CDS Professional Reading List: Civil-Military Relations

Using the example of great modern leaders - Lincoln, Clemenceau, Churchill and Ben Gurion - all of whom were without military experience, Supreme Command argues that, in fact, civilian statesman can be brilliant commanders in times of war. Supreme Command is about leadership in wartime, or more precisely about the tension between two kinds of leadership, civil and military. Eliot Cohen uncovers the nature of strategy-making by looking at four great democratic war statesman and seeing how they dealt with the military leaders who served them. In doing so he reveals fundamental aspects of leadership and provides not merely an historical analysis but a study of issues that remain crucial today. By examining the cases of four of the greatest war statesmen of the twentieth century he explores the problem of how people confront the greatest challenges that can befall them, in this case national leaders. Beginning with a discussion of civil-military relations from a theoretical point of view, Cohen lays out the conventional beliefs about how politicians should deal with generals and the extent to which either can influence the outcome of war. From these he draws broader lessons for student

How do civilians control the military? In the wake of September 11, the renewed presence of national security in everyday life has made this question all the more pressing. In this book Peter Feaver proposes a theory that treats civil-military relations as a principal-agent relationship, with the civilian executive monitoring the actions of military agents, the armed servants of the nation-state. Military obedience is not automatic but depends on strategic calculations of whether civilians will catch and punish misbehaviour.

This landmark book dispels the idea that the period between the SecondWorld War and the unification of the armed services nbsp;in 1968constituted the Canadian Army’s “golden age.” Drawingon recently declassified documents, Peter Kasurak depicts an eraclouded by the military leadership’s failure to loosen the graspof British army culture, produce its own doctrine, and advise politicalleaders effectively. The discrepancy between the army’s goals andthe Canadian state’s aspirations as a peacemaker in the postwarworld resulted in a series of civilian-military crises that ended onlywhen the scandal of the Somalia Affair in 1993 forced reform.

The intervention of the military in national politics and the everyday lives of citizens is a key question in civil-military relations. This book explains how concordance theory can provide a model for predicting such domestic intervention. Models dealing with the relationship between the military and society are usually based on Western nations with power and influence, and therefore may not be appropriate for the circumstances of non-Western countries. By contrast, concordance theory considers national contexts where the balance of military involvement in civilian life depends greatly on historical circumstances, institutional nuances, and cultural realities. Using five case studies - India, Pakistan, Israel, Argentina, and Post-Revolutionary America - this book challenges traditional views on the role of the military in society, and offers convincing examples for the continual application of concordance theory. It also explores the evolution of the theory from the field of military studies to one of 'corporate concordance'. This book will be of much interest to advanced students of Civil-Military Relations, military sociology, political science and US politics.

Redefined during the past thirty years, the centre of government currently extends itself further than ever before. Central governmental agencies are 'where the rubber meets the road', where public service meets politics, and policy becomes reality. So who's driving this car? Agencies such as the Privy Council Office, the Finance Department, and the Treasury Board exert their influence horizontally, deciding how policy is made and how money gets spent According to Donald Savoie, these organizations, instituted to streamline Ottawa's planning processes, instead telescope power to the Prime Minister and weaken the influence of ministers, the traditional line departments, and even parliament, without contributing to more rational and coherent policy-making. This is scholarship at its best: rigorous and riveting. The government operates as a combination of known procedures and the more elusive subtleties of human relationships and unspoken codes of behaviour. Donald Savoie's long-time involvement in government affairs allows him to read through the surface of the results of his extensive research-which included several interviews with elites-in order to expose all the levels of power at play. Indispensable reading for students of politics, public policy, and public administration, Ottawa watchers, journalists, lobbyists, and civil servants who want to know what is really going on.