2011

Section

Literature Review