Understanding Strategic Culture

Strategic Culture offers an alternative to unitary rational actor conceptions of strategic decision-making. This paper explores the extent to which this is useful by means of an analysis of the theoretical debate juxtaposed to practical case studies Falkands (82), Iraq (90/91).

Objective: To examine the relationship between assumptions underpinning the Strategic Culture concept and other major theoretical constructs. Strategic Culture aims to supplement, rather than displace major theoretical constructs such as Realism, Neo-Realism and Constructivism.

Germany and the use of force, 2018

The decision making process in matters of defence is not an abstract construct based purely in the present moment but is, rather, steeped in the beliefs, biases, traditions and cultural identity of the individual countryall of which feeds into its strategic culture. 1 [R]ather than obedience or disobedience to an abstract set of stipulative requirements, in times of war what really makes the difference is how a nation state, as a collective identity, 'behaves' is the structure of that nation's history and experience-its strategic culture, if you will. 2 Key issues and developments in German security policy since 1989 form the overall focus of this book, while the more specific question to be dealt with relates to the evolution of German perspectives on the use of military force in international politics in the post-Cold War period, using the concept of strategic culture to interpret the subject matter. As argued in the Introduction, that concept is useful in yielding insights on both theoretical and empirical issues relating to developments in German security policy since 1989. The aim of this chapter, consequently, is to consider the concept of strategic culture in greater detail and to locate it within the field of security studies. Contending approaches Neo-realism and German normalisation As the Cold War came to a close, a frenzy of analysis on the future of German security policy emerged. Consideration of how German post-Cold War security policy might develop reflected a far broader and fundamental discussion, within the discipline of international

: Strategic culture, which refers to the acquired behavioral tendencies of social agents, is a crucial albeit controversial analytical tool employed by students of Security Studies. Since its inception at the height of the Cold War, a burgeoning literature has focused on the "high politics" of interstate competition through its emphasis on the security establishments of great powers and their leaders' beliefs about the use of force. This paper argues for a revision of this trend. While previous studies were useful in addressing analytical gaps between structural, rational, and cultural theories at different Levels of Analysis, I argue that the changing nature of geopolitics in the aftermath of the Cold War, the rising eminence of non-state actors in international politics, and the reality of new domains of competition between new and old political actors, call for an equal expansion of the strategic culture research agenda. To this end, I discuss 1) the etiology and trajectory of the literature on strategic culture; 2) I elaborate on relevant developments in contemporary politics and IR Theory that necessitate this update; and 3) I discuss how strategic culture can enrich debates in the broader field of IR by making inroads into issues and themes beyond traditional security, and toward other, previously largely understudied, regions of interest--like Latin America.

VANGUARD SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS IN MANAGEMENT, vol. 12, no. 1, 2016, ISSN 1314-0582, 2016

Abstract: The current article explores interesting, significant and recently identified nuances in the relationship “culture-strategy”. The shared views of leading scholars at the University of National and World Economy in relation with the essence, direction, structure, role and hierarchy of “culture-strategy” relation are defined as a starting point of the analysis. The research emphasis is directed on recent developments in interpreting the observed realizations of the aforementioned link among the community of international scholars and consultants, publishing in selected electronic scientific databases. In this way a contemporary notion of the nature of “culture-strategy” relationship for the entities from the world of business is outlined. Keywords: Strategic management, strategy, organization culture, entrepreneurship. JEL: L1, M14, L26.

2005

There is enormous intuitive appeal to the idea that, if “culture matters” at some general level, then it must also be important in shaping national security processes and outcomes. There is an extensive academic literature on this issue—often called “strategic culture”—and it serves as a sort of “folk theorem” that practitioners and casual observers of foreign affairs find compelling.

CMI Level 8 Strategic Culture, 2022

This assignment seeks to critically evaluate the concept of 'strategic culture' and create a much-ignored element of strategic culture literature-Park, M., Kim, W. and Woo, H. multi-level analysis on the relationships between job satisfaction, organisational communication, organisational culture approach insights are drawn from contemporary critical constructivist theory. The resulting conception of strategic culture presents a less deterministic account of culture than that found in much-existing literature. Also, it provides a far greater crucial potential for analysing the strategic practices of states and other actors. More generally, this conception of strategic culture leads us to ask how strategic culture compares specific strategic behaviour as meaningful and how cultural behaviour helps to form the identity of those actors that engage in such behaviour. A strategic leader will, in most situations, have a team of advisors who will counsel them on what has to be accomplished before making a final leadership choice. Before the leadership team advances in a particular strategy path, a strategic leader is a person who establishes the principles and standards that must be included inside the organisation. This assignment is unique because it considers strategic cultural attributes, leadership talents, and how strategic leaders organise their cultural missions. Nonetheless, it is essential to think that, while every organisation has a strategic leader, this leader must become culturally aware.

Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, 2020

Journal of Military and Strategic Studies, 2007