Know Your Enemy and Know Yourself: Assessing Progress in Developing Cultural Competence to Enhance Operational Effectiveness

摘要

Culture has always been a key factor in military operations; it is in not just a fad that has recently become important because of unique characteristics of the Global War on Terror and Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Thousands of years ago, the writer of The Art of War highlighted the critical nature of cultural competence when he asserted his formula for military success, 'know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril.' In the last few years, the United States Government has recognized the demand for greater language and regional expertise, and attempted to correct these deficiencies by instituting a few key initiatives. Will the nation's recent culture-focused initiatives suffice in meeting the demands for cultural competence necessary to enhance the effectiveness of Geographic Combatant Commanders (GCCs) in conducting operations in the international security environment of the 21st century. This paper analyzes these initiatives and assess that they fall short of transforming cultural competence within the armed forces of the United States in order to ensure success at the operational level. This paper recommends several additional actions to achieve greater cultural competence to better enable the GCCs.