“An army of deer
led by a lion is more to be feared than an army of lions led by a deer.”
Philip
of Macedon
Title: Supreme Command
Author: Eliot
Cohen
Publisher: Anchor
Books
Pages: 304
Content:
Civil-military relations, in the political-military sense, has always been and
will continue to be one of struggle and challenge; especially during the
conduct of a war. The traditional view that politicians set policy and broad
strategy; then leave the military to carry out that policy with minimal
oversight is flawed, short-sighted and dangerous. The premise of this book
centres on the interaction between the politicians and the professional
military officers and what constitutes the line between effective oversight and
micromanagement. The book outlines the fear that many civilian leaders have
with being too aggressive in their oversight and questioning of military
commanders. Specifically, he recounts four case studies (Lincoln, Clemenceau, Churchill and
Ben-Guiron) that defy the stereotype to illustrate his thesis that it is
critical that statesmen do not balk at asking the tough questions or
challenging military judgement.
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