America's Great-Power Opportunity

Revitalizing U.S. Foreign Policy to Meet the Challenges of Strategic Competition

By: Ali Wyne

Narrated by: Tristan Morris

It has become axiomatic to contend that U.S. foreign policy must adapt to an era of renewed "great-power competition." The United States went on a quarter-century strategic detour after the Cold War, the argument goes, basking in triumphalism and getting bogged down in the Middle East. Now China and Russia are increasingly challenging its influence and undercutting the order it has led since 1945. How should it respond to these two formidable authoritarian powers?

In this timely intervention, Ali Wyne offers the first detailed critique of great-power competition as a foreign policy framework, warning that it could render the United States defensive and reactive. He exhorts Washington to find a middle ground between complacence and consternation, selectively contesting Beijing and Moscow but not allowing their decisions to determine its own course. Analyzing a resurgent China, a disruptive Russia, and a deepening Sino-Russian entente, Wyne explains how the United States can seize the "great-power opportunity" at hand: to manage all three of those phenomena confidently while renewing itself at home and abroad.

©2022 Ali Wyne (P)2022 Tantor

A Perspective

The book was alright - bought it because I’m military and Great Power Competition is all the rage. Something about it was off though, and my inclination was the framing or perhaps that it was written during a major world event - the Covid 19 pandemic. The author spoke of Americas relative decline, but I don’t remember hearing anything on it in absolute terms. It’s too easy to write about what’s bad. Things are getting better over the long run but we’d never know it if the moment informs us. There is a solid case for optimism in spite of all that is negative. This book, in my opinion, is just fine as a perspective on the GPC.