Command The Twenty-First-Century General

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.

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.

Anthony King is the chair of War Studies in the Politics and International Studies Department at Warwick University. His most recent publications include The Combat Soldier (2013) and, as editor, Frontline (2015). He has acted as a mentor and adviser to the British Army and the Royal Marines for over a decade and worked as one of General Carter's special advisers in the Prism Cell in Regional Command South, Kandahar, in 2009–10.