Unification Under one Name: Emulating Genghis Khan’s Leadership

Genghis Khan, despite his brutality, was an extremely effective leader. He was able to unify an entire group of people who were nomadic and who constantly fought among each other. He managed to do this and then take over almost all of Asia. A lot can be learned from him when it comes to being a leader. His greatest leadership qualities that are safe to emulate are how he unified his people under one common identity and how he moved commanding officers so that people would not become comfortable with each other.

Some would say that Genghis Khan was not an effective leader because he was unable to hold onto his empire for a significant period. Although he did not stay in power for very long he still managed to unify most of Asia and promote trade and the Silk Road. The Mongols set up trading cities which allowed for the spread of other cultures and goods all across Asia and even into Europe. The Mongols also provided amazing security for travelers and traders. Never had the Silk Road been so prosperous and safe.

Xiongnu Empire was a nomadic territory that sat northwest of the Chinese empire. It was not an official country but rather tribes who were all nomadic and constantly fought among each other. Genghis Khan managed to take control and lead these groups by unifying all of them under one identity, Mongols. He managed to do this by mixing up the commanding officers from other tribes among each other. This meant that tribes now had ties and relations with other tribes. It also got tribes used to other tribes practices and unified them even more by a mutual understanding of each other. So now instead of tribes knowing only their own tribe they got used to working together and slowly their identity changed from individual tribes to Mongols. In The Secret History of the Mongols (Anonymous, c. 1240) we see that Mongols common identity and bond between each other was so strong that when “Three Merkits came and robbed [a Mongol man] of [his] wife and of [his] unborn son” another Mongol who “swore brotherhood” with this man’s father helped regain the man’s wife by providing “twenty thousand” men to attack the race who stole the man’s pregnant wife. This strong bond was all created by Genghis Kahn and his unification tactics. This tactic is good to emulate once we become officers in the fleet. People in the Navy come from all over the United States which makes working together difficult because we all have different views or beliefs on issues back home. As the officer we should be promoting the fact that we are all on the same team and we are all in the same fight. This will unify everybody and allow us to work together as a group instead of arguing among each other and not getting anything done.

Genghis Khan was an extremely effective leader who was able to unify and entire people under the one common identity of Mongols. As officers in the fleet we can copy his example and unify our teams under the identity of the United States Navy. This will allow us to work together better and will cause there to be fewer mistakes made because of it.

— Andrew Beck

Word Count: 549

Response #4: Carina Richardson, “Christianity Through the Lens of Polytheism”

The argument that the Romans were justified in their persecution of early Christians is put together well, but if further space had be available the additional information could have been added to secure and change the argument. The seemingly contrary effects of persecution and the spread of Christianity in Rome could have been used to add to the points already made.

The Romans claimed, in the context of their day, to be justified in attempting to hinder the rise of Christianity. This argument could have been supplemented to show the opposite results of persecution. Much of the New Testament is written by the Apostle Paul while he was actually in jail in Rome and much of it is written praising martyrs and giving encouragement in face of persecution. Verses from these texts would have made a quality primary source to add a new view to the argument.

In similar fashion persecution in a way did the opposite of hinder Christianity’s growth. The very symbol, the cross, which it is known for today is a symbol of Roman persecution. The Christian faith started via Jesus put to death by Rome and whose momentum was carried by his disciples whose stories virtually all ended in martyrdom. Christianity would advance despite persecution to a point at which Constantine even used the religion to help connect the vast empire.

The claim that Rome was justified could have used the results of the persecution to relate the significance of early Christian persecution into a larger historical context.

Robert Hatfield

Word Count: 251

Response #3: Hanna Price’s “Kim Jong-Un and Alexander the Great”

The comparison between Kim Jong-Un and Alexander the Great is contextually very different, but there are very relevant connections that could have been developed more. The two main connections that were mentioned only briefly, was that both men were considered to be some form of a deity on Earth and both have used military technologies of their fathers to secure their rule.

The Kim dynasty is worshiped as part of the day to day life in North Korea. Chairman Kim is called the “Supreme Leader” and is taught to the North Korean children at a young age to be infallible. Alexander also said to be born by divine origin. That greatly secured his position with the Persians who he conquered. The widespread belief divinity belief within each of these leaders’ kingdoms is critical to understand how their people saw them.

The second point is that both of these leaders largely secured their young rule by continuing upon weapons started by their fathers. Alexander’s use of a new full time army, armed with the cutting edge sarissa pike, gave Macedon a tremendous advantage on the battlefield. Kim Jong-Un has also largely stayed in power by advancing nuclear weapons program of his father.. The military foundations set forth by the previous rulers gave Kim and Alexander the tools needed to stay in power despite external threats.

