Why Don't They Fight Each Other? Cultural Diversity and Operational Unity in Multinational Forces

This article poses the question of how multinational forces can achieve a working level of cooperation and coordination despite their high cultural diversity? It first illustrates the range of cultural diversity in multinational forces. Then, relying on the literature on diversity in organizations a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Armed forces and society 1999-10, Vol.26 (1), p.73-97
Main Authors: ELRON, EFRAT, SHAMIR, BOAS, BEN-ARI, EYAL
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alliances
Analysis
Armed Forces
ARMED FORCES AND POLICE
Colonial history
Cooperation
COOPERATIVE ECONOMY, UNDERTAKINGS
Coordination
Cultural diversity
CULTURAL PATTERNS
Cultural Pluralism
Culture
Diversity
FOR POLITICAL CULTURE SEE POL/CULTUR
Force
Intercultural communication
International cooperation
International organization
International Relations
Military
Military history
Military sociology
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism & pluralism
Organization, Theory of
Organizational Culture
Plural societies
Political aspects
Social aspects
Sociology, Military
Theory
Unity
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Summary:This article poses the question of how multinational forces can achieve a working level of cooperation and coordination despite their high cultural diversity? It first illustrates the range of cultural diversity in multinational forces. Then, relying on the literature on diversity in organizations and cross-cultural differences in value priorities, and on an analysis of the circumstances under which such forces operate, the possible implications of high diversity for their operations are discussed. On the basis of further theoretical analysis, as well as existing literature and documents, a number of possible integrating conditions and integrating mechanisms are described that enable the forces to function as integrated units. Finally, the article suggests a number of research questions derived from our theoretical analysis.
ISSN:0095-327X
1556-0848
DOI:10.1177/0095327X9902600105