Foreign policy is the grand strategy by which a country aims to promote its own interests and values on a global stage. It involves a mix of tools and principles, including military alliances, foreign aid and trade agreements, political and cultural influence, and diplomatic engagement. The study of foreign policy also focuses on how these elements interact to shape the interactions of nations and their citizens.

After decades of war ravaged societies and economies, American leaders recognized that the nation’s interests demanded a new international order based on cooperation and peaceful conflict resolution, anchored by security institutions such as NATO and the United Nations, economic recovery initiatives such as the Marshall Plan and Bretton Woods monetary system, and democratic norms that ensure freedom of speech and assembly and respect for human rights. These structures and arrangements helped preserve America’s unquestioned power and steered it away from costly war.

Today, no country has a more expansive reach than the United States, whose military and economic strength extends to every corner of the globe. This unique position prompts others to seek America’s help in addressing their most intractable problems, and it inspires them to envy the U.S.’s ability to deploy force at a moment of our choosing. But ensuring that a commitment to democracy and open markets triumphs on a global scale requires more than American primacy. It also entails sustaining and strengthening the bases of that power, which in turn demands a steady hand on the wheel of diplomacy.