Uncommon Knowledge: Charles Hill—Grand Strategies

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July 23, 2010 | Recorded on July 14, 2010

Charles Hill—Grand Strategies

with guest Charles Hill

Charles Hill on <i>Uncommon Knowledge</i>

Ambassador Hill is the author of a number of books, the most recent of which is Grand Strategies: Literature, Statecraft, and World Order.

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Hill explains why statecraft cannot be practiced in the absence of literary insight. “The international world of states and their modern system is a literary realm … where the greatest issues of the human condition are played out.” From theory to practice, Hill bridges the gap between Thucydides and Obama to consider the practice of grand strategies in U.S. foreign policy today. (34:37) Video transcript

To go to segments within a video, click the links below:

start video from beginning Hoover research fellow and member of the Working Group on Islamism and the International Order Charles Hill discusses, with Hoover fellow Peter Robinson, his recent book Grand Strategies. Hill also describes the idea of a grand strategy.
start segment 2 at 7:12 Hoover research fellow Charles Hill discusses why statecraft cannot be practiced in the absence of literary insight.
start segment 3 at 13:13 Hoover research fellow Charles Hill discusses the example of Thucydides to explain why the grand strategist must always match substance with style.
start segment 4 at 18:49 According to Hoover research fellow and member of the Working Group on Islamism and the International Order Charles Hill, Obama does not understand America because he cannot grasp the idea of American exceptionalism.
start segment 5 at 25:27 Chapter 5 Hoover research fellow Charles Hill discusses the deterioration of U.S. foreign policy since the end of the cold war.