Tony Zinni

For the better part of the last half century, the United States has been the World's Police, claiming to defend ideologies, allies, and our national security through brute force. But is military action always the most appropriate response? Drawing on his vast experience, from combat in Vietnam to peacekeeping in Somalia, to war games in Washington, DC and negotiations with former rebels in the Philippines, retired four-star General Tony Zinni argues that we have a lot of work to do to make the process of going to war--or not--more clear-eyed and ultimately successful. He examines the relationship between the executive and the military (including the difference between passive and engaged presidents); the failures of the Joint Chief of Staff; the challenges of working with the UN, coalition forces, and NATO; the difference between young, on the ground officers and less savvy senior leaders; the role of special forces and drone warfare; and the difficult choices that need to be made to create tomorrow's military. Among his provocative points: * Virtually every recent American military operation follows a disconnected series of actions that lead to outcomes we never foresaw or intended.* We need to assign accountability for the political decisions that can make or break a mission.* Words and ideas are as important to victory in today's conflicts as bullets.* The cyber "war" is ongoing. Either you must build better tech than the other guy, or you must steal it.* Our foreign aid budget is pitiful, our State Department, USAID, and the other government agencies that we critically need to be on a par with our military are underfunded, undermanned, and poorly structured for their current objectives.From the Oval Office to the battlefield, Before the First Shots Are Fired is a hard-hitting analysis of the history of America's use of military action and a spirited call for change.

"What's happened to our leaders and to our leadership?" Based on General Zinni's leadership experiences from the battlefield to the boardroom, Leading the Charge shows a new way through the significant leadership challenges of the 21st century. The times are changing at an ever-increasing velocity. Old systems, organizations, and ways of operating no longer work in our dynamic, complex and increasingly unstable new environment. Out of this chaos and confusion, a new and different leader must emerge. Old systems and methods will no longer work. Leading the Charge is a visionary leadership book that examines the trends that have reshaped our world and the ways in which visionary leaders and organizations can effectively respond. Tomorrow's successful leaders - in all fields, including the military, academia, politics, and business - must know how to create, operate, and thrive in very fluid, flattened, and integrated structures that are remarkably different from the traditional organizations we are used to seeing. They will have to manage rapidly changing technology and flows of information, and create faster and more far-reaching spans of control. Leading the Charge shows the way, and is an incisive and compelling guide to the new world of leadership, one that will prove indispensable for years to come. Organized around "Leading a New World," a revolutionary leadership course General Zinni developed and taught at the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University, Leading the Charge makes a convincing case that leaders must ...- change with the times to be relevant. - be ready for crisis mode at any given time. - have a moral compass and the ability to steer the company in the right direction. - be forward thinking, not reactive, to provide innovation and creativity. - develop great leaders.

Based on General Zinni's leadership experiences from the battlefield to the boardroom, Leading the Charge shows a new way through the significant leadership challenges of the 21st century. The times are changing at an ever-increasing velocity. Old systems, organizations, and ways of operating no longer work in our dynamic, complex and increasingly unstable new environment. Out of this chaos and confusion, a new and different leader must emerge. Leading the Charge is a visionary leadership book that examines the trends that have reshaped our world and the ways in which visionary leaders and organizations can effectively respond. Tomorrow's successful leaders-in all fields, including the military, academia, politics, and business-must know how to create, operate, and thrive in very fluid, flattened, and integrated structures that are remarkably different from the traditional organizations we are used to seeing. They will have to manage rapidly changing technology and flows of information, and create faster and more far-reaching spans of control. Leading the Charge shows the way, and is an incisive and compelling guide to the new world of leadership, one that will prove indispensable for years to come. Organized around a revolutionary leadership course General Zinni developed and taught at the Terry Sandford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University, Leading the Charge makes a convincing case that leaders must...- change with the times to be relevant. - be ready for crisis mode at any given time. - have a moral compass and the ability to steer the company in the right direction. - be forward thinking, not reactive, to provide innovation and creativity. - develop great leaders.

A former CENTCOM commander who served in Vietnam and in the Middle East argues that America is threatened more by the global conditions that lead to terrorism than by terrorism itself, in an account that makes recommendations on how the United States can promote a more stable and peaceful world. Reprint. 75,000 first printing.

Marine general Tony Zinni was known as the "Warrior Diplomat" during his nearly forty years of service. His credentials as a soldier were impeccable, whether he was leading troops in Vietnam, commanding hair-raising rescue operations in Somalia, or - as Commander in Chief of CENTCOM - directing strikes against Iraq and Al Qaeda. But it was as a peacemaker that he made just as great a mark - conducting dangerous troubleshooting missions all over Africa, Asia, and Europe, and then serving as Secretary of State Colin Powell's special envoy to the Middle East, before disagreements over the 2003 Iraq war and its probable aftermath caused him to resign." Battle Ready follows the evolution of both General Zinni and the Marine Corps, from the cauldron of Vietnam through the operational revolution of the '70s and '80s, to the new realities of the post-Cold War, post-9/11 military - a military with a radically different tools for accomplishing it. Opinions differ sharply about just what that job and those tools should be - and General Zinni makes it clear where he stands.