A study on the effects of military leadership on knowledge and its impact in war.

Abstract

The threat of war continues to be on the major agenda of the world. Nations and states grapple with non-state actors like terrorists, pirates and guerillas who fight unconventional or asymmetric warfare against them. Civil wars also continue to rage in Third World countries. Although, major inter-state conflicts have lessened in the past fifty years, the continued threat of such wars and its effects cannot be taken for granted. This study investigates the impact of knowledge on wars (interstate). Using grounded theory methodology, Napoleon Bonaparte’s 1812 Campaign against Russia was used as the background in an inductive manner to derive upon on how military leaders can affect the use of knowledge in war, and subsequently also what impact knowledge in war has on its outcome.. The study will review the various forms of knowledge that are prevalent in war and assess their importance. The results concluded that a charismatic military leader who possesses negative traits that include self-delusion, arrogance and temperamental behaviors could severely impact their military command systems’ ability to conduct effective information and knowledge scanning. This ineffectiveness is due to entropic behaviors that permeate the entire organization starting from the leaders themselves. This subsequently creates a knowledge deficiency that is absolutely necessary for conducting war and finally will lead to disastrous consequences.