In still others, there are few prospects for cooperation. U.S. foreign policy should seek to strengthen and expand cooperative structures where they exist, and to take advantage of whatever opportunities may arise to develop them where they do not. The Importance of Strength Fixing U.S. foreign policy requires not only the articulation of coherent goals, but also the provision of means necessary to achieve those goals. What seems to work best is the possession by those states who wish to preserve peace of the preponderant power and the will to accept the burdens of and responsibilities required to achieve that power. Policy makers must ensure that the U.S. military is capable of shaping today s security environment by deterring aggression and reassuring allies while preparing for the possible rise of a future peer competitor.
Foreign policy requires the prudent balance between ends and means.
Fixing U.S. foreign policy requires the elimination of the current mismatch between ends and means. The failure to do so is a recipe for failure. Mackubin Thomas Owens is professor of strategy and force planning at the Naval War College in Newport, RI, and an Adjunct Fellow at the Ashbrook Center. The views expressed are his own and do not reflect the position of the Naval War College, Navy Department, or Department of Defense. The Ashbrook Center is a Member Organization.