Command: The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine

In war, command is about forging and implementing effective strategies and ensuring appropriate, timely, well-communicated orders are obeyed to achieve objectives. But as Freedman explores in this text, beyond its centrality to military action and leadership the concept of command is also deeply political. Taking a global perspective of the revolution of military command since the Second World War through a series of eleven case studies, Command investigates the practice and politics of command as it has evolved through a range of serious conflicts and influenced by nuclear warfare, small-scale guerrilla land operations and cyber interference. In thus illuminating the political nature of strategy, Command clearly demonstrates how military decision-making remains inseparable from civilian priorities, and the necessity for commanders to navigate politics as well as warfare.