Command

The Twenty-First-Century General

Anthony King

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781108476409
• eBook ISBN: 9781108752459
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

In the wake of the troubled campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, military decision-making appears to be in crisis and generals have been subjected to intense and sustained public criticism. Taking these interventions as a starting point, Anthony King examines the transformation of military command in the twenty-first century. Focusing on the army division, King argues that a phenomenon of collective command is developing. In the twentieth century, generals typically directed and led operations personally, monopolising decision-making. They commanded individualistically, even heroically. As operations have expanded in range and scope, decision-making has multiplied and diversified. As a result command is becoming increasingly professionalised and collaborative. Through interviews with many leading generals and vivid ethnographic analysis of divisional headquarters, this book provides a unique insight into the transformation of command in western armies.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Table of contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Command in the Twenty-First Century
• 2 The Division
• 3 Defining Command
• 4 Twentieth-Century Operations
• 5 Twentieth-Century Command
• 6 Leadership
• 7 The Counter-Insurgents
• 8 Kandahar
• 9 The March Up
• 10 The New Headquarters
• 11 Distributing Command
• 12 The Decision Point
• 13 The Crisis
• 14 The Command Collective
• Bibliography
• Index