Studies in Generalship: Lessons from the Chiefs of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (Hoover Institution Press Publication, 721) - Softcover

Finkel, Meir

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0817924752 ISBN 13: 9780817924751

Publisher: Hoover Institution Press, 2021

Synopsis

The commander, or chief of staff, of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is a prominent public figure in Israel. His decisions, advice, and persona are held in high regard by Israel's public and leadership, and have indirect impacts on social, economic, and foreign affairs. But until now, an in-depth study on the role and performance of the IDF's chiefs of staff has been sorely absent.

In this study, Meir Finkel offers a robust and original comparative perspective on the IDF chiefs of staff throughout modern Israel's history, examining their conduct in six key areas: identifying change in the strategic environment, developing familiarity with all military domains, managing crises with wartime generals, rehabilitating the army after a botched war, leading a transformation in force design, and building relationships with the political echelon.

The challenging and critical role of the chief of staff demands profound knowledge and authority in a vast and diverse range of fields. By providing a perspective that the IDF's known history has lacked until now, Finkel gives insights that may assist current and future high-rank leaders worldwide in carrying out their important work and offers lessons to students everywhere of strategy, military history, and military transformation.

About this title

About the Author

H. R. McMaster is the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University, where he is also the Bernard and Susan Liautaud Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute and a lecturer in the Graduate School of Business. He was the 26th assistant to the president for National Security Affairs.

Meir Finkel, brigadier general (res.), an armor brigade commander in the Second Lebanon War, is the current head of research and former director of the Dado Center for Interdisciplinary Military Studies/IDF J3. He is the author, most recently, of Military Agility: Ensuring Rapid and Effective Transition from Peace to War. Finkel holds an MA in neurobiology and PhDs in evolutionary biology, political science, and prehistoric archaeology.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hoover Institution Press
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0817924752
• ISBN 13: 9780817924751
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368