POLS 083. Great Power Competition (IR)

The unipolar moment is over (possibly). Both the Trump and Biden administrations have acknowledged that great power competition (GPC) is back, even as they disagree where the biggest threats lie and what the best way forward is. Are these fears warranted? What strategies will best ensure the security and success of the US? Is strategizing even possible in an age of intense political polarization - will allies and enemies find US commitments credible? This course explores GPC by focusing on grand strategies: the ways in which states align means and ends to produce security for themselves. Section 1 defines GPC and grand strategy with theory and historical examples. Section 2 lays out the various ends which great power pursue and how they define security. Section 3 considers statecraft, the tools that great powers use. Section 4 traces the historical arc of US grand strategy and considers present-day policy proposals and alternatives. Section 5 does the same for Russia and China before considering how middle powers and small states navigate a complex ecology defined by these great powers. A brief conclusion considers how the world is changing and asks if grand strategy is still useful.
Social Science.
1 credit.
Spring 2025. Casey.
Department website: swarthmore.edu/political-science

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