French and American Cross-Cultural Military Education and Relations: One Naval Officer's Perspective
Abstract
The global community moves cautiously into an unpredictable 21st century. Concepts of peace, conflict, and war blur in the absence of recognized two-party enemies. Humanitarian assistance, terrorist actions, insurgencies, and insurrections will now occupy the concerns of leading nations of the world. More certain is the fact that joint, combined, and multinational forces will be involved when the military becomes the chosen instrument of power and method for reaction. With that comes the need not only to understand the enemy, if it can be identified, but also the need to truly understand the ally. Understanding comes from recognition and acknowledgment of cultural traditions, differences, and ways of thought. Recognition and acknowledgment come from education. This paper explores the question: Should formal cross-cultural education be a part of professional military education programs? In search of an answer, this paper examines and compares two war colleges from separate nations, specifically, the French Joint Defense College and the United States Naval War College. First, a historical synopsis of the military relationship between France and the United States is provided to set the cross-cultural framework. Secondly, a description of the professional military education programs of both nations and a summary of the evolution of the two war colleges establishes the foundation for comparison. Third, the current curricula of the French Joint Defense College and the U.S. Naval War College are outlined for comparison. Finally, the author suggests that both war colleges examined in this paper are progressive enough to incorporate cross-cultural education formally into their respective curricula. Secondly, and especially for U.S. war colleges, the issue of cross-cultural education should consider not only the study of nations but also of the sister services of their own military. (19 refs.)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA425410
Entities
People
- Janette S. Fitzsimmons
Organizations
- Air University