Democracy and Grand Strategy

Chris, Zack, and Melanie discuss Hal Brands and Charles Edel’s
article “A Grand Strategy of Democratic Solidarity.” Is it
possible, and is it wise, to construct a grand strategy of
democratic solidarity to counter China and Russia? How might the
United States and other countries implement this strategy in
practice?  Should President Joe Biden host a “summit for
democracies,” or would that cause more problems than it would
solve?


 


Melanie criticizes Biden’s infrastructure plan, Zack praises
Congress for bipartisan work on the Strategic Competition Act of
2021, and Chris has some tender words for his daughter, Katelyn,
as she finishes her time in high school just as she’s spent the
last few years — enjoying every moment.


 


Links


Hal Brands and Charles Edel, “A Grand Strategy of Democratic
Solidarity,” Washington Quarterly, March 23, 2021

Kori Schake, “The US Doesn’t Know How to Treat Its Allies,”
The Atlantic, March 28, 2021

Brian Reidl, “Biden’s Infrastructure Proposal is a Giant
Boondoggle,” The Dispatch, April 5, 2021

Michael Wood, Tweet, April 11, 2021

“Strategic Competition Act of 2021,”  U.S. Senate
Foreign Relation Committee, April 8, 2021

James Goldgeier and Bruce W. Jentleson, "A Democracy Summit
Is Not What the Doctor Ordered," Foreign Affairs, December 14,
2020

Graham Brookie, Tweet, April 11, 2021

“Sharp Partisan Divides in Foreign Policy Priorities,” Pew
Research Center, February 23, 2021

Christopher Preble, “Covert Wars, To What End?” War on the
Rocks, August 7, 2019

Ted Galen Carpenter and Malou Innocent, Perilous Partners:
The Benefits and Pitfalls of America’s Alliances with
Authoritarian Regimes (Cato Institute, 2015)