Leadership in NATO: The Case of Supreme Allied Commander Europe

The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) occupies a unique position within the NATO structure, serving as the principal commander of the organization’s military operations and being one of its strategic commanders alongside the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACLANT). The case of SACEUR is of particular interest, given that he is, by the nature of the position, ‘dual-hatted.’ He is not only the commander of NATO troops but also, at the same time, the commander of the U.S. European Command. This position, therefore, can be considered to some extent schizophrenic, insofar as it combines a multinational commander with the role of a national commander. While this combination presents certain challenges, it also creates opportunities. Though operating in a multinational command at NATO, his position as a U.S. combatant commander places SACEUR at the interface of multilateral military efforts and provides him with a special link to the United States, NATO’s biggest military power. Consequently, SACEUR’s official and primary authority is militarily in nature. However, biographical and autobiographical accounts of former SACEURs or other high-ranking officials in their immediate surroundings suggest that the scope of his role extends beyond his military responsibilities. IR scholars have already demonstrated that high-ranking personnel in international organizations, whether it be NATO or the United Nations, frequently attempt to influence the agenda themselves. Consequently, these individuals are more than mere executors of the will of the member nations. While some of that behavior is for sure driven by external events, personal traits and skills are also a contributing factor, regardless of the political environment in which they operate. The question therefore arises as to what motivates this behavior. A leader’s behavior is influenced by a number of psychological factors, including, for example, their political beliefs and their ability to cope with stress. However, this paper focuses on character traits that define the leadership style. The research project plans to examine how the leadership styles of SACEURs affect how they attempt to influence NATO decision-making in the military and political sphere. Leadership is still a highly discussed topic in both military and political research. The methodological framework employed for the thesis is Margaret G. Hermann’s psychological at-a-distance technique, the Leadership Trait Analysis (LTA). While the framework of LTA has been extensively utilized in the context of political leadership analyses, its application in the domain of military leadership research remains underdeveloped. The LTA measures seven distinct character traits that can be employed to construct the leadership profile of a political leader. This paper presents the outcome in the form of leadership traits and styles of NATO’s SACEURs.