STO-Activities: (no title)
Activity title:
Understanding Strategic Culture
Activity Reference:
SAS-187
Panel:
SAS
Security Classification:
NATO UNCLASSIFIED
Status:
Active
Activity type:
RWS
Start date:
2023-09-01T00:00:00Z
Actual End date:
2025-09-01T00:00:00Z
Keywords:
adversary, audiences, deterrence, influence, strategic culture, understanding
Background:
The recognition that not everybody thinks the same way seems like a statement of the obvious; however, there is room for improvement in understanding how other groups and nationalities see the world, and how this influences choices regarding defence and security. The outbreak of Russia’s war with Ukraine (February 2022) has highlighted the need to devote greater attention and resources to the study of adversaries with regard to their willingness to employ armed force as an instrument of policy. In recent decades, this challenge has been underscored by the acknowledgement - expressed in relevant scholarly literature and drawing upon a variety of research fields - that viewing political and/or military leaders as purely ‘rational actors’ will not significantly enhance our thinking about decision-making by putative adversaries. In recent years this has become particularly apparent in influence and deterrence thinking, where ‘tailored deterrence’ is widely accepted as a more effective approach. The recognition that a country’s history, political and social structures (including the nature of a governing regime), as well as the permanent influence of its geography, directly influence decision-makers. This underscores the reality that governments approach questions of international and national security very differently from one another. Moving beyond that acknowledgement, however, there is room for improvement in understanding how specific groups and nationalities see the world, and how this influences choices regarding defence and security.
This subject, broadly referred to as ‘strategic culture’, does not have an agreed definition, yet could be described as ‘shared beliefs, assumptions and modes of behaviour, derived from common experiences and accepted narratives, that shape collective identity and relationships to other groups, and which determine appropriate ends and means for achieving security objectives’. Improved understanding of strategic culture has the potential to enhance understanding of adversaries and, in particular, their drivers, motivations, perceptions and potential courses of action
Objectives:
- Improve understanding of strategic culture concepts and theory; and the linkage to deterrence amongst Alliance members.
- Identify any extant approaches being applied by any participating nation or Alliance member, and experiences of researching, identifying, structuring and understanding strategic culture.
- Compare and contrast any extant approaches being applied by any participating nation or Alliance member to researching, identifying, structuring and understanding strategic culture.
- Identify commonalities between any national approaches to researching, identifying, structuring and understanding strategic culture.
- Identify any lessons learned from national application and utilisation of strategic culture.
- Identify any best practices from the application and utilisation from all sources.
- Propose an Alliance definition of strategic culture.
- Deliverable: Technical Evaluation Report, covering the team’s findings and recommendations for further activity, as required.
Topics:
Scientific topic areas of the activity include, but are not limited to:
- Anthropology and cultural studies.
- Military history.
- Political psychology.
- Political science.
- Strategic influence and decision-making.
- Strategic studies
Contact:
Open2Partners:
Title:
Created at 12/04/2023 12:00 by System Account
Last modified at 16/05/2024 21:00 by System Account
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