Grand Strategy by Thucydides in History of the Peloponnesian War

GRAND STRATEGY

1.0        INTRODUCTION

Grand Strategy has been practice very back in time.  One of the earliest writing about grand strategy is by Thucydides in History of the Peloponnesian War.  The war fought between thπe Athenians and the Spartans that started on 4 April 431 B.C and ended on 25 April 404 when the Athens surrendered.^[1]  The cause of the war as explained by Thucydides was ‘the growth of Athenian power and the fear which this caused in Sparta’ (1.23).^[2] 

Other than the ancient grand strategy that has been written, there is a few ‘modern’ grand strategies were practiced.  Some of it is as follows:

1.1        In World War II, where the Allies made the decision to focus defeating the Germany first because the country was the most powerful member of the Axis that has threatened the existence of United Kingdom and Russia (formerly known as USSR).^[3]

1.2        During the Cold War, UK and US have used the policy of containment^[4] against Russia.  This policy is about containing Russia from spreading their communist influence to Eastern Europe, China, Korea and Vietnam.

The term strategy and grand strategy are easily confused.  In strategy the only state power is its military but grand strategy are the accumulation and application of the state economic, diplomatic, military and resources to accomplish the means and ends.  Therefore, strategy mean “the art of military command, of projecting and directing a campaign where as grand strategy is the state’s main purpose was to project and direct military force against internal and external threat.^[5] 

2.0        AIM

The aim of this paper is to study what is grand strategy and it importance, the factors governed in making the strategy and to examine a case study of China grand strategy as to further understand it.

3.0        QUESTION AND OBJECTIVES

In understanding the grand strategy, this paper intend to answer the following question:

3.1        What is Grand Strategy? Why need a Grand Strategy?

        3.2        What is the factors that make and structure a Grand Strategy?

3.3        Is Grand Strategy important? What impact of a Grand Strategy can gives?  For this, China grand strategy is take as a case.

In order to achieve the aim and answer the question of this paper, the objectives is as follows:

        3.4        To define Grand Strategy in the International Relations perspective.

3.5        To understand the factors that contribute having a well define and structured Grand Strategy.

3.6        To examine and understand the impact of one country grand strategy in the contemporary system.

4.0        WHAT IS GRAND STRATEGY?

The term grand strategy did not exist in the earlier times and it is relatively new to this international politics and policy.  Earlier theorists and practitioners such as Sun Tzu, Thucydides, Machiavelli, and Clausewitz can be considered as “grand strategists”.  However, all of them focused primarily on the military as the primary state power.  Sun Tzu was a military commander same goes to Thucydides.  The Art of War and The History of Peloponnesian War was written by them respectively which focused on strategy of military context, which in other word a strategy on how to win a war.   Therefore, those days the language of grand strategy was inseparable from the language of strategy and war.^[6]