Security and Defense Studies Review 2010 Fall ... - Offnews.info

Book Review: Defending Democracyand Securing DiversityBy Christian Leuprecht (ed.)Reviewed by Christopher HanniganCenter for Hemispheric Defense Studies Operations CoordinatorSo let us not be blind to our differences, but let us also direct attention to our common interestsand the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now ourdifferences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For in the final analysis, ourmost basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. Weall cherish our children’s futures. And we are all mortal.—President John F. Kennedy, American University Commencement Address, June 10, 1963In Defending Democracy and Securing Diversity, Christian Leuprecht and his contributorsassemble an anecdotal and ultimately incomplete case against a supposed dichotomy of diversityand security by arguing that defense professionals diverse in both background and perspectiveare integral to the 21st century mission of human security. Surveying the participation of racialminorities, gender minorities, ethnic cultural minorities, and women, Leuprecht proposes thatdiversity, when it surpasses mere demographic representation and becomes a part of organizationalculture and decision-making, is a strategic asset for a reluctant defense and security sector that oftenoverstates the costs of integration. To Leuprecht, diversity in the defense sector is not merely the“ultimate litmus test” of a free, fair, democratic society; diversity is a functional imperative dictatedby changing demographics and increased demand to operate within complex cultural domains. Inshort, diversity is an imperative of both right and might.Two essays open the book with a discussion of the effects of integration and the supposedinstitutional resistance of defense organizations and other professions to diversification. Contributorssurvey cultural clashes within integrated security organizations, with consideration both of howsubordinated cultures infuse themselves and how dominant cultures accommodate, assimilate, ormarginalize them. A series of case studies then presents supporting examples from Canada, theUnited Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Subsequent chapters, by Leuprecht and others, examinethe intersection of functional imperative and issues of diversity. A discussion of racist coloniallegacies in the Guyanese security sector articulates how homogeneity can undermine legitimacy andefficacy, while a similar examination from South Africa sounds the anthology’s lone discordant noteby documenting the adverse impact of aggressive social engineering on operational effectiveness.One of a social scientist’s greatest burdens is a dearth of controlled laboratories, and Leuprechtconfesses in the book’s introduction to this challenge in validating diversity as strategy. Indeed,history is replete with examples of how the security and defense sector has resisted diversity andhow, even after integration is compelled by social legislation, non-traditional populations have beenreluctant to join the police or military. Finding instances of harmonious integration with verifiablebenefits to the security mission is substantially more difficult. Leuprecht’s implied solution to thischallenge is to assemble a diverse body of experts—including academics and career military officersfrom Canada, the United States, Europe, and Africa—and to rely heavily on counterfactuals. Theexamples surveyed by Leuprecht’s contributors are broad: multiculturalism in the British ArmedForces, women’s service in Canadian combat units, and the reluctance of ethnic cultural minoritiesto join the Royal Netherlands Army. In each case, however, the effects of integration on functionalimperative are not readily apparent. For example, a journalistic account documenting the experiencesSecurity and Defense Studies Review 2010 Fall-Winter Issue / Edicíón Otoño-Invierno 2010 / Edicão Outono-Inverno 2010 / Volume 11 195