Hi Gian,

Quote Originally Posted by Gian P Gentile View Post
Why don't we have these sorts now? Please dont attack me for saying this but we dont have big battles to fight anymore or major coalition warfare that allows generals to succeed brilliantly or fail.
This isn't meant as an attack but, rather, an observation. I suspect the answer to your question of "why don't we have these sorts now?" is much simpler and inherent in how we actually judge a "great general". If we use the criteria of "big battles" and "major coalition warfare" as the criteria for defining great generals, then you are right. But what if we don't?

I would suggest that we should base our criteria for "greatness" solely at he strategic and grand strategic levels, and leave out the tactical and grand tactical (operational) levels - basically something that Norfolk does with his list. Within those constraints, I would argue that we need to further differentiate between functional areas: organization, operations and innovation. Admittedly, they are all inextricably linked, but I think that it is important to analytically separate them since it is quite possible for an individual to be "brilliant" in only one functional area.

Marc