A new U.S. Army publication (pdf) invites American soldiers to ponder the role of cultural factors in shaping perception and action.
Analyze this statement: ‘The English drive on the wrong side of the road.’
In some Islamic countries women wear burkas. Who is advantaged and who is disadvantaged by this?
Why do you think major religious traditions tend to have a plain version and a more mystical version?
What do television commercials tell us about American culture?
This is not a purely theoretical exercise, but is intended to support the Army’s counterinsurgency role in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
“Soldiers must understand how vital culture is in accomplishing today’s missions,” the new publication says. “Military personnel who have a superficial or even distorted picture of a host culture make enemies for the United States. Each Soldier must be a culturally literate ambassador, aware and observant of local cultural beliefs, values, behaviors and norms.” See “Culture Cards: Afghanistan & Islamic Culture,” U.S. Army, September 2011.
Denice Ross, former U.S. Chief Data Scientist and Data Policy Institute lead at the Federation of American Scientists, will be honored for her stewardship of public data by the National Academy of Public Administration, where she has been named a Fellow.
Confirmation that the construction of the security perimeter and associated security infrastructure at RAF Lakenheath are still ongoing once again raises questions about whether U.S. nuclear weapons have already been deployed to the base.
Alaskans are sensibly pulling back from the vogue for bans and returning to a western tradition that has worked for more than half a century – one that welcomes innovation but also oversees it closely.
The strength of our nation’s data policy isn’t just in the rules we write, but in how effectively we translate those rules into a system that prioritizes the public good. Join us in this movement to design and build more resilient national data policies.