ABSTRACT
The political leader confronts issues that may well impinge on the conduct of military operations. Yet, in many cases, he or she may have no clear idea of the issues and possibilities that his commanders in the field may confront, while on the other side, the latter will often want to pursue a course that opposes or undermines political needs. But perhaps the greatest difficulty that statesmen and military leaders confront is the fact that war takes place in a world of constant change and flux. It is difficult to envision a more dysfunctional approach to the running of a war than what the Germans possessed over the course of the First World War. There were a number of similarities between how Stalin and Hitler interacted with the high commands that they supposedly directed. With the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States exploded on the international scene as it moved from great power to superpower.
