EXPLORING THE CONCEPTUAL SWAMP: THE EVOLUTION OF GRAND STRATEGY AS THEORY AND DISCIPLINE

Resumo

Grand strategy is a term that has come back into focus in recent years. However, the debate is still overshadowed by diverging approaches made to the concept. Some see grand strategy as the coordination of the instruments of national power for the effort of war; others see it as guidelines that guarantee the security of the State, while there are those who approach grand strategy only through the prism of foreign policy. The only common understanding in the specialized literature, however, is that grand strategy stems from the relationship between means and ends where a nation uses its resources for achieving state level goals. In this way, this article analyses the evolution of grand strategy as a theory and as a discipline in order to clarify the debate around such an important concept, however sometimes misunderstood and misused.