Effective Grand Strategy of the 21st Century: An American Foreign Policy based on Values or Interests

Abstract

Since the end of the Cold War, foreign policy analysts have debated about the most appropriate strategy that the United States should follow in terms of its foreign policy. Making clear the concept of effective strategy in foreign policy and international relations, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the concrete strategies that the United States must follow to be successful in its foreign policy, in the context of the new challenges that the international system is facing in the 21st century. More clearly, in this paper will be identified the character of the international policies that the USA should follow in the system of international relations, as well as the most appropriate means to realize them. The research questions that arise for this purpose are: Should the American foreign policy prioritize liberal values and principles or the American national interest? What role should the US play in providing global public goods? Is it necessary for the USA to invest in a restrictive foreign policy strategy, maintaining defiant military primacy in the context of the problems they are facing today? To answer the above question this study is based on secondary sources as bibliographical analysis, journal articles, as well as the most popular theories of international relations, making efforts to ensure objective and accurate information sources. Also, given that international relations forecasting is a really complex issue, the collection of concrete data and their interpretation based on a comparative approach, has served as an important instrument to make the theoretical framework as reliable as possible.