Professor David Peimer
The Generals: Dayan, Rabin, Sharon and Captain Zvi Greengold
Summary
In this talk, David Peimer explores the question, what makes a truly great general? He explores how war leadership is different from other leadership roles. From ancient times to today, this question has stimulated fascinating debates. Leadership in war is different from being a leader in other spheres of life. Yet war remains fundamental to human history, the evolution of societies and cultures and innovative scientific and social change. So, we ask: what makes a great, not only brilliant, general?
Professor David Peimer
David Peimer is a professor of theatre and performance studies in the UK. He has taught at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and New York University (Global Division), and was a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University. Born in South Africa, David has won numerous awards for playwriting and directing. He has written eleven plays and directed forty in places like South Africa, New York, Brussels, London, Berlin, Zulu Kingdom, Athens, and more. His writing has been published widely and he is the editor of Armed Response: Plays from South Africa (2009) and the interactive digital book Theatre in the Camps (2012). He is on the board of the Pinter Centre in London.
No, I’ll be honest with you, I don’t. I don’t think there is as much planning, thinking, and the understanding of history and leadership. Tragically it is not as good as it was. It’s my personal opinion.
That’s part of the huge debate. I think it was a mistake to not know what was going on after he left, whether it was his mistake or others afterwards or it’s a neglect.