Leadership in Challenging Situations

In the past few decades, old challenges have faded away and new ones have emerged to take their place. Normally this situation would result in a kind of equilibrium, but today the new challenges are faster-paced and more technological in nature, particularly in the military. These fifteen essays from around the world present these changes and evaluate the current approaches to them in terms of leadership. Topics include intellectual challenges and complexity, new military operations, the rise of the "strategic colonel," multinational missions, intercultural challenges in Europe, Japan's self-defense force in Iraq, peace operations and counterinsurgencies, the demands of irregular threats and adaptability, lessons from the German Bundeswehr, the Hormuz incident revisited, ethical decision-making, and an annotated bibliography. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Harald Haas (Ph.D., University of Vienna) is a political scientist and psychologist; he teaches at the Department for Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, Institute for Psychology, University of Klagenfurt as well as at the National Defence Academy in Vienna. His main focus of research and teaching is on psycho-politics, intercultural affairs, and conflict-management.
Franz Kernic (Ph.D., University of Vienna) is a professor of sociology at the Swedish National Defence College in Stockholm. Before, he was a visiting professor at Carleton University in Ottawa (2007-2008). He also holds appointments with the Austrian Ministry of Defence, the University of Innsbruck, and the University of the German Armed Forces in Munich. The author has been a visiting professor/scholar and research fellow at various European and American universities and institutions. His research focuses on international security, peace and conflict studies, EU external relations and security policy, and (military) sociology.
Andrea Plaschke (Ph.D., University of Klagenfurt) is a psychologist and psychotherapist in Klagenfurt and a lecturer at the Department for Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, Institute for Psychology, University of Klagenfurt. She is also a trainer at the School of Management, Organizational Development and Technology at the same university as well as at the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber. Finally, she is a senior trainer for supervision, coaching, organizational development and mediation.