Books reviews, current events, and other musings

In Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime, Eliot Cohen analyzes the relationship between civilian leaders and the military. The normal theory is that elected officials should determine the objectives, and the generals should achieve those objectives with minimal interference from the politicians. Cohen argues, instead, that the best civilian leaders are more involved in military strategy and operations.

To make this point, Cohen examines the conduct of four extraordinary wartime leaders: Abraham Lincoln, Georges Clemenceau (the prime minister of France during late World War I), Winston Churchill, and David Ben-Gurion (the first prime minister of modern Israel). In each case, their active participation was instrumental to eventual military victory. The civilian / military relations though horrendous wars becomes a compelling narrative. It was especially interesting to read about Clemenceau and Ben-Gurion, who I knew almost nothing about.

After that, Cohen discusses recent American wars, fought under less illustrious leadership. Regarding Vietnam, he challenges conventional wisdom by arguing, convincingly, that the problem was not enough civilian intervention instead of too much. Incompetent generals and ineffective policies remained in place for years despite their failures. During the Gulf War, White House supervision was amazingly light, but the US-lead forces were so powerful that it didn’t really matter. Cohen argues that the US should have overthrown Iraq back then, though recent events illustrate that Bush Sr. had good reasons not to, and anyway selecting objectives isn’t the main topic.

The book ends by reviewing what everyone else to say about interactions between military and civilian officials. Cohen’s argument for greater civilian involvement omits one basic concern: perhaps less gifted leaders would provide less valuable guidance. Still, Supreme Command provides a worthwhile perspective, makes some good points, and is very readable and accessible, even to someone with limited knowledge of military affairs.