dissertation help please! US military culture and small wars.

[marct]

Hi folks,

So the working title of the dissertation is: 'How Does the Culture of the American Military Prevent Them From Waging Small Wars Effectively?'

Perhaps questions in the title of dissertations is more of the style in that part of the world, but if one were to write such a thing in the US it would probably be more along the lines of:
Lessons Not Learned: American Military Culture and Small Wars, 1950-2006

Change the time period from 1950 to, say, 1792 or so and you might be onto something....

You know, I would change the title to "Does the Culture of the American Military Prevent Them From Waging Small Wars Effectively? American Military Culture and Small Wars, 1776 - 2006".

The real key, IMHO, is the word "effectively" (we can argue about the term "culture" latter on ). Over the centuries, the concept of what is "effective" has shifted, covering the spectrum from forced deportation (e.g "The Trail of Tears"), genocide including biological weapons (e.g. smallpox), to "Hearts and Minds". The problem is semantic: "effective" assumes a particular effect is desired - which is a policy / culture choice.

To my mind, phrasing the question in the dissertations as "How does...." implies that it is US military culture that is the primary source of ineffectiveness. Personally, while I would certainly agree that it is a factor, I do not view it as the primary (or even dominant) cause. Let me further note that US military culture is strongly embedded in the more general US culture, and that its options and actions are strongly controlled (in the sense of environmental influences and selection criteria) by the political culture of the US.