About Stimson

Reimagining US Grand Strategy Program

Challenge conventional wisdom, question assumptions, and help policymakers manage risks, make informed decisions, and allocate resources wisely.

The Reimagining US Grand Strategy Program strengthens U.S. foreign policy by testing assumptions, reassessing conventional wisdom, and exploring innovative approaches to international engagement.

Given the historic nature of the challenges facing U.S. policymakers in a rapidly changing world, we believe that the voices influencing policy decisions are often too narrow, and that unconventional thinking is urgently required. The program fills an important gap in the national discourse on the United States’ global role by injecting fresh thinking and unorthodox ideas.

Through original research, public and private events, and media appearances, we are transforming the national security debate, among both policy experts and the broader public.

Program Team

Senior Fellow

Nonresident Fellow

Nonresident Fellow

Nonresident Fellow

Research Analyst

Senior Fellow

Nonresident Fellow

Research Associate

Senior Fellow and Director, Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy Program

Ferial Saeed

Nonresident Fellow

Laura Samotin

Former Nonresident Fellow

Madison Schramm

Nonresident Fellow

Hunter Slingbaum

Research and Development Associate

Will A. Smith

Research Associate

Marie-Louise Westermann

Research Associate

Projects

Is War Worth It?

A comprehensive assessment of the benefits and costs of military action from operational, strategic, and political perspectives.

New Visions for Grand Strategy

As U.S. global dominance wanes, the next decade will define America’s role in a reshaped world. What vision should guide U.S. grand strategy?

The Net Assessment Podcast

Co-hosts Zack Cooper, Melanie Marlowe, and Christopher Preble debate the hard choices facing America’s national security and foreign policy communities.

Assessing American Alliances

Many believe that permanent peacetime alliances provide both security and leverage for the United States — but are today’s alliances really fit for purpose?

Foreign Policy Futures

A mentorship program for emerging professionals seeking to accelerate their careers in foreign policy

The Global South in the World Order

Examining prevailing assumptions about the Global South and promoting new partnerships between the Global South and Western countries in an increasingly multipolar world order

Geopolitics & Economic Statecraft

This project explores critical issues at the intersection of geography, political economy, and foreign policy to better position U.S. policymakers to use the full range of tools of statecraft in an increasingly complex world

Testing Assumptions in US Foreign Policy

Reassessing some of the foundational beliefs that guide US foreign policy

War in the 21st Century

Exploring the changing character of war and its implications for US foreign and defense policy

Reimagining US Diplomacy

Elevating diplomacy as a tool of US statecraft

Research

Filter

Issue Brief

Addressing a Resurgent China: A New Mindset for Strategic Competition

Can either China or the U.S. “win” strategic competition?

September 15, 2025

Issue Brief

After the Age of Trump: Rejecting Competition

Trump’s unpredictability weakens America; his successor should prioritize multilateral engagement over competition with China

September 15, 2025

Issue Brief

Eat, Pray, Govern: The Search for Meaning in Democratic Foreign Policy

Democrats lost the 2024 election and now want foreign policy that sparks joy — turns out doing less abroad might actually mean more

September 15, 2025

Issue Brief

A Free World That Works

Has the Liberal International Order outlived its strategic purpose? How should the United States envision itself in the global systems of its own creation moving forward?

September 15, 2025