When discussing world leaders and classifying their
leadership styles based solely on their actions or reactions, it is somewhat
faulty in my opinion to over-analysis these characteristics from a psychological
level without considering exterior factors, especially capital influence on a parliamentary
or representative democracy or international coalitions, from the United
Nations to the IMF and World Bank, under capitalist globalization. While capital and political influences certainly
impact, and sometimes force, leadership decisions, there does appear to be some
interesting observations in the leadership categories provided in the Hermann,
Preston, Korany and Shaw article. Based
solely on the leadership descriptions presented, it seems clear that the two
leadership styles most prone to establishing or forcing conflict would be the crusader
and the strategist (Hermann, Preston, Korany & Shaw, 2001, p. 95). While the crusader leadership style focuses
on expansion and “persuading others to accept one’s message” (Hermann, Preston,
Korany & Shaw, 2001, p. 95), I find Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu to be a crusader in his constant ideological push for strengthening the
“one and only Jewish state” (Netanyahu, December 16, 2013) despite accusations
of the ethnic cleansing of Bedouins through the Prawer Plan (Yiftachel, Amara
& Kedar, 2014), the expansion of illegal settlements (Kershner, 2014), and consistent
military incursions and aggressions into Palestinian territories. Netanyahu, in crusader fashion, goes before the
international community and the United Nations General Assembly attempting to portray
Israel as a victim state on the defensive, while attempting to gather military
support for international economic and military actions against Syria and Iran
(Netanyahu, October 1, 2013). Netanyahu’s
leadership tactics could also be consider to display characteristics of the
strategic leadership focus on achieving “agenda by engaging others in the process
and persuading them to act” (Hermann, Preston, Korany & Shaw, 2001, p. 95). Not only does Netanyahu keep pressure on
American leaders to support Israeli interests through sanctions and possible
regime removal in Iran and Syria, Netanyahu has close ties to pro-Israeli
lobbyist organizations that extend influence on United States Congressional
voting (Dvorin, 2013). Another leader
with strategic style Characteristics would appear to be Bashar Al-Assad of
Syria. In his recent attempts to hold the
current Syrian regime in place, Assad showed a strategic leadership style of “maintaining
one’s maneuverability and flexibility” by using heavy handed retaliation
methods against (foreign funded) opposition forces while engaging Russia to
intercede on Syria’s behalf in the United Nations. Having the United Nations Security Council
split on “Syria since 2011” (Charbonneau, 2013), Assad was able to avoid international
constraints in dealing with opposition groups that Ghaddafi in Libya and Mubarak
in Egypt were not able to avoid.
The two leadership styles likely to enhance cooperation
would be the leadership styles of the pragmatist and the opportunist, although
sadly these two leadership styles are also vulnerable to the influences of capital
and/or military imperialism. The
qualities that support cooperation within pragmatist leadership identity is the
directive focus for “working within the norms and rules of one’s position” (Hermann,
Preston, Korany & Shaw, 2001, p. 95), while attempting to “uncover what
will and will not work in a particular situation” (Hermann, Preston, Korany
& Shaw, 2001, p. 97). The
opportunistic leader, while the label seems misleading, would also suggest enhanced
cooperation with an accommodative focus for “reconciling differences and
building consensus” (Hermann, Preston, Korany & Shaw, 2001, p. 97) and assessing
the “current situation given the nature of the problem and considering what
important constituencies will allow” (Hermann, Preston, Korany & Shaw, 2001,
p. 95). The problem with these two leadership
styles is that cooperation is not necessarily a positive thing under
globalization when it comes to imperialism or state regime removal.
The most important foreign policy issue currently facing the
United States is actually originated domestically with the heavy influence of
foreign lobbyist organizations on the U.S. Congress, which directly impacts military
foreign aid amounts and international sanctions. An example of this foreign lobby influence
would be the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), one of the most
powerful lobbyist organizations in the United States, which influences U.S. foreign
policy through securing congressional votes through campaign contributions and political
support. It is impossible to find an
effective individual leadership style to address this problem of congressional
manipulation because the problem itself is disenfranchised into 435 individual
votes in the House of Representatives and 100 votes in the U.S. Senate. In the case of a representative democracy,
enough capital and political influence can almost always influence a majority
of the votes regardless if it is on behalf of a foreign government or a private
sector corporate entity, even if it is detrimental to the state.
Dvorin, Tova.
2013. Israel to Lobby US Congress
to Prevent Iran Deal. Arutz Sheva
Israeli National News, November 10, 2013.
Accessed January 9, 2014. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/173808
Hermann, Margaret, Thomas Preston, Baghat Korany and Timothy
Shaw. 2001. Who leads matters: the effects of powerful individuals.
International Studies Review 3, no. 2 (Summer): 83-132.
Isabel Kershner.
2014. Settlement News to Wait
Until Kerry Leaves Israel. New York
Times, January 1, 2014. Accessed on
January 9, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/02/world/middleeast/israel-to-delay-settlement-announcement-during-kerry-visit-official-says.html?_r=0
Netanyahu, Benjamin.
2013. Full Text of Netanyahu’s Speech
to the Union for Reform Judaism. Times
of Israel, December 16, 2013. Accessed
on January 9, 2014. http://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-of-netanyahus-speech-to-the-union-for-reform-judaism/
Netanyahu, Benjamin.
2013. United Nations General
Assembly Speech by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, October 1, 2013. CSPAN Video Library. Accessed January 9, 2014. http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/SpeechbyI
Oren Yiftachel, Amara, Ahmad, and Kedar, Sandy. 2014. Israel
Says Bedouin 'Trespass' on State Land. New study: Not so. Haartz, January 9, 2014. Accessed January 9, 2014. http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.566357
Wachtel, Johnathan.
2014. Russia again blocks
anti-Assad resolution at UN, as Kerry heads for Syria summit. Fox News, January 9, 2014. Accessed January 9, 2014. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/01/09/russia-again-blocks-anti-assad-resolution-at-un-as-kerry-heads-for-syria-summit/?intcmp=latestnews
No comments:
Post a Comment