A Liberal World Restored?
Grand Strategy Analysis and the Biden Administration
Will be published approx. on 9. July 2026
Book
Hardback
304 pages
978-1-6669-5087-8 (ISBN)
Description
President Joe Biden sought to restore the United States' postwar liberal order in his first two years as president. Biden advocated democratic partnerships, ended the war in Afghanistan, actively supported Ukraine against Russian invasion, pushed techno-nationalist policies, rearranged the Indo-Pacific alliance network, and ratcheted up "great power competition" toward China.
Despite this ambition, Biden's presidency is framed by two separate Trump administrations and is often read as a failed interval in the Trump era. Given this, could contemporaries faithfully evaluate Biden's condensed grand strategy? Can future observers do the same?
A Liberal World Restored?: Grand Strategy Analysis and the Biden Administration presents an innovative approach to identify and assess grand strategy over short time spans by distilling major grand strategy concepts into five ideal types. Despite failures, Joe Biden oversaw a grand strategy that often aligned with expectations set by these criteria. Such results are nuanced. Biden followed grand strategy ideal types related particularly to US power and standing, but his performance on criteria like process and content was mixed.
Despite this ambition, Biden's presidency is framed by two separate Trump administrations and is often read as a failed interval in the Trump era. Given this, could contemporaries faithfully evaluate Biden's condensed grand strategy? Can future observers do the same?
A Liberal World Restored?: Grand Strategy Analysis and the Biden Administration presents an innovative approach to identify and assess grand strategy over short time spans by distilling major grand strategy concepts into five ideal types. Despite failures, Joe Biden oversaw a grand strategy that often aligned with expectations set by these criteria. Such results are nuanced. Biden followed grand strategy ideal types related particularly to US power and standing, but his performance on criteria like process and content was mixed.
Reviews / Votes
This is the most authoritative grand strategic analysis so far of the Biden administration's foreign policy and national security plans and policies. Shively is tough but fair in judging the administration's strategic performance, and he insightfully uses a variety of theoretical lenses to do so. This book is a must-read for scholars and practitioners of US foreign policy! -- Ionut Popescu, Texas State University, USAMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
7 tables
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
503 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-6669-5087-8 (9781666950878)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
06/2026
Bloomsbury Academic
€100.99
Available for download
E-Book
06/2026
Bloomsbury Academic
€100.99
Available for download
Person
Jacob Shively is associate professor at the University of West Florida, USA
Content
List of Tables
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1 The Old World Order
a. Power Forward
b. Assessing Biden's Internationalism
1. Restoration Work
2. Not the Best, But Far from the Worst
3. Muddled Priorities
c. Making the argument
1. Core contributions
2. Pressing Insight
d. Liberal Disagreement
1. Liberal Dilemmas of Dominance
2. Nationalism and Restraint
e. Median Convictions
1. Biden's Background
2. Personnel
f. In Sum
Chapter 2 Quality Description
a. The State of Grand Strategy
1. Now What?
2. Grand Necessity
3. Foreign Policy Decision Processes and Outcome Bias
b. Grand Strategy Analysis
1. Observation Tools
2. Ideal Consistency
3. Identifying Grand Strategy
c. In Sum
Chapter 3 Priorities: Early Goals and Agendas through 2021
a. The Little things
b. A Running Start
1. Early Actions
2. Guiding Principles
c. Old is New Again
1. "A free and open indo-pacific"
2. Democracy and Human Rights
i. Dem summit
3. The Cuban Test
4. Summit for Democracies
d. Findings
1. Process Quality: National Utility
2. Process Quality: Institutional Processes
3. Process Quality: Psychology and Decision Processes
4. Substance
5. Outcomes
e. In Sum
Chapter 4 End of the Beginning: The Afghanistan Withdrawal Decision
a. Ending an Era
b. Decision Portfolio
c. Form Over Function
1. The Review
2. The Power Sharing Proposal
3. The Final Decision
d. Conventional Fallout
e. Findings
1. Process Quality: National Utility
2. Process Quality: Institutional Processes
3. Process Quality: Psychology and Decision Processes
4. Substance
5. Outcomes
f. In Sum
Chapter 5 Technically Strategic: Techno-nationalism and the China Challenge
a. Intro
1. Great Power Spat
2. Techno-nationalism
b. Cold War Deja Vu
1. Team and Rhetoric
2. Early Decisions
c. Trade in the USA
d. Soft Where?
