New Releases by Jim Mattis

Le 20 décembre 2018, Jim Mattis démissionne de son poste de Secrétaire d''État à la Défense après l''annonce présidentielle du retrait des troupes américaines en Syrie, un choix politique ayant une visée à court-terme et contredisant la stratégie militaire développée depuis plusieurs années par les États-Unis dans cette région du monde. Revenant sur l''expérience de ses presque 50 ans de service actif dans la Marine américaine, ce général quatre étoiles propose une réflexion sur le leadership sous l''éclairage du commandement militaire. De ses débuts en zones de conflits lors de la première guerre du Golfe à ses fonctions stratégiques dans la lutte anti-terroriste contre le Hezbollah ou Al-Qaïda, en passant par la guerre en Afghanistan où il reçut lenom de code CHAOS (Colonel Has An Outstanding Solutions) et la guerre en Irak, il nous livre dans cet ouvrage, les leçons de vie d''un métierd''engagement ainsi qu''une réflexion stratégique sur la politique étrangère de son pays et ses enjeux. Jim Mattis est un général américain. Militaire de carrière, il a passé quatre décennies dans les Marines. Il fut également Secrétaire à la Défense des États-Unis. Bing West est un vétéran des Marines, correspondant de guerre et auteur best-seller.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A clear-eyed account of learning how to lead in a chaotic world, by General Jim Mattis—the former Secretary of Defense and one of the most formidable strategic thinkers of our time—and Bing West, a former assistant secretary of defense and combat Marine. “A four-star general’s five-star memoir.”—The Wall Street Journal Call Sign Chaos is the account of Jim Mattis’s storied career, from wide-ranging leadership roles in three wars to ultimately commanding a quarter of a million troops across the Middle East. Along the way, Mattis recounts his foundational experiences as a leader, extracting the lessons he has learned about the nature of warfighting and peacemaking, the importance of allies, and the strategic dilemmas—and short-sighted thinking—now facing our nation. He makes it clear why America must return to a strategic footing so as not to continue winning battles but fighting inconclusive wars. Mattis divides his book into three parts: Direct Leadership, Executive Leadership, and Strategic Leadership. In the first part, Mattis recalls his early experiences leading Marines into battle, when he knew his troops as well as his own brothers. In the second part, he explores what it means to command thousands of troops and how to adapt your leadership style to ensure your intent is understood by your most junior troops so that they can own their mission. In the third part, Mattis describes the challenges and techniques of leadership at the strategic level, where military leaders reconcile war’s grim realities with political leaders’ human aspirations, where complexity reigns and the consequences of imprudence are severe, even catastrophic. Call Sign Chaos is a memoir of a life of warfighting and lifelong learning, following along as Mattis rises from Marine recruit to four-star general. It is a journey about learning to lead and a story about how he, through constant study and action, developed a unique leadership philosophy, one relevant to us all.

A diverse group of contributors offer different perspectives on whether or not the different experiences of our military and the broader society amounts to a "gap"—and if the American public is losing connection to its military. They analyze extensive polling information to identify those gaps between civilian and military attitudes on issues central to the military profession and the professionalism of our military, determine which if any of these gaps are problematic for sustaining the traditionally strong bonds between the American military and its broader public, analyze whether any problematic gaps are amenable to remediation by policy means, and assess potential solutions. The contributors also explore public disengagement and the effect of high levels of public support for the military combined with very low levels of trust in elected political leaders—both recurring themes in their research. And they reflect on whether American society is becoming so divorced from the requirements for success on the battlefield that not only will we fail to comprehend our military, but we also will be unwilling to endure a military so constituted to protect us. Contributors: Rosa Brooks, Matthew Colford,Thomas Donnelly, Peter Feaver, Jim Golby, Jim Hake, Tod Lindberg, Mackubin Thomas Owens, Cody Poplin, Nadia Schadlow, A. J. Sugarman, Lindsay Cohn Warrior, Benjamin Wittes