STRATEGIC

This report is the last in the six-volume Strategic Rethink series, in which
RAND explores the elements of a national strategy for the conduct of
U.S. foreign policy in a turbulent world. This final overview report analyzes
how the United States moved from the triumph at the end of the Cold War
to the stalemate of today, and the major-power shifts and realignments
that have occurred around the world.
The report reviews the country’s strengths and weaknesses, and suggests
strategies for adapting to this new era of turbulence and uncertainty.
It analyzes how to improve the U.S. government’s capacity for anticipation,
deterrence, and resilience, three areas for policy attention that will
become increasingly important in a period of rapid change. It presents
three plausible U.S. strategic concepts and evaluates their underlying
assumptions, costs, risks, and constraints. It also offers thoughts on
how to choose among alternatives. It concludes that the United States is
in many ways in an enviable position compared with its rivals, and
continues to benefit from the liberal international order that it built over
seven decades. However, a coherent international strategy will be difficult
to pursue without a greater degree of domestic political consensus.
Domestic political dysfunction is the greatest obstacle to effective
U.S. global leadership.
C O R P O R A T I O N
www.rand.org
$42.00
ISBN-10 0-8330-9692-3
ISBN-13 978-0-8330-9692-0
54200
RR-1631-RC
9 780833 096920