The blog overall is has many legitimate comparisons that are used successfully to compare the Chairman Kim and Alexander the Great. The divine reputation and weapons are two ideas mentioned, that could be added to increase the depth of the blog.

Robert Hatfield

Word Count: 265

Reflections

I have always considered myself to be a religious person and try my best to follow all the laws of the word. I always viewed these laws as a way to live a clean moral life. Over my time in this course I gravitated towards the philosophy of Confucius as something similar to my faith. In order for me and others to be satisfactory servers to our enlisted it is imperative that we are moral standing bearers.

In this course we learned about the different dynasties that reigned supreme over China. Confucius was a scholar that seen the warring of states and he wanted to find a way to make peace between his people. Spodek states, “At a time when China was divided into many states, often in conflict, he formulated principles that he thought would bring peace, contentment, dignity, and personal cultural development at least to the elite of his time” (Spodek 208). Confucius new that the only way for these different cultures to come together and be one as they were in the Zhou dynasty. In Confucius’ eyes the Zhou dynasty was the golden age of peace, order, wisdom, and virtue (Spodek 209). These 4 tenants are mandatory for a young junior officer when leading sailors and marines.

After reading The Analects, I found one tenant that was very applicable to a junior officer as they grow into a sufficient leader. Confucius states in 1.4, “Master Zeng said: Each day I examine myself upon three points. In planning for others, have I been loyal? In company with friends, have I been trustworthy? And have I practiced what has been passed on to me?” (The Analects.1.4). These three questions are essential when an officer reflects at the end of the day. First and foremost an officer should reflect at the end of the day in order to better themselves. For example in football we watch film of our performance at practice in order to fine tune our techniques used in the game. The first question asks have I been loyal. In the navy we have a list of loyalties that help us make decision between two powers. The loyalties range from the ship to yourself, with yourself being the lower than the ship. The second question speaks on being trustworthy to your friends, but in connection with the navy and marine corps can you be trusted to do your job on a daily basses. As an officer you will be test with deadlines and strict cutoff dates. In these times will you take the easy way out and lie about completed task or take the extra time out to complete each task. Lastly have you practiced the things you have been taught from leaders that came before you. At our prestigious university we are blessed to have outstanding officers that have been in our shoes. Especially in Luce Hall we are taught by outstanding leaders that have given us the tools to be successful. In the fleet there will be times where thoughs techniques will need to be used but you have the choice to revert back to old habits our use these techniques to respond to adversity.

-Denzel J. Polk

Word count: 535 fffffffffff

Alexander the Great and NL110

In leadership class we learned about influence and power as well as talents and strengths. There are different types of power: referent power is when a leader’s influence over people stems from the strong relationship between them; legitimate power comes from the position one holds in an organization; reward power means influencing others by being in control of rewards offered to them; and expert power is the ability to influence others based on the knowledge you possess. With talents and strengths we learned that talents are innate, naturally occurring aspects of a person. After they are refined, practiced, and consistent they can become a strength. In class we learned about the ancient Greeks and Macedonians, and in particular, Alexander the Great. Though there is controversy about whether he was a good leader or not, there are many benefits to studying him and how we expanded his empire in that he put a great emphasis on strategic military advances as well as training for his men and that he attempted to exercise power in a demanding (and ineffective) way.

Alexander the Great had learned about warfare from fighting alongside his successful father Philip II. When he took over he emphasized having a trained and disciplined force of men. In discussing how Alexander met the threat of elephants in India it is said that, “ when Alexander’s forces had the mastery over then a second time, as they were superior in strength and experience, they were again pressed back on the elephants.” (Alexander the Great, 15. 324) This demonstrates that Alexander had his men fighting often and ensured they were not a weak force. This relates to talents and strengths because experience and actually getting experience is a vital part of becoming a more refined leader and ensuring your men and women are also prepared for whatever may come. On the other hand, Alexander exemplifies what happens when you do not listen closely enough to your people. “In the end, it was not the might of enemy forces but the exhaustion and refusal of his own men to continue that brought Alexander’s conquest to an end.” (Alexander the Great, 15.325) Alexander tried to convince his men to go on but they were exhausted. He attempted to use his legitimate power to force his men to continue conquering lands. As an officer is more usually not as effective to influence people just through your positional authority. Alexander’s men had trusted him but it the end Alexander knew he could not go on alone and had to take his men back home. As officers it is paramount to be able to influence and listen to your people in the most effective way possible. Plutarch argued that Alexander actually did make a positive impact on those he conquered and positively led. He said, “The peoples Alexander vanquished were more blessed than the people who escaped his conquests. For no one stopped them from living wretchedly, but those he conquered, he compelled to live happily.”( Readings in Greek History, I.1) By saying this, Plutarch is arguing Alexander ruled with referent power, which is often the most effective way to lead. As an officer who knows more context, I would be able to recognize this is exaggerated but also think about how I come off when moving into a new command or leading a whole new group of people.

