Culture in Conflict Irregular Warfare, Culture Policy, and the Marine Corps [Paperback]

In response to the irregular warfare challenges facing the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2005, General James Mattisthen commander of Marine Corps Combat Development Commandestablished a new Marine Corps cultural initiative. The goal was simple: teach Marines to interact successfully with the local population in areas of conflict. The implications, however, were anything but simple: transform an elite military culture founded on the principles of locate, close with, and destroy the enemy into a culturally savvy Marine Corps.

Culture in Conflict: Irregular Warfare, Culture Policy, and the Marine Corpsexamines the conflicted trajectory of the Marine Corps' efforts to institute a radical culture policy into a military organization that is structured and trained to fight conventional wars. More importantly, however, it is a compelling book about America's shifting military identity in a new world of unconventional warfare.

This manuscript is unique. Dr. Holmes-Eber describes what she learned about the culture of the Marine Corps based on more than seven years of close observation from inside the Marine Corps. Pulling no punches she describes the good and the bad with a practiced eye. Civilian and military leaders interested in the professional education and preparation of officers and non-commissioned officers for service in foreign countries will find much of value in this document. Culture Warsis an engaging ethnographic account of the United States Marine Corps that significantly advances our understanding of military organizations, and adds empirical depth to 'military anthropology.' It is essential reading for anyone interested in the organization of the national security state and in how anthropologists relate to it. Culture in Conflictdescribes the Marine Corps' assimilation of Department of Defense-directed culture and language training policies since 2003 and how the Corps innovatively structured and standardized its alcQ