A Passion for Peace: An Examination of Prudential Leadership Applied to Jimmy Carter's Middle East Peace Accomplishments
Abstract
quest for Middle East peace, he did meet great success with his negotiations of the Camp David Accords. Carter’s success in establishing peace between Israel and Egypt is an excellent example of prudential leadership in practice. This is important because prudential leadership is very rare and it is often difficult to identify. The purpose of the present study is twofold. First, an original definition of prudential leadership is developed using existing key concepts identified from Aristotle’s concept of prudence and the obtainable prudential leadership definitions. Second, a case analysis of Carter’s Middle East peace efforts during his presidency is provided, with particular attention to his role in negotiating the Camp David Accords. This case helps improve our understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of Carter’s leadership through the application of prudential leadership theory, along with clarifying prudential leadership for future applications.