-Carina Richardson

Word Count: 470

Readings in Greek History, I.1

Alexander the Great, 15.324-325

Confucianism in Contemporary Times

Confucianism in Contemporary Times

Confucianism ideals in the Han dynasty carry many moral truths that an officer in the Navy should abide by. Confucianism, although not as prevalent as it once was, was the major backbone of several predominant dynasties, and a governing philosophy rather than religion. As an officer in the Navy, one should be aware of what is a right action to take when faced with a difficult situation. The perpetuation of the morals engrained in Confucianism are a set of guidelines to do the latter, and are seen in the Navy through both its mission for officers and core values.

Religion remains a central focus to historians when studying ancient societies, and while the doctrine of Confucianism does not include the worshipping of godly dieties, it functions in the place of religion. Religion-based moral instructions are paralleled in Confucianism including the leading of others by virtue, and embodiment of faithfulness and trustworthiness: “I examine myself three times a day. When dealing on behalf of others, have I been trustworthy? In intercourse with my friends, have I been faithful? Have I practiced what I was taught?” (Confucius, 1.5). This “self examination” that is carried out by Confucius is integral in realizing ones faults, and amending them. As future naval officers, it is important to be able to recognize your own flaws and to be open to criticism, as officers are often of the receiving end of this from both peers and seniors alike. This self awareneness allows for the betterment of one’s moral code, which serves as a decision making guide that Naval officers employ daily. When tasked with the responsibility of leading others, having a strong moral conviction is necessary so that in times of high stress, sound actions are taken that result in the continued safety of one’s sailors or marines.

The Naval Academy has an honor code in which many similarities can be drawn to Confucianism. Lying, cheating, and stealing are all looked upon poorly both at USNA and in the doctrine of Confucianism. Therefore, to be virtuous would be to turn away from these lapses in judgement. Virtuosity as preached in Confucianism, is paramount: “The Master said: He who rules by virtue is like the polestar, which remains unmoving in its mansion while all the other stars revolve respectfully around it” (Confucius, 2.1). Upon realizing the steadfastness of character in one’s leader, they respect them more for it. Better military leaders translates to a stronger military force and therefore a safer stronger America.

The previous example of Confucianism ideals remaining important in contemporary times is just one instance of a hundred in which the studying of ancient civilizations influence today’s world. Virtue remains arguably the most important character trait in leaders, and is recognized today as it was during the Han dynasty.

–Molly Gillcrist

Word Count: 465

Fleet lessons from the Mesopotamian Civilization

The development of the Ancient Mesopotamian civilization demonstrates the capability of humans to adapt to their surroundings. The Mesopotamian people created sophisticated irrigation systems to utilize the Tigris and Euphrates river for arable land. In the fleet, it is essential that as leaders we are able to adapt to situations quickly and efficiently, to both benefit our sailors and to manage our responsibilities. Not only is the fleet is unpredictable, but the conflicts we will enter will challenge our capabilities. Mesopotamians reacted to the barrier of changing climate and land, by developing new technology and techniques to not only cope but transcend with the new changes. The Mesopotamian people were forced to create a new lifestyle. Canals not only allowed the economy to prosper through the success of agriculture, but allowed room for new activities such as art, music, astronomy, and metallurgy. This adjustment to a new world of developed agriculture and specialization required a whole structural change in order to correlate to the development. To support the construction of new projects, leaders emerged, bringing people together to create a new “civic identity”. This same flexibility is necessary within the Navy, as an officer needs to be able to be successful in any position. Because commands within the fleet change every few years, officer’s must be dynamic. They must be innovative to respond to the needs of the Navy to be apt for “ready combat and to be “forged by the sea”.

