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Preparing The Next Generation of Strategists

The Duke Program in American Grand Strategy is a flagship interdisciplinary initiative dedicated to better understanding US foreign policy and national security – past, present, and future.

What is American Grand Strategy?

"Grand strategy is a term of art from academia, and refers to the collection of plans and policies that comprise the state’s deliberate effort to harness political, military, diplomatic, and economic tools together to advance that state’s national interest. Grand strategy is the art of reconciling ends and means. It involves purposive action — what leaders think and want. Such action is constrained by factors leaders explicitly recognize (for instance, budget constraints and the limitations inherent in the tools of statecraft) and by those they might only implicitly feel (cultural or cognitive screens that shape worldviews).

...[The study of American grand strategy] is an excellent way to bridge theory and practice. It begins with theory: leaders’ theories about how the world works and what is or ought to be their states’ roles in that world. Yet it is embodied in policy and practice: government action and reaction in response to real (or perceived) threats and opportunities. Grand strategy may be born in debates at the highest levels of national power, but it lives or dies in the collaborative action of myriad junior officials.

Grand strategy blends the disciplines of history (what happened and why?), political science (what underlying patterns and causal mechanisms are at work?), public policy (how well did it work and how could it be done better?), and economics (how are national resources produced and protected?). Students are especially drawn to grand strategy because it makes history more relevant, political science more concrete, public policy more broadly contextualized, and economics more security-oriented."

- Dr. Peter Feaver, Director of the Duke Program in American Grand Strategy

AGS is an interdisciplinary program committed to preparing Duke students for careers in US foreign policy and national security.

The program is made up of four pillars:

Courses

AGS offers a wide variety of courses on foreign policy, national security and related topics.

Speakers Program

AGS brings distinguished scholars and practitioners to Duke to interact with undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty.

Staff Rides & Field Trips

AGS engages students outside of the classroom, providing distinctive and meaningful learning experiences to students in the form of staff rides and field trips.

Research

AGS advances scholarship and public engagement in the areas of American foreign policy and national security.

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