On March 17, Mathew Burrows and Robert Manning published an article in War on Rocks about the need for humility in US grand strategy. They make the case that US leadership has not appropriately taken into account domestic constraints and the realities of the international system in its agenda setting.
“In his Senate confirmation testimony, Secretary of State Tony Blinken remarked, “Humility and confidence should be the flip sides of America’s leadership.” Why? “Because we have a great deal of work to do at home to enhance our standing abroad.” Indeed, sifting through the Trump legacy, the cumulative social, political, and cultural decay, humility would seem an imperative. Any effective U.S. strategy needs to discard the mindset that assumes U.S. interests subsume those of allies and partners, understand the limits of U.S. agency, and adopt an approach that factors in the interests of others to find an acceptable balance.”
More about our expert