Intricate and complex structures such as temples and monuments depict the Mesopotamian people’s mentality and strong work ethic to create such enormous and detailed structures with beautiful artwork. Urbanization and development among the economy allowed the people to create glorious cities with artwork and huge walls for defense. In the Epic Gilgamesh which is based on the Mesopotamian city, Sumer, prestige is shown as the city; ”Look at its wall which gleams like copper, inspect its inner wall, the likes of which no one can equal!”(Gilgamesh). These structures required diligence and devotion to create such work. In the Navy, officer’s are expected to have a similar mentality; to pay attention to the littlest of details with the belief that doing the little things right contribute extensively to the success of the bigger things in the future.
Before the development of Mesopotamia, earlier villages did not have a complex society, with an organized structure. Mesopotamian civilizations for the first time fostered creativity and specialization of labor in the hierarchal society. This encouraged innovation and the spread of culture within society. In the navy, innovation and collectivism are required in order to comply with the demands of a relevant and technological savvy fighting force. There are many different rates, departments, and jobs that officers and enlisted have, however together they accomplish one goal. Specialization is required to increase the overall efficiency of the Navy and to have all the necessary tools to be the strongest fighting force.
Lastly, as officer’s in the fleet it is crucial to have sufficient communication skills in order in order to apply effective leadership. The importance of communication is stressed in the chain of command. Mesopotamian people discovered the power of communication as they were one of the first peoples to foster its growth through one of the first systems of communication known as cuneiform. As a writing system developed, not only was record-keeping possible, but the organization, specialization of labor, trade, and culture, began to flourish throughout the society. They transformed written literature which had a tremendous impact on the intricacy of society in Mesopotamia.
All these factors contributed to the development of a complex civilization that separated itself from all previous villages.

-Caroline Foley

Word Count:589

Click to access The%20Epic%20of%20Gilgamesh.pdf

Religion and Tolerance

The western media has always had an issue with portraying Muslims as terrorists or people who follow an inherently radical, violent, and immoral religion. Since I was born and before, the US has been involved in conflicts all over the Middle East; as a result, I grew up with a false perception of Muslims in the Middle East. Growing up in a society where everyone held secular or Christian views, I didn’t experience much trouble with religious people. However, due to the radical Muslims, the media gave Muslims as a whole a poor reputation which was pounded into my head. The problem is that many Americans and I know few Muslims who can get rid of the stigmas we hold against them. Although I have learned about the history of Islam in the past, we never really analyzed the conflicting messages that both the Quran and the Bible have, and this has made me more understanding Islam and religion as a whole. The Quran, like the Bible, has verses that encourage good morals relative to our society, but also contains verses that encourage violence and discrimination; ultimately, this has taught me that religions are inherently flawed due to the fact they can be cherry-picked to support one side. The way that someone cherry-picks their religion is more indicative of their morals and character than their religion, and this realization will help me be a more effective naval officer by being tolerant of the all religions, but not beliefs that threaten the safety of others.

Religion does not define anyone’s character, meaning their distinct moral qualities, and this is vital to understanding others alongside their religious beliefs. Anecdotally, us Americans all know many Christians, some who are accepting of all, some who many consider hateful (such as the Westboro Baptist church), and many who fall in between. This occurs because the Bible has verses that very clearly encourage discrimination against a group of people, such as Leviticus 20:13 which states, “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.” This had long lasting influence as South Carolina was the last state to remove the death penalty for homosexuality in 1873. In contrast, Jesus says in Mathew 22:39 to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This clear lack of consistency is present in the Quran as well; for example, in Sura 16:125-6 it says that “patience” and “beautiful preaching” are the best ways to convert people, but it also tells Muslims to “Fight [non-believers], Allah will punish them by your hands and bring them to disgrace, and assist you against them and heal the hearts of a believing people.”

As a naval officer, an understanding of the different beliefs that many people hold in their respective religions will serve me well. I will be able to understand and respect other people’s beliefs in an authentic manner and know when someone is crossing the line by using their religion to justify bigoted beliefs against others. Tolerance of others will help me with not only with the people I lead, but also the people I meet along the way since there is a good chance I will be in the Middle East at some point. Meeting a foreign population with different beliefs is a lot easier if you have an open mind, and it will ultimately increase the trust between the US and other nation’s populations. Most importantly, through this course I have learned that knowledge and education are extremely effective tools to debunk flawed, bigoted beliefs.

-Kevin Smith

Word Count: 541

Order in the Ancient World and the Leadership Lesson

The most important lesson from Western Pre-modern History is the need for order and structure to lead successfully. The effect of poor central leadership can be seen in many ancient cultures. One example of an ancient culture that ultimately saw its downfall due to a lack of order was the Western Roman Empire. The Western Roman Empire was stable under rulers like Justinian that were strong autonomous rulers. Justinian strengths stemmed from his book Corpus Iruis Civilis, which codified his laws and providing citizens with a book filed with summaries of legal principles and writings from Roman legal authorities. After Justinian, the Western Roman Empire began to fragment. The fragmentation led to the rise of warlords and the rule by private armies. Once the warlords became the central figure of power, the idea of state rule was decentralized, and ultimately the Western Roman Empire collapsed.

