U.S. Grand Strategy in the 21st Century: The Case for a Continental Commitment

The history of great power conflicts waged by maritime/island powers clearly shows the criticality of supporting continental allies with a ground force commitment. Now is the time to establish a credible series of alliances in Europe and Asia—even though it is a moment of economic retrenchment and great power peace. These alliances need not be costly, but will provide deterrence in the near term and a hedge in the long run against future great power conflict—conflicts that will be waged not just in the air, on the seas, and in cyberspace, but on land as well.