Changing Tires on the Fly
10 September Foreign Policy Research Institute E-Note - Changing Tires on the Fly: The Marines and Postconflict Stability Ops by Frank Hoffman.
Quote:
In early 2005 a British-American research team sponsored by FPRI commenced a study of British and U.S. approaches to stabilization and reconstruction (S&R) operations as demonstrated in Iraq. Their complete findings will be presented at a briefing to be held on September 19 in Washington, DC. At that time, two monograph-length reports will be released, one offering British perspectives (“Succeeding in Phase IV: British Perspectives on the U.S. Effort to Stabilize and Reconstruct Iraq,” by Andrew Garfield), the other American perspectives. This essay summarizes the second report.
FPRI hopes that these studies will help U.S. military and civilian planners to refine a set of best practices and develop a set of principles or considerations, which can form the basis of a coherent and integrated national level framework for S&R operations. FPRI acknowledges the research contributions of King’s College in London and the Terrorism Research Center in northern Virginia, and the financial support provided by the Smith Richardson Foundation.
The 2:00-3:30 pm Tuesday, Sept. 19 briefing will be held at the Phoenix Park Hotel, 520 N. Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC. It is open to the public but reservations are required. It will also be video webcast. To reserve to attend the briefing or for information on viewing the briefing online, email
lux@fpri.org...
Cultural Understanding Is Not Necessarily "Sensitive"
Quote:
At a popular cultural level, there is a lot of fuzzy thinking and beliefs about the inherent goodness of all peoples. The meme of "they will agree with us if we only understand them" appears to dominate a lot of the thinking I am seeing at my university at any rate (then again, I am in Canada...).
Can I get an "Amen?"
Seriously that trait goes well beyond Canada, Marc. And it goes hand in glove with stunned disbelief or iconclastic denial when such naivete is exposed to reality. I recently tried to explain to a friend why I say that the capacity for genocide is the reciprocal of man's capacity for mercy. They are in my mind very much a Yin and Yang, which define humanity.
As I recall from my long distant undergraduate days as an anthro minor, there was a case study set I believe in a Latin American country on a small tribe that had set lying as desirable trait, one emulated and rewarded in the limited cultural setting in which it occurred. Yet I have heard so many times, educated people state catergorically that lying is a "universally" condemned trait. That to me is what distinguished between "educated" and "learned." Kind of like what some said regarding religion in Rwanda: the Church was strong but Christianity was not.
Best
Tom