Strategic Subcultures and Grand Strategy Formation: A Neoclassical Realist View

Scholars have identified strategic culture as an important ideational factor that influences grand strategy decision making. However, they pay less attention to the role of strategic subcultures in the grand strategy formation. This paper departs from structural realism and exams the effects of strategic subcultures in grand strategy formation at the unit level. To investigate the role of strategic subcultures, the author uses the Type II neoclassical realist approach, which focuses on the influence of ideas on foreign policy and grand strategy response to structural imperatives. Thus, strategic subculture is an ideational intervening variable that affects grand strategy behavior. This paper uses China as a case to conduct a preliminary study to support the author’s theoretical argument. Many scholars have emphasized the impact of thousands of years of Chinese civilization and highlighted the pervasive influence of Confucianism over its state behavior. Nevertheless, China’s grand strategy is frequently affected by its strategic subcultures, such as nationalism and ideology. This paper traces evidence of Chinese grand strategy in the post-9/11 era as a case study.