Clash of Cultures.

摘要

The history of U.S. military operations is replete with examples of major errors made due to cultural misunderstandings. This paper examines three cases (Korean War, Vietnam War, Kosovo) that illustrate the consequences of past failings to understand culture. None of these conflicts is deemed an unqualified success and much of this can be attributed to a fundamental lack of understanding of the enemy. These conflicts do not represent an exhaustive list of U.S. cultural failures, but they do present a good cross-section of culture in conflict. In his seminal work, 'The Clash of Civilizations,' Samuel P. Huntington examines the rising importance of civilizational blocks and the increased value culture is having in the affairs of states and nonstate actors. By examining this work, one can see the dangerous parallel trends of a military that has difficulty understanding culture. The clash between the United States' failure to understand enemy cultures and the rise of culture as a basis for conflict is the volatile brew this paper will address. The paper suggests three courses of action to better organize, train, and equip U.S. forces for future conflicts: (1) redraw the AORs for the regional commands with a more distinct cultural focus, (2) increase the cultural awareness of the entire force through expanded training opportunities, and (3) equip squadron-level units with cultural experts to provide continuing cultural focus.