e. Cyber
f. Base Logic
g. Findings
1. Process Quality: National Utility
2. Process Quality: Institutional Processes
3. Process Quality: Psychology and Decision Processes
4. Substance
5. Outcomes
h. In Sum
Chapter 6 Geostrategic Habits: Responding to Russian Challenges
a. Familiar Playbook
b. Basic threats
1. Pipeline Dreams
2. Cyber priorities
c. Impending War
1. Red Flags
2. Deterrent Hopes
d. Cold War Play Book
1. Pulling the Trigger
2. Ukraine's Long War
3. Building Aid
4. Domestic Dissent
5. Isolating Russia
e. Findings
1. Process Quality: National Utility
2. Process Quality: Institutional Processes
3. Process Quality: Psychology and Decision Processes
4. Substance
5. Outcomes
f. In Sum
Chapter 7 Partial Restoration: Diplomat in Residence
a. Summa Bona
1. Pars Bona
b. Liberal Internationalism, Nationalist Mood: Identifying Biden's Grand Strategy
1. Dauntless Hope
2. Impersonal Identity
c. Man of the Century: Assessing Biden's Grand Strategy
1. Grading Grand Strategy
2. A Comparative Assessment
3. Extensions and Modifications
d. Future Description
e. Joe Biden's Grand Strategy
Appendix: On Structured Description
Bibliography
About the Author
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1 The Old World Order
a. Power Forward
b. Assessing Biden's Internationalism
1. Restoration Work
2. Not the Best, But Far from the Worst
3. Muddled Priorities
c. Making the argument
1. Core contributions
2. Pressing Insight
d. Liberal Disagreement
1. Liberal Dilemmas of Dominance
2. Nationalism and Restraint
e. Median Convictions
1. Biden's Background
2. Personnel
f. In Sum
Chapter 2 Quality Description
a. The State of Grand Strategy
1. Now What?
2. Grand Necessity
3. Foreign Policy Decision Processes and Outcome Bias
b. Grand Strategy Analysis
1. Observation Tools
2. Ideal Consistency
3. Identifying Grand Strategy
c. In Sum
Chapter 3 Priorities: Early Goals and Agendas through 2021
a. The Little things
b. A Running Start
1. Early Actions
2. Guiding Principles
c. Old is New Again
1. "A free and open indo-pacific"
2. Democracy and Human Rights
i. Dem summit
3. The Cuban Test
4. Summit for Democracies
d. Findings
1. Process Quality: National Utility
2. Process Quality: Institutional Processes
3. Process Quality: Psychology and Decision Processes
4. Substance
5. Outcomes
e. In Sum
Chapter 4 End of the Beginning: The Afghanistan Withdrawal Decision
a. Ending an Era
b. Decision Portfolio
c. Form Over Function
1. The Review
2. The Power Sharing Proposal
3. The Final Decision
d. Conventional Fallout
e. Findings
1. Process Quality: National Utility
2. Process Quality: Institutional Processes
3. Process Quality: Psychology and Decision Processes
4. Substance
5. Outcomes
f. In Sum
Chapter 5 Technically Strategic: Techno-nationalism and the China Challenge
a. Intro
1. Great Power Spat
2. Techno-nationalism
b. Cold War Deja Vu
1. Team and Rhetoric
2. Early Decisions
c. Trade in the USA
d. Soft Where?
e. Cyber
f. Base Logic
g. Findings
1. Process Quality: National Utility
2. Process Quality: Institutional Processes
3. Process Quality: Psychology and Decision Processes
4. Substance
5. Outcomes
h. In Sum
Chapter 6 Geostrategic Habits: Responding to Russian Challenges
a. Familiar Playbook
b. Basic threats
1. Pipeline Dreams
2. Cyber priorities
c. Impending War
1. Red Flags
2. Deterrent Hopes
d. Cold War Play Book
1. Pulling the Trigger
2. Ukraine's Long War
3. Building Aid
4. Domestic Dissent
5. Isolating Russia
e. Findings
1. Process Quality: National Utility
2. Process Quality: Institutional Processes
3. Process Quality: Psychology and Decision Processes
4. Substance
5. Outcomes
f. In Sum
Chapter 7 Partial Restoration: Diplomat in Residence
a. Summa Bona
1. Pars Bona
b. Liberal Internationalism, Nationalist Mood: Identifying Biden's Grand Strategy
1. Dauntless Hope
2. Impersonal Identity
c. Man of the Century: Assessing Biden's Grand Strategy
1. Grading Grand Strategy
2. A Comparative Assessment
3. Extensions and Modifications
d. Future Description
e. Joe Biden's Grand Strategy
Appendix: On Structured Description
Bibliography
About the Author