Searching for Victory in All the Wrong Places: T. E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt, 1916-1918.

摘要

Culture is a difficult concept to grasp, thus, it has been the strategic stepchild of military planners and combat leaders for centuries. Nonetheless, 'the collective values, beliefs, and experiences that predispose (but not predetermine) perception and behavior of a group,' which we know as culture, have dominated the way nations and other groups conduct warfare. Fundamental to national and group identities, culture has often separated the protagonists when no other factor would generate support for war. Surprisingly, though, military leaders have often ignored it as a planning consideration. Part of the reason for this omission is the difficulty of describing the issue and addressing it accordingly. There is a cultural paradigm at work among nations and groups in conflict -- the problem is 'How does the strategist adequately incorporate it into the planning process.' Without question, the omission of cultural considerations in strategy has usually led to defeat for the omitting party. British leaders failed to recognize the emerging culture of the American colonists in the late 1700s, and they completely underestimated the resolve of the revolutionaries. Another example took place during World War II. The Japanese neglected the probable reaction of Americans to a surprise attack, so they did not believe that Americans' resentment would strengthen their resolve. Again, in Vietnam, the U.S. military failed to incorporate Vietnamese culture into their planning. Of the examples of military leaders who successfully recognized the importance of culture in strategy and made good use of that knowledge, none is more striking than Colonel T. E. Lawrence. His campaigns with the Arabs against the Turks during the Arab Revolt of 1916-1918 are a remarkable study in the effective use of cultural resources to execute a victorious strategy. This paper examines Lawrence's effective use of culture in strategic planning on the operational level during the Arab Revolt.