--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Grand strategy is about marrying ends to…" description: "\"“Grand strategy is about marrying ends to means, about doing what you can, consistent with the nation's capabilities and resources.”\" — Robert D. Kaplan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d07/robert-d-kaplan-12644_geopolitics_grand-strategy-is-about-marrying-ends-to_2350021.png" --- # Grand strategy is about marrying ends to means, about… ![“Grand strategy is about marrying ends to means, about doing what you can, consistent with the nation's capabilities and resources.” quote by Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d07/robert-d-kaplan-12644_geopolitics_grand-strategy-is-about-marrying-ends-to_2350021.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d07/robert-d-kaplan-12644_geopolitics_grand-strategy-is-about-marrying-ends-to_2350021.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d07/robert-d-kaplan-12644_geopolitics_grand-strategy-is-about-marrying-ends-to_2350021.png) > ““Grand strategy is about marrying ends to means, about doing what you can, consistent with the nation's capabilities and resources.”” [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Grand strategy aligns a nation's goals with its realistic capabilities and resources, ensuring actions are feasible and sustainable. **In simple terms:** Match goals with realistic means. Key Takeaway Plan within your true capacity. Themes strategy national policy resource management Mood pragmatic strategic Type prescriptive analytical When to use this quote - government planning - military operations - business development Key Concepts political science geopolitics Questions to Reflect On - Are your goals realistic given current resources? - How can you adapt strategy when capabilities shift? A Different Perspective Limited by unpredictable events and changing capabilities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consistent Nation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consistent-nation-5717916/) [Geopolitics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/geopolitics/) [Grand Strategy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grand-strategy-814823/) [Grand-strategy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grand-strategy-75562/) [International relations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/international-relations/) [Nation Capabilities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nation-capabilities-5717915/) [Strategy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strategy/) [Strategy Marrying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strategy-marrying-5717914/) ## Related quotes > [“One does not have to be without sin to castigate someone else for being a rapist or murderer" (386).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-pollack/one-does-not-have-to-be-without-sin-to-castigate-someone-else-for-2/) [Kenneth Pollack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-pollack/) > [“So far we have seen the weakening and collapse of small and medium-sized states in Africa and the Middle East. But quasi-anarchy in larger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/so-far-we-have-seen-the-weakening-and-collapse-of-small-and-medium/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [ The higher level of grand strategy \[is\] that of conducting war with a far-sighted regard to the state of the peace that will follow. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/the-higher-level-of-grand-strategy-is-that-of-conducting-war-with-a/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [There is no single grand strategy. Just as the New Left abandoned an overarching program and became a series of like-minded groups advancing area…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bork/there-is-no-single-grand-strategy-just-as-the-new-left-abandoned-an/) [Robert Bork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bork/) > [There is no grand strategy. My sensibilities push me in a certain direction. Other actors have different sensibilities. 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Strategy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/it-should-be-the-aim-of-grand-strategy-to-discover-and-pierce-the/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [The military weapon is but one of the means that serve the purposes of war: one out of the assortment which grand strategy can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/the-military-weapon-is-but-one-of-the-means-that-serve-the-purposes/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [Remember, the American grand strategy works when other countries feel secure. 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Bush has much to evaluate: he has presided over the most sweeping redesign of U.S. grand strategy since the presidency of Franklin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis-gaddis/george-w-bush-has-much-to-evaluate-he-has-presided-over-the-most/) [John Lewis Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis-gaddis/) > [“In September 2002 the Bush administration announced its National Security Strategy, which declared the right to resort to force to eliminate any perceived challenge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/in-september-2002-the-bush-administration-announced-its-national/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“We do have a grand strategy,” says Zeese, who was the spokesman for Ralph Nader’s 2004 presidential campaign. “Nonviolent movements shift power by attacking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/we-do-have-a-grand-strategy-says-zeese-who-was-the-spokesman-for/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“There is no time for patience - there is no time for diplomacy - there is no time for policies, legislations and meaningless paperwork.