Other Clash of Civilizations

<p>The quality of the relationship between military commanders senior government officials and the head of state greatly influences the effectiveness of military force employment. Samuel Huntington explored this phenomenon among others in his seminal work The Soldier and the State and in the fifty-five years since its publication history has given numerous new examples with which to test his ideas about executive civil-military relations. This work examines three American civil-military relationships using two frameworks presented by Huntington. Huntington's frames illustrate more clearly how the relationships in these three presidential administrations--Wilson Truman and Johnson--functioned and how the level of functionality influenced the prosecution of a war. The first framework consists of the three types of civil military relationships - balanced pattern coordinated scheme and vertical pattern. The second framework is the patterns of civil-military relations. He addresses five combinations of three variables to explain these patterns. The three variables are political ideology level of military political power and level of military professionalism. Huntington does not explicitly detail a correlation between these two frameworks; however this work will explore their association to determine why problems existed and what actions can establish a more effective civil-military relationship. Additionally an exploration of the backgrounds and experiences of the individuals involved attempts to determine if there is any correlation between their past and the effectiveness of their executive-level relationships. Although Huntington considers the balanced type of civil-military relationship the most effective the Constitution poorly positions military leaders to influence the construct directly. Military leaders can have the greatest influence albeit indirectly through the behaviors defining Huntington's patterns - political ideology level of military poli</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p><br>