Aspects of Leadership Ethics, Law, and Spirituality

Book excerpt: Aspects of Leadership is a book that brings together scholars from different disciplines and practitioners from a broad variety of backgrounds to address three key areas: Ethics; Law, and Spirituality. Aspects of Leadership intends to inform leaders, and the general public, about the challenges of ethical decision making, the application of the law of war and the important role of spirituality in the battlefield. Essays are about ethics and armed conflict in the 21st Century. Many of the more complex challenges in operating among foreign populations stem from trying to understand and work with people who follow different religious, political, and legal systems. Around the world, notions of leadership and authority, methods for judging and resolving disputes, and concepts of morally and religiously acceptable behavior vary radically from country to country or even from region to region within a country. Misunderstandings and conflicts between the local population and outside military forces can quickly arise due to different religious or cultural interpretations of events and actions. When handled poorly, such misunderstandings may even escalate to serious hostilities on the part of the local population, resulting in violent conflict and a widening gap between the population and military or security forces in the area."