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/there-is-no-time-for-patience-there-is-no-time-for-diplomacy-there-is/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) ## More by Robert D. Kaplan > [“And so this is where the post Cold War has brought us: to the recognition that the very totalitarism that we fought against in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/and-so-this-is-where-the-post-cold-war-has-brought-us-to-the/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“Or take the opportunity offered to the United States following the attacks of September 11, 2001, when both Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mohammed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/or-take-the-opportunity-offered-to-the-united-states-following-the/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [When you talk about aiding this country against that country or about fighting terrorism, when you actually take that decision and strip it down,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/when-you-talk-about-aiding-this-country-against-that-country-or-about/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“One marker, which I would read a bit later on, tells the familiar story of Narcissa Whitman, "trail-blazer and martyred missionary," who followed the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/one-marker-which-i-would-read-a-bit-later-on-tells-the-familiar-story/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [Given the level of anti-Americanism in the world, given the level of frustration with the United States throughout the Muslim world, you've got a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/given-the-level-of-anti-americanism-in-the-world-given-the-level-of/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [The Cold War went on for so long that it bred a kind of worldwide military establishment. 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Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“Macedonia, the inspiration for the French word for "mixed salad" (macedoine), defines the principle illness of the Balkans: conflicting dreams of lost imperial glory.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/macedonia-the-inspiration-for-the-french-word-for-mixed-salad/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [The more dynamic the capitalistic expansion, the greater the disparity. It is from the disparity that we are going to get all the political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/the-more-dynamic-the-capitalistic-expansion-the-greater-the-disparity/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [It is easy to be a moral perfectionist when one is politically unaccountable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/it-is-easy-to-be-a-moral-perfectionist-when-one-is-politically/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [The masses cannot ultimately be free: only the individual can be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/the-masses-cannot-ultimately-be-free-only-the-individual-can-be/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [The closer one gets to either the eastern or the southern fringe of the German-speaking world-the closer one gets, in other words, to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/the-closer-one-gets-to-either-the-eastern-or-the-southern-fringe-of/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“The South China Sea functions as the throat of the Western Pacific and Indian oceans—the mass of connective economic tissue where global sea routes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/the-south-china-sea-functions-as-the-throat-of-the-western-pacific/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“A better age would have to follow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/a-better-age-would-have-to-follow/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) [Explore all 54 Robert D. Kaplan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) ## More Geopolitics quotes > [“There is no time for patience - there is no time for diplomacy - there is no time for policies, legislations and meaningless paperwork.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/there-is-no-time-for-patience-there-is-no-time-for-diplomacy-there-is/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [In our changing world nothing changes more than geography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/in-our-changing-world-nothing-changes-more-than-geography/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“It's when the 'international community' expresses 'concern' about your 'situation' that your situation is well and truly fucked.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-d-weiss/it-s-when-the-international-community-expresses-concern-about-your/) [Michael D. Weiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-d-weiss/) > [“Bombs kill terrorists, Books kill terrorism. Missiles kill extremists, Mindfulness kills extremism. Guns kill supremacists, Goodness kills supremacy. Law restrains cruel people, Love reforms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/bombs-kill-terrorists-books-kill-terrorism-missiles-kill-extremists/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“When you love the world like you love your family, that day you'll develop the peacemaker métier.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/when-you-love-the-world-like-you-love-your-family-that-day-you-ll/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [Globalization is incredibly efficient but also so far incredibly unjust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-lamy/globalization-is-incredibly-efficient-but-also-so-far-incredibly/) [Pascal Lamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-lamy/) > [In the post-Snowden world, you need to enable others to build their own cloud and have mobility of applications. That’s both because of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/satya-nadella/in-the-post-snowden-world-you-need-to-enable-others-to-build-their/) [Satya Nadella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/satya-nadella/) > [Geopolitics is all about leverage. We cannot make ourselves safer abroad unless we change our behavior at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/geopolitics-is-all-about-leverage-we-cannot-make-ourselves-safer/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Moreover, as America becomes an increasingly multi-cultural society, it may find it more difficult to fashion a consensus on foreign policy issues, except in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zbigniew-brzezinski/moreover-as-america-becomes-an-increasingly-multi-cultural-society-it/) [Zbigniew Brzezinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zbigniew-brzezinski/) > [The fact that Universal Jurisdiction exists in relation to serious international crimes does convey two important aspects of the global reality: first, that such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-a-falk/the-fact-that-universal-jurisdiction-exists-in-relation-to-serious/) [Richard A. 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But quasi-anarchy in larger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/so-far-we-have-seen-the-weakening-and-collapse-of-small-and-medium/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) [Browse all 74 Geopolitics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/geopolitics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Grand strategy is about marrying ends to means, about doing what you can, consistent with the nation's capabilities and resources.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert D. 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