Recruiting for SWC members because....

[davidbfpo]

Created following a post in a separate thread and raises an issue that needs an airing in its own thread and for members only. The title is mine, not the authors.

This post will come second now the post has been moved.

[sennef@cimic-coe]

Here I had expected to find here a place where Coalition partners could have posted interesting stuff about their respective approaches and experiences in small wars.
Being Dutch, I could have posted on the Dutch 3 –D approach (the comprehensive approach of Defense, Diplomacy and Development) and its results in Uruzgan province;
or on how well the re-employment of the French colonial ‘ink blot’ strategy worked
or on the intensive use of cultural competence in an operational setting.

What I found instead is a place where coalition partners are being bashed plus unfavorable, unflattering and IMO uninformed comparisons with the American approach. This I find quite disappointing and not a real encouragement for posting.

[Kiwigrunt]

Here I had expected to find here a place where Coalition partners could have posted interesting stuff about their respective approaches and experiences in small wars.

Here is a place where Coalition Partners can post interesting stuff about their perspectives and experiences. Bring it on.

Being Dutch, I could have posted on the Dutch 3 –D approach (the comprehensive approach of Defense, Diplomacy and Development) and its results in Uruzgan province….

Please do.

What I found instead is a place where coalition partners are being bashed plus unfavorable, unflattering and IMO uninformed comparisons with the American approach. This I find quite disappointing and not a real encouragement for posting.

It is not my perception and experience that coalition partners and other ‘outsiders’ are being bashed by a predominantly (and logically so) American membership in a way that is out of proportion to the criticism that they portray to their own side and actions (sure, amidst a lot of chest-beating). If it is your perception, and you find it disappointing, than perhaps that should be a real encouragement for posting. Please inform us.

[Stan]

I may be one of the aforementioned four (4) that is causing trouble of late and although Fuchs has taught me to be humble I have yet to experience humiliation (probably on its way).

I'd have to echo Kiwigrunt's comments - we are far harder on our own than we are on foreigners herein.

Tough, Strange and Diverse crowd and getting thin skinned will only egg us on

I hope you stick around and teach us a little about the use of cultural competence. Isn't that in fact what your beef is ?

In closing...

Bring it on.

[Fuchs]

What did I do?
I can't teach what I don't know.

- - - - -

I can in general understand the thread opener's problem.
It's a general problem in contact with most people from the U.S., though.

The relative isolation and the illusion that the anglophone world is big enough (=all that counts) allowed for a set of assumptions, myths, points of view that can easily collide with their non-anglophone counterparts.

On top of that, anglophone people are typically numerically superior on their (anglophone) turf and numerical superiority can easily mislead in regard to correctness of claims and views.


It's almost a hobby of mine to provoke cracks in their assumptions, myths, points of view...
I have a troll (or two) on my blog's comments section who calls me anti-American for it.

[Stan]

I have a troll (or two) on my blog's comments section who calls me anti-American for it.

To be fair, you did tell me well in advance that your blog was not pro-USA. I didn't find your blog entries to be overtly negative however.

If all the non-anglophones refuse to participate we will be left with you and JMA

[Fuchs]

My blog is pro-USA, it's just not pro-USA methods.

It's actually pro-every-country.
There's no reason to be against any country, but there are reasons to disagree with what countries tend to do, and this includes the own one.



In regard tot he USA and UK; I'm concerned that they're both problem and conflict generators and my country is way too close to them to tolerate this silently. "We" have had our historical dosage of allies pulling "us" (=our ancestors) into crappy situations - we don't need a repetition of that.

Israel is different; it creates conflict as well, but it's distant enough politically (no formal ally) and thus I don't care about its effects so much.

Same for Iran, which does not appear to radiate any problems our way (actually, Germany has a quite good reputation in Iran and is not being considered a foe or threat by Iranians afaik).

Couldn't care less about East Asia, for its conflicts certainly don't radiate to my country unless we work hard and stupidly on getting involved.

[Fuchs]

You should have seen this place ins 2008...the Americans here have learned humility in comparison to 2007/08.

[Bill Moore]

David,

Where did you move the post from? Where did he feel his counter ideas were attacked? To be frank we are seeing more and more of that across the council. On the other hand some people are excessively thin skinned. We have four or more folks who repeatedly come up with same counter argument regardless of the topic (they get credit for staying on target, regardless of whether it is relevant or not), so a new person may have taken some their knee jerk responses out of context.

[jcustis]

it was a necro-post Bill, from a short thread about NATO/Dutch issues.

It wasn't this one, but I came across it during the search for the one I had seen the comment: http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ighlight=dutch

I think if he had seen that one, he's have realized that not everyone was down on the Dutch.

[jmm99]

I did a Members List Search for those members with 100 or more posts (all years) and with at least one post in 2011. Less 3 SWAdmin "members", the total is 93. Of them, at least 22 are Non-USAians. Fair conclusion: the "SWC Culture" has not inhibited those posters.

Of course, belief is belief and perception is perception - and I ain't going to try to change anyone's mind in the face of a firm belief and/or perception. We are what we are.

From my vantage point, I'd like to see more posts on CIMIC (as to which, sennef@cimic-coe has obvious experience).

As Ken said (link) in response to sennef's first post (link):

from Ken
Welcome aboard, Sennef
Jump in -- you'll bring a great perspective...

Regards

Mike