WAR IS MY BUSINESS
WAR IS MY BUSINESS
BOOK REVIEWS
Just War Reconsidered: Strategy, Ethics, and Theory
James M. Dubik, Lt. Gen USA (RET)
James M. Dubik, Lt. Gen USA (RET)
Dubik focuses mainly on addressing senior political and military leaders and those in managerial positions that have the responsibility to lead and contribute to important war-waging dialogue. Similarly, for-profit or non-profit businesses, their owners, chief executives, and leaders charged with providing subject matter expertise or managerial oversight into the decision making processes of that business would find value in what Dubik has written. If you or your people are in charge of developing courses of action for your organization then there are valuable commonalities between Dubik’s war-waging responsibilities and your business plans.
Dereliction of Duty:
​Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam
H.R. McMaster, Major USA - now Lt. Gen USA (RET)
H.R. McMaster, Major USA - now Lt. Gen USA (RET)
McMaster focuses primarily on the senior civilian and military leaders who steered the United States towards its increased involvement in the Vietnam conflict and the numerous factors that had led them to do so. He showcases the flaws of the men that were ultimately in charge of shaping a nation’s course of action, and how the dynamic relationships that they had with each other impacted foreign policy decisions. With the release of The Pentagon Papers, and their memoirs, McMaster was able to derive the motives and opinions of these men. It provides a cautionary tale for the deciding bodies of business organizations, as much as it does for the United States and other nations.
True Faith and Allegiance:
The Burden of Military Ethics
James H. Toner, PhD
James H. Toner, PhD
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What Toner can provide to us is not what it takes to be an ethical Soldier in combat, but a person that is able to see the bigger picture on the implications of our actions and a way to move forward even in times of great hardship. He will show you how to look at an ethical quandary, where extenuating circumstances may put us into a predicament, and provide us a rational methodology for weighing what we should and shouldn't do. Not something that one will easily find in other books on ethics.
Supreme Command:
Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime
Supreme Command:
Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime
Michael Walzer, PhD
There is value in the discussion of whether or not going to war is just or unjust, as a business decision to carry out a particular course of action can might have similar justifications. A business has numerous stakeholders that need to be taken into account during the planning of a decision, and with who positive and negative impacts will invariably arise when a decision is finally executed. The terms just and unjust come with it a lot of baggage that deals with legality and morality, especially in the conduct of one of humanity’s most important human activities; organized violence, but that is the same for every other activity, only to a less severe degree. Just and unjust is about the justification for doing something, obviously, but in this way can mean the same thing as actions you “could and should do” and those that you “could and shouldn't do.”
The Big Stick:
The Limits of Soft Power &
the Necessity of Military Force
The Big Stick:
The Limits of Soft Power &
the Necessity of Military Force
Samuel P. Huntington
The Soldier and the Soldier by Huntington is quite a read, and it really digs into the issues between our liberal society and that of the more conservative military. The reality is that for many organizations, they desire to produce a scenario that is inherently conservative for the business. They want group-focused individuals that will sacrifice for the company while maintaining a high level of professionalism and problem-solving capabilities. Military values are about shaping individuals into valuable and trusted team members, and what private-sector organization wouldn't want that? This book is about how that inherently came to be in regards to military professionalism, and its lessons can be applied to businesses as well.
How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything:
Tales from the Pentagon
How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything:
Tales from the Pentagon
General James (Jim) Mattis & Kori Schake
Warriors & Citizens: American Views of Our Military on the surface is an interpretation of survey data. This data helps us understand to what degree there is a familiarity gap between the military, the government, and the people. At its heart, however, is a series of assessments that warn the reader of the dangers of not having a shared understanding — a valuable read for military and government personnel. If you can appreciate the commonalities, a useful read for anyone involved in a business organization with a complex and departmentalized structure.
The Big Stick:
The Limits of Soft Power &
the Necessity of Military Force
The Big Stick:
The Limits of Soft Power &
the Necessity of Military Force
Eliot A. Cohen
Eliot A. Cohen
Eliot A. Cohen's The Big Stick is fundamentally about the continued importance of the use of military power - hard power - and the need to continue to use and hone it in spite of arguments to the contrary. Those arguments are based more on a perceived desire for the world to become something that it isn't, and it is Cohen's position that hard power is still very much a critical instrument of national power. An instrument as necessary now, and in the future, as it was during the Cold War.
Supreme Command:
Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime
Supreme Command:
Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime
Eliot A. Cohen
Eliot A. Cohen
Eliot A. Cohen's Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime provides a new and valuable perspective on civil-military relations - a perspective that has parallels for large and departmentalized businesses. It has had an impact on contemporary discussions on how the relationship between the civilian government and the military should be and has provided it provides counters to many of the arguments that favor the "normal" theory put forth by Huntington.
