America Revived: Robert Blackwill on US Grand Strategy, Global Leadership & Liberal Internationalism

Why It Matters

A renewed, hybrid U.S. grand strategy would safeguard economic interests and geopolitical stability, providing businesses with a predictable framework for international investment and trade.

Key Takeaways

• Primacy viable only in unipolar era, now unrealistic
• Liberal internationalism weakened by China, Trump, and policy limpness
• Hybrid strategy fuses military strength with renewed economic diplomacy
• American nationalism and mercantilism risk undermining multilateral engagement
• World order remains repairable; US must lead with balanced tools

Summary

The virtual seminar featured Robert Blackwill, senior fellow at the Belfer Center and Hoover Institution, unveiling his 100‑page report “America Revived: A Grand Strategy for Resolute Global Leadership.” Blackwill framed the discussion around the urgent need to reassess U.S. grand strategy in light of a multipolar world, rising Chinese power, and the lingering effects of the Trump administration. He argued that the United States must move beyond the outdated doctrines of pure primacy and the limp application of liberal internationalism that have left the liberal order vulnerable.

In the report, Blackwill dissected five competing schools—primacy, liberal internationalism, restraint, American nationalism, and Trumpism—concluding that only a hybrid approach can meet today’s challenges. He dismissed primacy as a relic of the post‑Cold War unipolar moment and blamed liberal internationalism’s decline on three factors: China’s systematic undermining, Trump’s disruptive policies, and a failure to maintain a coherent economic agenda. The proposed fusion retains America’s unrivaled military advantage while reviving an assertive, rules‑based economic diplomacy to counter China and re‑energize alliances.

Blackwill’s remarks were peppered with vivid analogies, from warning that “world order is never static” to joking that a “rupture heals in six months” like a Mayo Clinic diagnosis. He emphasized that the United States remains the world’s most powerful nation, with the deepest diplomatic reach, and that claims of a dead world order are “silly.” His optimism that nothing is beyond repair underpins the call for a bipartisan, long‑term strategy.

The implications are clear: policymakers and business leaders must prepare for a grand strategy that blends hard power with proactive trade and investment tools, counters nationalist and mercantilist impulses, and restores credibility to multilateral institutions. Failure to adopt such a balanced approach could cede strategic advantage to China and erode the liberal economic order that underpins global markets.

Original Description

An in-depth conversation with Robert D. Blackwill, Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center, discussing his Council on Foreign Relations Special Report, America Revived: A Grand Strategy of Resolute Global Leadership.

In this seminar, Ambassador Blackwill lays out a clear argument for a renewed U.S. foreign policy rooted in liberal internationalism and American primacy, rejecting restraint, nationalism, and Trumpism as insufficient for today’s geopolitical challenges. The discussion explores how the United States can reassert effective global leadership amid intensifying competition with China and Russia, instability in the Middle East and South Asia, and the growing role of geo-economics in national power.

Ambassador Blackwill brings decades of experience at the highest levels of U.S. foreign policy. He previously served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Planning under President George W. Bush, U.S. Ambassador to India, Presidential Envoy to Iraq, and the administration’s coordinator for U.S. policy toward Afghanistan and Iran. His work spans U.S. grand strategy, great-power competition, and regional security across Asia and the Middle East.

The conversation is moderated by Meghan L. O’Sullivan, Director of the Belfer Center.

This event was held virtually on February 2, 2026 and is on the record. The recording is posted for public viewing.