The Geopolitics of America's Strategic Culture

摘要

The relatively new concept of “strategic culture,” though under discussion for a generation, has been underdeveloped. This article defines the concept clearly, critiques several other scholars' definitions, and traces the powerful influence of geography upon the phenomenon. It identifies two coalitions of subcultures in America which respectively tend toward isolationism and interventionism. These coalitions compete with each other for dominance, alternately winning or losing depending on the degree of success of the national security elite in rallying normally isolationist subcultures around efforts to cope with international crises which the elite, for geostrategic reasons, has either provoked or misrepresented.