Security, stability, and international order

This article assesses the pros and cons of Amitai Etzioni's security first grand strategy. It argues that such a grand strategy is not much less ambitious than the Bush doctrine that it seeks to replace. The article is especially critical of Etzioni's proposals for forcible deproliferation. Rather than a security first grand strategy, the article defends a stability-first grand strategy that relies on the Westphalian state system, nuclear deterrence, the United Nations, and a U.S. grand strategy of measured restraint.