ABSTRACT

This edited volume uses theoretical overviews and empirical case studies to explore both how soldiers cope with the new forms of cultural diversity occurring within various multinational military operations, and how their organizations manage them.

Military organizations, like other complex organizations, are now operating in an ever more diverse environment, with the missions themselves being ever more varied, and mostly conducted in a multinational framework. Members of the military have to deal with a host of international actors in the theatre of operations, and do so in a foreign cultural environment, often in countries devastated by war. Such conditions demand a high level of intercultural competence. It is therefore crucial for military organizations to understand how military personnel manage this cultural diversity.

This book will be of much interest to students of peace operations, military studies, international security, as well as sociology and business studies.

part |70 pages

Thematic overviews

chapter |15 pages

The UN

Multinational cooperation in peace operations

chapter |21 pages

The interplay between the transnational and multinational

Intercultural integrating mechanisms in UN peace operations

chapter |11 pages

Tough talk

Clear and cluttered communication during peace operations

part |139 pages

Case studies

chapter |17 pages

The British way in war

The UK approach to multinational operations

chapter |17 pages

A regional recipe for success

Multinational peace operations in East Timor

chapter |12 pages

An unusual bi-national military cooperation

The case of Turkish–Gambian relations

chapter |12 pages

Towards transnational identities in the armed forces?

German–Italian military cooperation in Kosovo

chapter |12 pages

Diversity versus effectiveness in multinational units

Italian, Hungarian, and Slovenian cooperation in the multinational land force

chapter |14 pages

Accidental neighbours

Japanese and Dutch troops in Iraq

chapter |18 pages

The formation of the global soldier

Managing identities in multinational military units

part |7 pages

Afterthoughts