Leadership in International Affairs

The literature on leadership in international affairs is interdisciplinary and, of course, extensive. For the purpose of this bibliography, leadership is considered as the art of influencing people, organizations, and institutions to accomplish specific purposes, such as missions that serve public and national interests. There are three starting assumptions for developing this bibliography. One assumption is that a bibliography of leadership in international affairs involves writings that assist leaders and managers for public service in government and nonprofit organizations that have significant responsibilities in the international and national-security policy (foreign, defense, and homeland), intelligence, and international-economics policy arenas. A public service orientation is centered primarily, but not exclusively, within the context of the institutions, organizations, and people engaged in governance—in international and public affairs. In brief, the bibliography is centered on writing that assists in addressing real-world leadership challenges and problems for both academics and practitioners. A second assumption is that this kind of bibliography should cover the study of both the leading theories and practices of public executives. Leadership knowledge and skill development include being grounded in a variety of theoretical perspectives on leadership and management by examining the scholarly literature and relevant research and case studies, as well as studying personal, interpersonal, and group skills. A third assumption is that the study of leadership should include the notion of leading change or change management. There are broader themes here regarding the changing international environment, the demands for institutional and organizational innovation and reform to adapt to those changes, and the impact of these demands on politicians and public managers, as ethical leaders, at all levels (participative, organizational, and institutional) and frequently working across multiple sectors (public, private, and nonprofit). The ideas of leadership and innovation and public-sector institutional and organizational reform, all in the context of a turbulent strategic environment, are worthy of attention. The distinctive approach for this bibliography includes meeting several objectives for the study of leadership in international affairs by examining the contrasting theories and conceptual frameworks from the interdisciplinary literature on leading and managing people, organizations, and institutions; the roles and functions of leaders and managers as executives in public institutions and organizations that engage in multisectoral activities such as public-private-nonprofit partnerships; the research on the theories and practices of critical personal, interpersonal, and group skills for developing effective and ethical public-sector officials in international affairs; and three current themes on leadership and management in international affairs: (1) the state, governance, and world order; (2) public service and the roles of public executives; and (3) personal, organizational, and institutional leadership, innovation, and change.