An updated thread on the wartime #leadership demonstrated by @ZelenskyyUa – with a focus on visiting troops in the field, effective civil-military relations, and courage. 1/14 🧵
2/ His visits have many purposes. First, it allows @ZelenskyyUa to get a feel for the morale and capability of his military in the field. You can read reports all day, but there is no substitute for walking the ground with leaders at the tip of the spear.
3/ A second purpose is that it allows him to ask questions. This is an important function of a national political leader in their interaction with military commanders. Even the best staff cannot anticipate all the questions their leaders might have.
4/ It is an important skill. As @eliotacohen notes in Supreme Command, it was essential to Churchill’s leadership: “his art of leadership included a skill at questioning and challenging professional subordinates that few others have mastered.”
5/ A third reason for the field visits by @ZelenskyyUa is to engage with junior soldiers in the field, to inspire them, recognise their sacrifice and to reiterate the purpose of their sacrifices. Purpose is the most important thing a leader can provide.
6/ As Eisenhower writes in Crusade in Europe: “belief in an underlying cause is fully as important to success in war as any local espirit or discipline induced or produced by command or leadership action.”
7/ Another reason for these visits is for @ZelenskyyUa to show he has trust in his nation’s Army. He shows he is comfortable in placing his life in the hands of the Army - it is an important and strategic trust-building exercise between politicians & military leaders.
8/ Throughout the war, it is clear he has set the strategic direction for his nation while allowing the high command to get on with the implementation of national defence. But these visits, and regular briefings, provide all-important feedback in the civ-mil relationship.
9/ Fifth, his visits are an important way that @ZelenskyyUa differentiates himself from his Putin. It is unlikely that Putin will ever visit the poorly fed, and terribly led Russian troops, proxies and draftees in #Ukraine.
10/ Finally, these visits draw attention from audiences beyond #Ukraine. In demonstrating that he is not a ‘bunker leader’, @ZelenskyyUa shows Western citizens he is the leader of a nation worth supporting ‘to the end’. This is important as inflation and energy costs rise.
11/ So Zelensky has demonstrated the capacity for nurturing good civil military relations. And he has demonstrated courage in his refusal to leave Kyiv and in his visits to the front line. But he has also shown another form of courage.
12/ In his study of wartime leaders, @EliotaCohen notes that “in war to see things as they are, and not as one would like them to be, to persevere despite disappointments, to know of numerous opportunities lost and of perils still ahead, to lead knowing...”
13/ “…that one’s subordinates and colleagues are in some case inadequate, in others hostile, is a courage of a rarer kind that a willingness to expose oneself to the unlucky bullet or shell.” It is this type of courage that Zelensky has delivered for his country. End
14/ Thank you to the following whose images were used in this thread: cnn.com, president.gov.ua @DefenceU

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More from @WarintheFuture

Jul 26
As we seen the unfolding Ukrainian operations in southern Ukraine, it is worth pondering, what happens when Ukraine takes back the south? 1/21 🧵 Image
2/ This region is a significant source of Ukrainian GDP. It is also the location of major power plants, and the ports through which goods are dispatched that represent over half of Ukraine’s export earnings.
3/ Russian government agents, assisted by the military, are seeking to institute a range of Russian government systems to annexe Ukraine’s southern region.
Read 21 tweets
Jul 22
At some point in the new few weeks, it is likely we will see increasing counter attacks – potentially a large counter offensive – in the south of #Ukraine. This thread looks at the rationale, and some issues that planners will be considering. 1/24 🧵 Image
2/ Why the south? First, it is a significant source of Ukrainian GDP as well as the location of the ports through which goods are dispatched that represent over half of Ukraine’s export earnings.
3/ Second, the Russians are conducting a range of actions that are indicative of their annexation of parts of the country they occupy. The President and the government of Ukraine will keen to prevent this. washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/…
Read 24 tweets
Jul 19
Last Friday, I had the pleasure of catching up for lunch with a colleague who is also an ethicist. While our discussion was broad ranging, we kept returning to the notion of good and evil, and the idea of ‘just wars’ in relation to #Ukraine. 1/22 🧵
2/ At the same time we were discussing the ethics of war, the Organization for Security and Cooperation and Europe released its latest report that examined the horrific acts attributed to the Russian Army and its proxies in Ukraine. osce.org/odihr/522616
3/ The report notes that “some of the most serious violations encompass targeted killing of civilians, including journalists, human rights defenders, or local mayors; unlawful detentions, abductions and enforced disappearances of the same categories of persons…”
Read 21 tweets
Jul 17
The last two months have seen a different kind of War in Ukraine. And after a period of reduced tempo operations in the east, we should expect things to heat up again over the coming weeks. Both sides will want to make progress before winter comes. 1/20 🧵
2/ After their failures before Kyiv and Kharkiv, and manpower losses, the Russians have now settled into a different pattern of battlefield operations. Now, they let their artillery lead the way.
3/ While it has still been expensive for the Russians, they have managed to secure almost all of Luhansk region. In the wake of this ‘success’, the Russians reduced their operational tempo to prepare for a subsequent operation to secure the Donetsk region.
Read 20 tweets
Jul 15
Earlier this week, I wrote about the impact that several HIMARS rocket artillery systems are having in #Ukraine. And while the focus of the article was Ukraine, I also explored HIMARS for Australia. 1/10 smh.com.au/world/europe/w…
2/ The genesis of this capability for the ADF was back in 2013-2014. It was envisaged as a deployable capability for Australia to execute what we called Joint Archipelagic Manoeuvre. You can read it here: researchcentre.army.gov.au/sites/default/…
3/ Despite some reticence in the Department of Defence, and from those who saw it as a threat to their more expensive strike projects, eventually it was agreed that the Army should have a 21st century long range strike capability. Like every other modern Army.
Read 10 tweets
Jul 12
Over the past few days, the Twittersphere has been expounding on the impact that several #HIMARS rocket artillery systems are having in #Ukraine. And they are awesome! But some perspective is required before expectations for their impact get too overblown. 1/17 🧵
2/ HIMARS is a lighter, more deployable version of an older tracked launcher that used the same rockets. And because it is mobile, it can shoot and move quickly, making it a very survivable platform in an era of short times between detection and destruction.
3/ HIMARS, because of its range and accuracy, is a weapon that is designed to attack targets deep in the enemy’s rear. It is used to destroy critical communications nodes, command posts, airfields, and important logistics facilities.
Read 17 tweets

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