Military Leaders And Policymakers Essay

Policymakers and military leaders share responsibility for the application of military power in war. As Eliot Cohen suggests, “The civil-military relationship and the formulation of strategy are inextricably intertwined.” When policymakers and military leaders fail to embrace shared responsibility, the result is a potentially rigid hierarchical relationship that can lead to divergent efforts, which ultimately risk strategic failure. Management of war is interconnected between military and political spheres, “[but] it is sometimes forgotten just how deep and pervasive political considerations in war are.” The recent accidental airstrike on a hospital in Kunduz Province highlights the need for military leaders to assess rules of engagement and for policymakers to clarify the boundaries of military means, thereby ensuring operations are in line with desired policy outcomes. Success, from an operational standpoint, necessitates an appreciation that policy imposes constraints and restrictions on operational actions; therefore, coordination between policymakers and the military to align efforts at all levels of political-military planning is paramount to success. The penalty of neglect, as encountered by General Westmoreland during the Vietnam War, results in operations that are unguided as a consequence of the military and …show more content…
Without it, the policymaker will not fully understand his effect on military operations or the associated risk to strategic objectives. During the discussion of air power employment during the Normandy invasion, Churchill examined technical military details and assessed the larger risk, which had “political ramifications” with the French populous. The policymakers’ “continuous audit of the military’s judgment” serves to develop the planning required to meet the end state of the political