National Security

Lessons From The Hoover Policy Boot Camp

Contributing Scholar: H. R. McMaster

The Greatest Threats to American Security

China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea have increasingly worked together to challenge American power. Meeting that threat requires more than military strength; it requires strategic competence, credible deterrence, strong alliances, and a clear understanding of war’s enduring nature — the foundations of lasting American security.

Up Next Minimum Wage: Good Intentions, Hard Evidence

The Pitfalls of American Strategy

Comment

Published June 19, 2026

McMaster identifies recurring failures in national security strategy: weak historical analogies, untested assumptions, groupthink, contrived consensus, and insufficient attention to the risks of inaction. He applies this framework to US policy toward China, Iran, and Russia, showing how assumptions about integration, accommodation, or reduced hostility shaped strategic choices across administrations. Strategic competence requires clear problem definition, disciplined historical judgment, a realistic understanding of adversaries, and genuine policy options that clarify costs, risks, and consequences.

Recorded on August 14, 2025.

Check out more from H.R. McMaster:

Watch "Today's Battlegrounds" with H.R. McMaster here.
Watch "GoodFellows" with H.R. McMaster here.
Read "The Free World’s Competitive Edge" by H.R. McMaster here.

Learn more about H.R. McMaster here.

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The opinions expressed in this video are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Hoover Institution or Stanford University.