Cultural Challenges in Military Operations NDC OCCASIONAL PAPER NDC OCCASIONAL PAPER NDC OCCASIONAL PAPER NDC OCCASIONAL PAPER Research Division • Rome, October 2007
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NATO Defense College 23 Collège de Défense de l’OTAN Cultural Challenges in Military Operations NDC OCCASIONAL PAPER NDC OCCASIONAL PAPER NDC OCCASIONAL PAPER NDC OCCASIONAL PAPER Research Division • Rome, October 2007 NATO DEFENSE COLLEGE COLLEGE DE DEFENSE DE L’OTAN Research Division Division Recherche CULTURAL CHALLENGES IN MILITARY OPERATIONS Edited by Cees M. Coops and Tibor Szvircsev Tresch Rome, October 2007 NATO DEFENSE COLLEGE NATO Defense College Cataloguing-in-Publication-Data: Cultural Challenges in Military Operations Editors: Cees M. Coops and Tibor Szvircsev Tresch p. cm. (NATO Defense College “NDC Occasional Papers Series”) Publications Assistant: Laurence Ammour Proofreading: Julie Dixon and Anna Peel. The views expressed in this NDC Occasional Paper are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the NATO Defense College or the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Extracts of this NDC Occasional Paper for academic purposes may be quoted or reprinted without special permission, provided that a standard source credit line is included. To copy, to republish or to post on the world wide web, requires the permission from the NATO Defense College. © NDC 2007 all rights reserved Copies of this NDC Occasional Paper may be obtained direct from the NATO Defense College, Research Division Via Giorgio Pelosi, 1 - 00143 Rome, Italy Fax +39-06-50 52 57 97 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: http://www.ndc.nato.int Printing: 600 copies Printed and bound by CSC. GRAFICA s.r.l. – Via Meucci, 28 - 00012 Guidonia, Roma Zona industriale S.Sinforosa Tel 0774 353308 - 0774 354410 Fax 0774 578014 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................... 7 INTRODUCTION Tibor Szvircsev Tresch .............................................................................. 9 Background Paper for the Conference: Effectiveness within NATO’s Multicultural Military Operations Tibor Szvircsev Tresch and Nicasia Picciano......................................... 11 PART 1: COOPERATION IN MULTINATIONAL FORCES: PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE AND NATIONAL CASE STUDIES......................... 25 Practical Experience from a Former Officer in Mission Abroad Michael E. Firlie ..................................................................................... 27 Cultural Challenges for Small Countries in Mission Abroad Ljubica Jelušič ........................................................................................ 36 The French Experience with Cultural Diversity: An Overview Claude Weber and Saïd Haddad............................................................. 50 Cultural Challenges in Military Operations: Hungarian Considerations and Experiences Ferenc Molnár ........................................................................................ 65 4 PART 2: PEACEKEEPING EXPERIENCE FROM MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES AND THE MIDDLE EAST ......................................... 75 The Culture of Peace and Peacekeeping Operations: Middle East Case Study Faisal O. Al-Rfouh .................................................................................. 77 Israel, UNIFIL II, the UN, and the International Community: New and Renewed Partnerships and Implications for Mission’s Effectiveness Efrat Elron .............................................................................................. 90 Cultural Challenges for Peacekeeping Missions: The Jordanian Experience Saleh Al-Zu’bi ....................................................................................... 109 Peacekeeping Experience of the Moroccan Armed Forces Rachid El Houdaïgui............................................................................. 123 Constructing Multi-Dimensional Perspective of Multiculturalism in Armed Forces Orit Shalev ............................................................................................ 130 PART 3: KOSOVO, AFGHANISTAN AND LEBANON, CASE STUDIES FROM MILITARY MISSIONS ........................................................ 141 Findings from Fieldwork on German-Italian Cooperation at MNB SW (KFOR), PRIZREN (September 2005) Jörg Keller and Maren Tomforde ......................................................... 143 How About Pasta and Beer? Intercultural Challenges of German- Italian Cooperation in Kosovo Maren Tomforde.................................................................................... 155 5 Dutch Prejudice René Moelker and Schelte van Ruiten................................................... 169 Belgian Troops in UNIFIL Delphine Resteigne and Joseph Soeters................................................ 