Understanding cultural specifics of the region, local traditions, customs and beliefs is a key factor to successful cooperation. Army is forced to operate in multiple environments all over the globe, and this factor makes it critical for the military personnel to bear in mind the cultural characteristics of the region and shape its action according to the environment. The old saying is highly applicable in this case: “In Rome, do as Romans do”. High level of awareness and respect to the local culture will surely help to avoid a number of problems. While researching a region to explore, I decided to choose Southeast Asia as a target for my research. This region is historically important for the US military, due to the War in Vietnam and extended conflicts in Cambodia, some regions of which remain highly unstable and consequently attract additional attention of the world community.
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There is a number of characteristics peculiar to this region that I decided to analyze:
- Attitude towards family (trends towards extended family)
- Religious dispersion
- Territorial disputes among the Southeast Asian countries
- Economic hardships
- Attitude towards European and American people.
Family is perhaps the oldest social institution in the world, but the meaning of this word differs a lot in various cultures. We are used to considering family a group of very close relatives – a couple and their children. In Southeast Asia, however, a far greater number of people are considered family – direct relatives, friends and even guests. The specifics certainly differ from country to country, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Burma have their own local specifics in the attitude towards family. The main concept, however, remains pretty much the same: family is the issue of fundamental political, social and economic importance. Extended families still remain highly integrated and members care about each other very much. Though the size of such group may fluctuate greatly, family remains the factor that significantly predetermines individual’s development and growth. Culture experts and historians argue that such evolution of the family role was caused by the natural conditions of the area, tough environment has made survival in small groups almost impossible and larger families have evolved as necessary condition for further life. Rice, a traditional regional culture is very hard to grow, but under correct care it is capable of providing several harvests a year, providing enough food for larger families.
Third important characteristic of the Southeast Asian culture is certainly religion. This region is usually known for the presence and coexistence of many religions and subcultures. This is perhaps one of the most religiously disperse areas on the planet: Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism and local beliefs are still present and play a significant role. Islam, is one of the dominant religions and plays a major role in the area. One of the common delusions states that Islam is an aggressive religion, simulating hatred towards other confessions. Koran is often considered to be if not a handbook on terrorism. This is certainly not true, as Islam religion is in no way more aggressive than Christianity or Buddhism. One might interpret the information in the book according to his/hers goals, which does not make the entire religion antisocial or hostile. It is true that Muslim people are relatively more religious than Christian and often tend to be more aggressive, reacting to disrespectful jokes towards their beliefs. Mainstream religious elites whether Muslim, Buddhist, Christian or Hindu have seldom if ever adopted an antagonistic attitude towards the religious other – such regimes as Pol Pot’s in Cambodia and Military mutiny in Indonesia in 1960s-1970s have lead to terrifying numbers of civilians deaths, but had little to do with the religion. (Muzaffar, C. 2007).
Unstable relations between the countries of the region are also an issue of major importance. There are a number of territorial disputes, especially concerning the South China Sea. Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines and Brunei occupy atolls and establish military foundations there (Ruhland, J. 2004). Because of the religious and cultural dispersion of the countries in the area, few forces are present to integrate the Southeast Asian region. Historians claim that such lack of homogeneity is caused by the territorial disposition: most of the countries are situated on islands and consequently did not have many chances to share their cultures.
Economic hardship is also a characteristic that influences the cultural development a lot. The Asian crisis has damaged the economies of the regions and placed security issues behind the major socio-economic ones. As a result, both economics and military collaboration inside ASEAN has decreased and the region became more vulnerable to terrorist and separatist threats.
The last cultural characteristic I would like to discuss is attitude towards the Americans and Europeans. Historical past of the Southeast Asian countries is largely influenced by colonialism. Due to the natural mild character, Southeast Asian people bear great respect and generally positive attitude towards the people of white skin.
I think that all of the specifics described above can be useful for the Army to know, as the military has a number of interests and activities in the region. . “Jihad etiquette”, as stated in Koran can be very useful to study, as it describes the acceptable and unacceptable ways of combat for a true Muslim.. Knowing the power of family ties, US soldiers and officers will surely understand the effects of their actions much better. The cultural specifics of the Southeast Asia are definitely worth studying, before any actions are planned there.
References
Ruhland, J. (2004) The Nature of Southeast Asian Security challenges. Retrieved April 3, 2009 from: http://www.swp-berlin.org/common/get_document.php?asset_id=1902
Muzaffar, C. (2007) Positioning Religious Extremism in Southeast Asia – OpinionAsia. Retrieved April 3, 2009 from: http://www.opinionasia.org/PREISEA
LaVan, H. (2007) Southeast Asian Culture, Human Development, and Business Competitiveness. Journal of Asia Business Studies. Retrieved April 3, 2009 from: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6777/is_1_2/ai_n28488213/pg_5/?tag=content;col1
Russel, S. Islam: a Worldwide Religion and its Impact in Southeast Asia. Retrieved April 3, 2009 from: http://www.seasite.niu.edu/crossroads/russell/islam.htm
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