Command: The 21st Century General - A Webinar with Professor Anthony King (1986)

We are delighted to invite Members to join Professor Anthony King (1986) as he discusses his new book Command: the Twenty First Century General, winner of the 2020 British Military Book of the Year.

In the wake of the troubled campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, command appears to be in crisis in the west and generals have been subjected to intense and sustained public criticism. Taking these interventions as a starting point, Anthony King will examine the transformation of military command in the twenty-first century in this talk. Focusing on the army division, King will argue that a new practice of command is developing today. In the twentieth century, generals typically directed and led operations personally, monopolising decision-making. They commanded individualistically, even heroically. As operations have expanded in range and scope in the last two decades, decision-making has become more difficult for commanders; they must make decisions more quickly about more things. As a result, command is becoming increasingly professionalised and collaborative. In this talk, through the example of General James Mattis, King will plot the rise of collective military command in the early twenty-first century.