Abstract
The NATO and the Norwegian military decision-making processes use the ASCOPE/PMESII framework for analyzing and understanding civilian factors in an area of operation. While the framework may be useful to area specialists in intelligence work, this article questions the assumption that the ASCOPE/PMESII is a useful tool for building cultural competence in officer training. Drawing on anthropological, sociological and hermeneutic theory, I argue that thinking of cultural differences in terms of established categories distorts our understanding and prevents officers from appreciating that cultural differences are different in unpredictable ways. Rather than employing rigid frameworks for understanding, officer training should: first, operationalize relevant anthropological, sociological or other theory for military operations; second, employ a Socratic approach to exploring other culture; and third, expose the future officers to cultural expressions such as film, music, and poetry.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The Norwegian equivalent, «Plan- og beslutningsprosessen», is derived primarily from the American MDMP.
- 2.
Mary Douglas was critical of Lévi-Strauss and many aspects of his structuralism, but her own work has clear structuralist elements. Her best-known work Purity and Danger (1966), for instance, traces the meaning of words and symbols in different settings and thus identifying signifying differences.
- 3.
Realists commonly have correspondence theories of truth, which is what I sketch as the underlying assumptions of tactical analysis of the physical terrain here. In epistemology the picture is a lot more complex, and so a proper analysis of the epistemological assumptions of military doctrines would require a separate study.
- 4.
The Committee was established by two universities (Oslo and Bergen) and one university college (Bodø) to investigate among other things how critical reflection, understanding of scientific thinking and related issues are and should be developed in academic education after such reforms as the Bologna process in higher education.
References
Army, U. S. (2011). A counterinsurgent’s guidebook: The application of COIN doctrine and theory. Kabul: U.S. Army.
Barth, F. (2008). Afghanistan og Taliban. Oslo: Pax.
Baxter Magolda, M. (1992). Knowing and reasoning in college: Gender-related patterns in students’ intellectual development. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bhabha, H. K. (2004). The location of culture. London: Routledge.
Bohman, J., & Rehg, W. (2014, September 21). Jürgen Habermas. Retrieved from The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2014/entries/habermas/
Bolstad, I., & Dannelsesutvalget. (2009). Kunnskap og dannelse foran et nytt århundre. Oslo: Dannelsesutvalget, Universitete i Oslo.
Douglas, M. (1963). The Lele of the Kasai. London: Routledge.
Feyerabend, P. (1987). Farewell to reason. London: Verso.
Foucault, M. (2012). The order of things (2nd ed.). Hoboken: Taylor & Francis.
Gadamer, H.-G. (2004). Truth and method. (D. Marshall & J. Weinsheimer, Trans.). London: Continuum International Publishing.
Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures. New York: Basic Books.
Grimen, H. (2008). Profesjon og kunnskap. In A. Milander & L. Terum (Eds.), Profesjonsstudier (pp. 71–86). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
Holmes-Eber, P. (2014). Culture in conflict: Irregular warfare, culture policy, and the Marine Corps. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
James, C., & Marcus, G. E. (Eds.). (1986). Writing culture: The poetics and politics of ethnography. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Lévi-Strauss, C. (1969). The elementary structures of kinship (No. 340). Boston: Beacon Press.
Marcus, G. E., & Fischer, M. M. (1986). A crisis in representation in the human sciences. In G. E. Marcus, & M. M. FIscher, Anthropology as cultural critique: An experimental moment in the human sciences (pp. 7–16). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
NATO. (2011). Allied joint doctring for counterinsurgency (COIN) – AJP-3.4.4. NATO.
NATO. (2013). Allied command operations comprehensive operations planning directive, COPD interim V2.0. Mons: Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.
NOU 2016:8. (2016). En god alliert - Norge i Afghanistan 2001–2014. Oslo: Utenriksdepartementet.
Saïd, E. (2003). Orientalism. London: Penguin Books.
Saussure, F., Baskin, W., Meisel, P., & Saussy, H. (2011). Course in general linguistics. New York: Columbia University Press.
Schommer, M. (1990). Effects of beliefs about the nature of knowledge on comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 498–504.
Spivak, G. C. (1988). Can the subaltern speak? In C. Nelson & L. Grossberg (Eds.), Marxism and the interpretation of culture (pp. 271–313). Basingstoke: Macmillan Education.
The Norwegian Armed Forces. (2019, October 14). Statistikk. Retrieved from Forsvaret: https://forsvaret.no/fakta/tall-og-statistikk
U.S. Army training and doctrine command. (2010). Field manual 5-0. Washington: Headquarters Department of the Army.
våpenskole, H. (2015). Stabshåndbok for hæren: Plan- og bestlutningsprosessen. Rena: Hærens våpenskole.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Enstad, K. (2020). Understanding Cultural Differences: The Limitations of ASCOPE/PMESII. In: Enstad, K., Holmes-Eber, P. (eds) Warriors or Peacekeepers?. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36766-4_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36766-4_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-36765-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-36766-4
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)