184 PART 4: EDUCATIONAL AND LEADERSHIP ASPECTS ......................... 201 Educating Adaptable Military Leaders and Training of Teams for Coalition Operations Yantsislav Yanakiev............................................................................... 203 Determining Factors of Intercultural Leadership – A Theoretical Framework Stefan Seiler .......................................................................................... 217 PART 5: EFFECTIVENESS OF MISSIONS................................................... 233 The Paradox of Multinationality Anthony King......................................................................................... 235 Doing the Right Thing the Right Way: The Challenge of Military Mission Effectiveness in Peace Support Operations in a “War amongst the People” Theatre Kobi Michael......................................................................................... 254 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................. 264 Cultural Challenges in Military Operations: An Overview Tibor Szvircsev Tresch .......................................................................... 264 6 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS1 This publication is the outcome of the presentations given by outstanding experts during the conference held at the NATO Defense College (Rome) on 15 and 16 March 2007 on “Cultural Challenges in Military Operations”. The Editors would like to express their deep appreciation to the NATO Defense College in Rome for hosting the conference. Special thanks go to the Commandant, Lieutenant General Marc Vankeirsbilck; the Dean, Dr. Samuel Grier; the Director of Academic Planning and Policy, Brigadier General Dr. Klaus Wittmann, the former Chief of the Research Branch, Rear Admiral (ret.) Jean Dufourcq, and the staff members who ensured the efficient functioning of all the practical aspects of the workshop, especially Ms Maria Di Martino. We would also like to thank Ms Nicasia Picciano, Intern at the NATO Defense College, for her support and her help in preparing the background paper for the conference. Our warm thanks also go to our colleagues at the Academic Research Division for their readiness to chair the various panels at the conference, Dr Laure Borgomano-Loup, Dr Carlo Masala and Dr Andrew Monaghan. Finally, the Editors would like to thank warmly Laurence Ammour for her sterling assistance in preparing this collection of papers for publication, and Anna Peel and Julie Dixon for their superb proofreading of the articles. Cees M. Coops and Tibor Szvircsev Tresch Rome, August 2007 1 Proofreading by Julie Dixon. 8 9 INTRODUCTION2 Tibor SZVIRCSEV TRESCH3 On 15 and 16 March 2007 a conference was held at the NATO Defense College on the topic of “Cultural Challenges in Military Operations”. It offered a preliminary overview of the operational and multicultural challenges of cooperation among different forces with NGOs, IOs and the local population in theatres. The conference was the follow-up to a preliminary meeting held at the NDC on 27 November 2006. Its specific objectives were to advance understanding in multinational forces during operations, to discuss different military cultures and forms of cooperation, and to address the issue of cultural interoperability and mission effectiveness in multinational forces. Presentations were given on the lessons learned in military operations, the inter-cultural and intra-cultural challenges in organizations, and educational and leadership aspects. Military sociologists and psychologists together with experts and practitioners from Mediterranean Dialogue countries and NATO nations offered the findings of their individual research projects on the cultural aspects of armed forces assigned to missions, lessons learned during missions and cross-cultural interaction. The speakers presented different approaches: 1. Theoretical approaches; 2. Case studies (surveys, questionnaires, expert interviews); 3. Personal experiences in the field, as former commander of a unit/battalion. 2 Proofreading by Julie Dixon. 3 Senior Research Fellow, Academic Research Branch, NATO Defense College, Rome, Italy. 10 The conference was divided into five panels: 1. Cooperation in multinational forces, practical experience and national case studies, 2. Peacekeeping experience from Mediterranean countries and the Middle East, 3. Kosovo, Afghanistan and Lebanon, case studies from military missions, 4. Educational and leadership aspects, 5. Effectiveness of missions. The main issues discussed were the problem of lack of language expertise in the field, the variety of leadership styles and rotation systems, prejudices, and the lack of appropriate preparation of the units to be sent on missions. Additionally, national military traditions and the different formal and social hierarchy systems may lead to tension among armed forces and hinder success.