In a research project undertaken with Steve Walker, one of the pioneers of role theory in foreign policy analysis, I am investigating the timing of shifts in US grand strategy. We hypothesize that congruence across several levels—International role demands, a permissive domestic political coalition, and activist leadership—makes such transitions more likely.

In another ongoing project, I conceive of grand strategy as a two-dimensional policy space in which countries are prompted to choose between dominance or deference and between autonomy or institutionalization. Building on this two-dimensional model, I try to better account for the diversity of Japanese, German, and US responses to the postwar international order.