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Proconsuls: Delegated Political-Military Leadership from Rome to America Today

Proconsuls: Delegated Political-Military Leadership from Rome to America Today

by Carnes Lord (Author)

  • New

    Paperback 2012

    $29.83

  • New

    Hardcover 2012

    $129.45
Synopsis

This book is a study of proconsulship, a form of delegated political-military leadership historically associated with the governance of large empires. Opening with a conceptual and historical analysis of proconsulship as an aspect of imperial or quasi-imperial rule generally, it surveys its origins and development in the late Roman Republic and its manifestations in the British Empire. The main focus is proconsulship in American history. Beginning with the occupation of Cuba and the Philippines after the Spanish-American War, it discusses the role of General Douglas MacArthur in East Asia during and after World War II, the occupation of Germany (focusing on General Lucius Clay), and proconsular leadership during the Vietnam War and the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan at the turn of the twenty-first century. An additional chapter provides an assessment of the evolution of American political-military command and control and decision making after the end of the Cold War.

$29.83

Quantity

10 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 256
 Edition: 1
 Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 30 Jun 2012
ISBN 10: 0521254698
ISBN 13: 9780521254694
Book Overview: The first systematic analysis of American proconsular leadership from the Spanish-American War to the present.

Media Reviews
'Lord sensitively and skilfully outlines a detailed blueprint for how such newly organized Defense Department proconsulships might avoid any resemblance to a colonial office or German general staff.' Victor Davis Hanson, Claremont Review of Books
Many observers have noted with unease the rise of America's combatant commanders as figures who often seem to overshadow their civilian masters in Washington; until now, no one has studied them in the depth, or with the historical perspective of Carnes Lord. An important contribution to the literature on civil-military relations, and, one hopes, to the rethinking of America's national security architecture. -Eliot A. Cohen, Robert E. Osgood Professor of Strategic Studies, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Leonard Wood in Cuba; William Howard Taft in the Philippines; Douglas MacArthur in Japan; Lucius Clay in Germany; Edward Lansdale, Henry Cabot Lodge and William Westmoreland in Vietnam; Wesley K. Clark in Kosovo; L. Paul Bremer and David Petraeus in Iraq. Like it or not, Carnes Lord observers, these statesmen were proconsuls on something like the Roman model, and they are not likely to be the last of their kind dispatched abroad by the government of the United States. This riveting book is a pioneering study of a neglected subject of vital and permanent importance, from which we Americans would be foolish to avert our gaze. -Paul A. Rahe, Hillsdale College
Once again Carnes Lord has produced a remarkable book rich in insights, this time on a critical but little studied aspect of American security policy-the quality of leadership provided by America's Proconsuls in the field. Drawing from well-researched cases, his conclusions will prepare both students and practitioners for future occasions of America's inevitable role to establish a better peace after conflict. -Don M. Snider, PhD, Professor Emeritus, West Point; and, Distinguished Visiting Professor, Army War College
Professor Lord has written a provocative and thoughtful volume that will put all who read it in his debt. His uncommon academic credentials-including Ph.Ds. from Yale (classics) and Cornell (political science)-make him particularly well qualified to examine the interesting case studies he has selected, and the end product is a must read for those interested in assessing important lessons of history for American interventions in places like Somalia and Iraq. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up! -Robert F. Turner, SJD, Co-founder, Center for National Security Law, University of Virginia School of Law
Lord sensitively and skillfully outlines a detailed blueprint for how such newly organized Defense Department proconsulships might avoid any resemblance to a colonial office or German general staff. -Victor Davis Hanson, Claremont Review of Books
Drawing from prominent historical examples ranging from those of the Roman Republic to the US in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, Lord explores the understudied phenomenon of proconsuls. -C. Potholm II, Bowdoin College, CHOICE
Author Bio
Carnes Lord is Professor of Military and Naval Strategy in the Center for Naval Warfare Studies, United States Naval War College. As a political scientist, his interests lie in international and strategic studies, national security organization and management, and political philosophy. Lord holds PhD degrees from Cornell University and Yale University and has taught political science at Yale University, the University of Virginia and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He has held several senior positions in the United States government, including director of international communications and information policy on the National Security Council staff (1981-4), assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs (1989-91) and distinguished fellow at the National Defense University (1991-3). Lord is the author, among other works, of The Presidency and the Management of National Security (1988), The Modern Prince: What Leaders Need to Know Now (2003) and Losing Hearts and Minds? Strategic Influence and Public Diplomacy in the Age of Terror (2006).