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Power Problems • January 25, 2022 

# Public Choice and U.S. Grand Strategy 

Richard Hanania argues that the existence of a consistent, top-down, overarching U.S. grand strategy is an illusion. Instead of a unitary actor adhering to a coherent strategy over time, the state is subject to a set of concentrated interests that have outsize influence on U.S. foreign policy.

**Show Notes:**

- [Richard Hanania bio](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xJ-71I0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao)
- Richard Hanania, [*Public Choice Theory and the Illusion of Grand Strategy: How Generals, Weapons Manufacturers, and Foreign Governments Shape American Foreign Policy*](https://www.amazon.com/Public-Choice-Theory-Illusion-Strategy-ebook/dp/B09L9Y2W7S) (New York: Routledge, 2021).
- Richard Hanania, “[’Just Trust the Experts,’ We’re Told, We Shouldn’t](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/20/opinion/afghanistan-experts-expertise.html),” *New York Times* September 20, 2021.
- Richard Hanania, “[Ineffective, Immoral, Politically Convenient: America’s Overreliance on Economic Sanctions and What to Do about It](https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/ineffective-immoral-politically-convenient-americas-overreliance-economic-sanctions),” Cato Institute Policy Analysis no. 884, February 18, 2020.

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

##### Richard Hanania 

Columbia University

![John Glaser](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/John%20Glaser.jpg?itok=-uvxR8zG) 

##### John Glaser 

Host, Power Problems Podcast

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](https://twitter.com/jwcglaser)