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A Sailor Takes Command at NATO
Naval Institute Press
October 2014
On Sale: October 1, 2014
288 pages ISBN: 1612517048 EAN: 9781612517049 Kindle: B00NLOFR8W Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction
After he was selected to be NATO's sixteenth Supreme Allied
Commander, The New York Times described Jim Stavridis as a
"Renaissance admiral." A U. S. Naval Academy graduate with a
master's degree and doctorate from The Fletcher School of
Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, conversant in both
French and Spanish, this author of numerous books and
articles impressed the Navy's leaders and senior Pentagon
civilians with his wide range of interests, educational
background, keen understanding of strategic doctrine,
mastery of long-range planning, and command of international
affairs. Since NATO had previously been led by generals, Stavridis
saw his assignment as the first admiral to take command as
somewhat "accidental." As the American and NATO commander in
Europe responsible for 120,000 coalition troops serving in
fifty-one nations, on three continents and at sea he had
come a long way since almost leaving the Navy for law school
five years after receiving his commission. The Accidental Admiral offers an intimate look at the
challenges of directing NATO operations in Afghanistan,
military intervention in Libya, and preparation for possible
war in Syria--as well as worrying about the Balkans, cyber
threats, and piracy, all while cutting NATO by a third due
to budget reductions by the twenty-eight nations of the
alliance. More than just describing the history of the
times, Stavridis also shares his insights into the
personalities of President Barack Obama, Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, Secretaries of Defense Robert Gates, Leon
Panetta, and Chuck Hagel, Afghan President Hamid Karzai;
Generals David Petraeus, Stanley McChrystal, John Allen, and
many more. Known as an innovator and an early adopter of technology and
social media, Stavridis' ability to think "outside the box"
and sail in uncharted waters is unmatched. He shares his
insights on leadership, strategic communications, planning,
and the convergence of threats that will confront the United
States and its allies in the near future. Stavridis is an
advocate of the use of "Smart Power," which he defines as
the balance of hard and soft power. He explains that in
creating security in the twenty-first century it is critical
to build bridges, not walls, and stresses the need to
connect international, interagency, and public-private
actors to achieve security.
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