A successful example of leading with order was the Han Chinese military domination. The Han Chineses relied on an idea called Shi. Shi is the military principle associated with strategy in Han Chinese culture. The concept of Shi is seen in Sun Tzu. Sun Tzu states, “The Shi of one skilled at setting people to battle is like rolling round rocks from a mountain a thousand ren high.” The quote means that when a military unit is commanded with order, it is very easy to defeat and enemy and conquer large masses of land. Order therefore is a central idea in military success.

The lessons learned from ancient history are still valuable today in America’s military. As a future naval officer, midshipmen are tasked with developing an authentic leadership style that will successfully enable sailors or Marines to carry out the mission. Part of this authentic leadership is taking control of the actions of one’s division in the case of Navy or Platoon for Marines. Some keys to successfully control the actions is use of senior enlisted, like the chiefs in the Navy, to support one’s leadership, but not rely on senior enlisted for control of the enlisted. An officer can strategically use senior enlisted to carry out the majority day-to-day operations, but it is also important that officers maintain a relationship with the enlisted. When an officer shows their face around the enlisted and interacts enough with the enlisted so the enlisted know the officer cares, a deep relationship is formed. This relationship allows for the order to be established in a command, and an officer can become an autonomous ruler, even though the officer relies on senior enlisted to carry out daily tasks.

Mark Rogerson 408

Blog #6: The Han Dynasty and the Present

As future officers, it is imperative that we are not only aware of history and how to apply it to war, but also on how to apply it more broadly to government and society, because our military actions have a large impact on our country as a whole. Of the civilizations that we have studied so far, there is much to be learned from the Han Dynasty of Ancient China. There are basic similarities between the Han and American power structure, therefore lessons learned from the observing successes and failures of the Han Dynasty can be applied to make better decisions in the modern world.

Both the United States and the Han Dynasty governed through centralized bureaucracies, and our military is unified through a common code of principles as the Han Dynasty bureaucracy was unified by Confucianism. Therefore, we can apply the aspects of the Han Dynasty that worked to strengthen our systems. For one, the Han Dynasty and bureaucracy was shaped by Confucianism. On the ideas that the Hans valued was One Confucian value that we could use more of today is “To attack a question from the wrong end—this is harmful indeed” (Confucius 2.16). Lately, with politics becoming even more polarized, ad hominem attacks are more and more common, leading to leaders avoiding actually dealing with the problems at hand. This problem started in politics, but is becoming a larger trend in America, including in our military. We can apply the principles of the Hans to correct this and bring our focus back to the real issues. In this, the ideas of the Han bureaucracy can be useful place to start to solve some of the issues in our bureaucracy.

Just as we can apply the strengths of the Han Dynasty to our society to strengthen it, we can try to avoid the ways that the Han Dynasty failed. The Han Dynasty eventually fell because of the unpopular actions and policies of regent Wang Mang around 23 CE. For example, at the same time empire was facing external challenges from the Xiongnu, Wang Mang further wakened the empire and caused dissatisfaction through price-fixing of commodities, cutting bureaucrats’ salaries, and attempting to fix the decline of state revenues though heavily taxing small landowners and peasants. This situation is comparable to our current economic situation, in which American is over 22 trillion dollars in debt and no longer an uncontested world power, facing economic and power challenges from countries such as Russia, China, and Iran. At the same time, people who are making less money are receiving less tax breaks than the rich. Twenty percent of a large tax cut in 2018 went to the richest one percent of Americans (Stewart). In this, we can see America moving towards one of the trends that contributed to the dissatisfaction of the peasants and the eventual fall of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, based on the knowledge that this did not go well for the Hans, we now know better to be wary of the direction we are heading in.

From applying the useful ideas of the Confucian bureaucracy in order to improve our own to focus on the real issues, to being wary of overtaxing the poor to prevent a rebellion against the government, we can learn from the Han Dynasty in order to be good officers and leaders.

-Hanna Prince

Word count: 546

Works Cited

Confucius, The Analects. Translated by Simon Leys; edited by Michael Nylan. Norton Critical Editions. New York: W.W. Norton, 2014.

Stewart, Emily. “America’s getting $10 trillion in tax cuts, and 20% of them are going to the richest 1%.” Vox. Published 07/11/2019, accessed 11/04/019. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/7/11/17560704/tax-cuts-rich-san-francisco-fed.