In this handout photo provided by U.S. Central Command, U.S. forces patrol the Arabian Sea near the M/V Touska by the Strait of Hormuz on April 20, 2026. Analysts say Washington is increasing pressure on Tehran ahead of the U.S. president’s mid-May visit to Beijing, a major source of support for the Iranian regime through illicit oil trade. U.S. Navy via Getty Images
Foreign policy doctrines are too often treated as temporary political slogans attached to individual presidencies. History suggests something else entirely. The doctrines that survive are tied to historical American grand strategy rather than to the personality of the president who announced them. Others disappear almost as quickly as they are proclaimed because they lack strategic coherence, fail to identify enduring national interests, or collapse under the pressure of geopolitical reality.
Dr. Lamont Colucci was the inaugural director of doctrine development for the U.S. Space Force and is a professor of political science at Concordia University Wisconsin. A former U.S. State Department diplomat, he specializes in national security, foreign policy, and space strategy. He is the author of multiple books on foreign affairs and American grand strategy.