How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything:
Tales from the Pentagon
How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything:
Tales from the Pentagon
Rosa Brooks
Rosa Brooks
How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales from the Pentagon by Rosa Brooks is a book about the author's experiences dealing with civil-military issues. It also serves as a tool for helping the citizenry, especially those in office and other civil servants, understand the military a little more, and be able to engage them more effectively. It shows the need for our society to understand that the military - for all its power and dedication to accomplishing its missions - has its limits.
The Better Angels of Our Nature:
Why Violence Has Declined
The Better Angels of Our Nature:
Why Violence Has Declined
Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker
In this book by Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, we look at the violent nature of humanity, the historical wranglings with it, and see ultimately that violence has indeed been in decline. The book's entirety seeks to explain why this is the case - why we are seeing historical reductions in violence and associated abuses. He supports his claims by looking at archeological and historical data points, psychology, sociology, and neurology sciences, as well as his own conclusions.
Leadership Strategy
and Tactics
Leadership Strategy
and Tactics
Jocko Willink
Jocko Willink
Leadership Strategy and Tactics covers principles developed through the author's experiences in the Navy SEALs. He wrote this book to guide military and business leaders. A book that you, the reader, can keep handy and refer back to if you have any quandaries about what to do in a leadership dilemma. While much of the book is narrative, telling his own stories of the things he has experienced and witnessed throughout his career, the way the book is outlined does allow for it to be treated like a reference.
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win
Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
Extreme Ownership involves taking ownership of an organization’s performance. An understandable perspective to hold. How else would you lead, in a hands-off laissez-faire way? Obviously not, but Extreme Ownership takes responsibility for performance to an order of magnitude greater. The people that utilize Extreme Ownership, the way the authors describe it, not only take responsibility for their own failures, but also for the failures of their subordinates, partners, and superiors.
The Dichotomy of Leadership: Balancing the Challenges of Extreme Ownership to Lead and Win
The Dichotomy of Leadership: Balancing the Challenges of Extreme Ownership to Lead and Win
Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
The Dichotomy of Leadership is about balancing the various responsibilities of leadership. Every chapter, except the introduction, covers some type of issue that requires balance. Like their other books, they first discuss an experience they had while leading training evolutions or in combat in Iraq. These experiences lead into a discussion about a particular principle which in turn leads into an actual anecdote of teaching and applying this to the businesses of their clients.
Leadership In
The Shadows
Leadership In
The Shadows
Kyle Lamb
Kyle Lamb
Organizations succeed or fail based on the quality of their leaders. Even in the technology-soaked 21st Century, leaders are still the key element in the accomplishment of your mission. Leadership in the Shadows describes, in detail, a set of leadership principles which have been proven in the most challenging conditions America has faced over the last two decades. Drawn from real-life experiences, SGM (R) Lamb's lessons will give you the tools and insight to raise your leadership skills to the next level.
War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning
War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning
Chris Hedges
Chris Hedges
In this book, he discusses the nature of warfare that is often clouded in mythology. A nature that is obscured by the fervor of patriotic enthusiasm, the fanatic dedication to a cause, and the need to justify what was once unjustifiable - simply to continue moving forward. War is horrifying. Violence coupled with hatred can be brutal. Humans, however, partake in it like a drug; knowing its dangers, but being compelled to take another hit.
James H. Toner
Morals Under the Gun: The Cardinal Virtues, Military Ethics, and American Society by James H. Toner discusses the application of traditional cardinal values for the military and American society as a whole. The value of fostering ethics for business should be apparent. In one aspect, it builds trust within an organization. In another aspect, trust outside the organization builds support from customers and clients that the business will do the right thing.
On Killing:
The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society
On Killing:
The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman compares the uniqueness of the combat environment and that of human psychology. It looks at how society views warfare, its warfighters, and the act of killing to achieve its ends. It looks at how the individual chooses to kill or not to kill, and for those that kill, how they deal with the trauma involved. It looks at how we can condition our warfighters to kill more effectively, but also how to care for them after their return. What we see here is a scientific examination of the human condition taken to a particular extreme.
On Combat:
The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace
On Combat:
The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace, provides the reader with a glimpse of the human being under times of high stress and psychological trauma. We can learn what to expect when we or others become involved in these situations and can even begin to analyze and speculate others' actions. You begin to see why people act illogically, why a police officer may mistake a wallet or phone for a weapon, and why people who have to kill are constantly trying to justify the reasons why.
When Violence Is The Answer:
Learning How To Do What It Takes When Your Life Is At Stake
When Violence Is The Answer:
Learning How To Do What It Takes When Your Life Is At Stake
Tim Larkin
Tim Larkin
When Violence Is The Answer: Learning How To Do What It Takes When Your Life Is At Stake by Tim Larkin talks much about the tool of violence, but it isn't a tool we employ that much in the business sector. It is very much a tool of the military, police, and security sectors. Still, in Larkin's discussion of social and asocial violence, it is all about preparing for when people bring it to you, your people, and your customers. Understanding that there are people out there that will bring harm - regardless of what your business maybe - you can take the appropriate measures.