Australian Army Journal

OPERATIONAL CULTURE
The Myths of Cultural Awareness:
Culture Does Not Eat Strategy for Breakfast
Captain David M. Bergman, Swedish Armed Forces
ABSTRACT
Since military operations in international settings often place a greater emphasis
on cooperating with indigenous forces and working within local populations the
understanding of cultural factors — what is commonly referred to as cultural
awareness — is frequently stressed in military training. This article presents a
slightly dissenting view from mainstream cultural awareness training and critically
analyses the ‘primacy of culture perspective’, concluding that cultural factors will not
significantly alter human nature and that military commanders often tend to overcomplicate
the issue of culture. This article will argue that most human behaviours
are universal — not cultural — and that although understanding cultural factors
may appear to be an operational necessity, they do not fundamentally change the
principles of warfare, military strategy or the military profession. Culture is one factor
to consider in military operations, but by no means the most crucial. This article also
considers the perspective that cultural awareness has to start with an awareness of
our own culture and how we will be perceived in international operations.
Australian Army Journal
Culture edition 2013, Volume X, Number 3 Page 128