ABSTRACT
David Vital's overriding sensitivity to specific contexts and his early interest in British foreign policy and small-state behaviour provides us with the crucial groundwork for a bureaucratic theory of decision-making without the cumbersome jargon afflicting latter-day political science theory. It is fair to say that the major thread representing Vital's core approach to history and politics is closely patterned on Max Weber's distinction between pragmatic and charismatic leadership. Whether addressing the security predicaments of small or tertiary states in confronting great powers, or analysing the origins of the Zionist movement, Vital's argumentation is firmly rooted in the logic of the achievable and the possible. Whether on the military front in the Israel Defence Forces, on the diplomatic front in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, or in his numerous scholarly efforts, David Vital has continuously been driven by his undiminished desire to guarantee that the fulfillment of his father's dream, Jewish statehood, never be compromised.
