Discussing the major theories of political leadership with a focus on contemporary challenges that political leaders face worldwide, this research companion provides a comprehensive and up-to-date resource for an international readership. The editors combine empirical and normative approaches to emphasize the centrality of political culture, as well as the limits of culture and the universal demands of innovative adaptation.

Joseph Masciulli is Associate Professor, Human Rights and Political Science at St Thomas University, Canada. Mikhail A Molchanov is Associate Professor at St Thomas University, Canada. W. Andy Knight is Director of the Institute of International Relations (IIR) at The University of the West Indies and Professor and former Chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta. He served as Governor of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) from 2007 to 2012, co-edited Global Governance journal from 2000 to 2005 and was Vice Chair of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS). Knight has written and edited several books, book chapters and journal articles on various aspects of multilateralism, global governance and peace, and United Nations reform. His recent books include: The Routledge Handbook of the Responsibility to Protect (with Frazer Egerton) -Routledge 2012; Towards the Dignity of Difference?: Neither 'end of History' Nor 'clash of Civilizations' (with Mojtaba Mahdavi) - Ashgate 2012; and Global Politics (with Tom Keating) - Oxford University Press 2010. Professor Knight is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Part I Introduction; Chapter 1 Political Leadership in Context, Joseph Masciulli, Mikhail A. Molchanov, W. Andy Knight; Part II Classical Theories of Political Leadership; Chapter 2 Classical Eastern and Western Traditions of Political Leadership, Mikhail A. Molchanov; Chapter 3 Political Leadership and the Problem of Principle: A Classical Response to Postmodernism, Richard Myers; Chapter 4 Prudence and Glory: Machiavelli on Political Leadership, Christine Cornell, Patrick Malcolmson; Part III Contemporary Theories of Political Leadership; Chapter 5 Conceptions of Global Leadership for Contextually Intelligent, Innovatively Adaptive Political Leaders, Joseph Masciulli, W. Andy Knight; Chapter 6 Heidegger's Führerprinzip : Leadership Out of and Into Nihilism, Edward Grant Andrew; Chapter 7 Distinguishing and Unifying Visionary Leadership and Mechanical Management, W. Andy Knight; Chapter 8 Feminist Approaches to the Study of Political Leadership, Laura Sjoberg; Part IV Studies of National Political Leadership; Chapter 9 American Civil-Military Relations and Political Leadership, Geoffrey S. Corn, Eric Talbot Jensen; Chapter 10 Presidential Leadership in Times of War, Amanda DiPaolo; Chapter 11 The Gendered Nature of Leadership Analysis: Lessons from Women Leaders as Executives in Anglo-American Systems, Patricia Lee Sykes; Chapter 12 Generational Change in Chinese Political Leadership, Hairong Lai; Chapter 13 Political Leadership in China in the Twenty-First Century, Weixing Chen; Chapter 14 Elites and Leadership in Russian Politics, Oxana Gaman-Golutvina; Chapter 15 Islam/Muslims and Political Leadership, Mojtaba Mahdavi; Part V Studies of International Organization and Global Issues Leadership; Chapter 16 Leadership in the European Union: Assessing the Significance of the Trio Council Presidency, Colette Mazzucelli; Chapter 17 International Human Rights, Political Leadership and the Problem of Normative Change in the International System, Shaun Narine; Chapter 18 Leading the Leaders: The Environmental Advocacy of NGOs, Barbara MacKinnon, Kenneth H. Maybee, Mikhail A. Molchanov, Eddie Oldfield; Part VI Studies of Political Leadership and Society; Chapter 19 Courts and the Paradox of Political Leadership, Thomas M.J. Bateman; Chapter 20 The War on Terror: War or Metaphor?, Jeffrey F. Addicott; Chapter 21 Leaders, Followers and Political Scientists, Hugh Donald Forbes; Chapter 22 A Political Economic Analysis of Women's Political Leadership, Louise Carbert; Part VII The Future of Political Leadership; Chapter 23 The Future of Political Leadership: Uncertain and Dangerous Contexts, Joseph Masciulli;