On Strategic Culture:
Some Perspectives on Theory and Practice
Second Conference on Strategic Theory
On Strategy: Military Culture and African Armed Forces
Wallenberg Conference Centre
Stellenbosch, 22-23 September 2011
By
Francois Vreÿ
Faculty of Military Science
Stellenbosch University
Scope of presentation
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Overview
Definitions
Wave theory development
Critique of strategic culture
On Nordic strategic culture
Shifting of South African strategic culture
Conclusion
Overview
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The US-Russian connection: Nuclear decision-making
• The RAND Corporation: Spotting the difference
• A first definition: Snyder (1977)
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• A later definition: Johnston (1995)
• A focussed definition: Klein (1991)
• An unfolding debate
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Shifting definitions
• Snyder
• Nuclear doctrine
• ... the sum total of ideas
conditioned emotional
responses and patterns of
habitual behaviour that
members of a national
strategic community have
acquired through instruction
or imitation and share with
each other with regard to
nuclear strategy.
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• Klein
• A military imperative
• Habits of thought and
action and/or the set of
attitudes and beliefs held
within a military
establishment
concerning the political
objective of war and most
effective strategy and
operational method of
achieving it.
A working definition
• Strategic culture presumes:
• ... that individual interests are constructed in the context of
temporarily and logically consistent patterns of
perceptions about a country’s role in international politics
and in the use of military force towards achieving political
ends.
• Patterns are rooted in historically unique ‘early’ or
‘formative’ experiences of a state (or its predecessor
polity or polities).
• Influenced by philosophical, political, cultural and cognitive
factors as the state and its elites develop through time.
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Three waves of theory
• First wave: Strong nuclear focus and rationalist approach
– strong emphasis upon how the other side sees matters by
linking culture and behaviour to strategic culture that
changes slowly over time. (1970s & 1980s)
• Second wave: Gramscian views - the declaratory
operational void – how elites (political and economic)
declare intentions and execution in an attempt to maintain
hegemony in a system to use coercion in pursuit of
hegemony. (1990s)
• Third wave: Entered more variables and sub-cultures that
play a role in explaining strategic decisions about whether
and how to use coercion. (late 1990’s)
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Critical stances on strategic culture
• Cannot explain all matters strategic. Strategic culture as an
opportunistic matter for political and military elites.
• Not monolithic & can change. More than one strategic culture is
possible.
• Major events can effect rapid shifts in strategic culture. Defeat
and great shifts in the international system that upset the status
quo.
• Several influences at play and sub-cultures are important.
Borrowing elements that work and particularly during times of
crisis.
• Stasis not the reigning feature of strategic culture.
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Some formative matters
• The role of discourse and practice
• Norm transplants: Embracing opportunities
• Generational changes: Divergent views
• Coexisting strategic cultures: Shared or opposing?
• Civil-military relations: Experiences with the
military
• Military sub-cultures: Unavoidable but influential
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Nordic strategic culture
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Drivers
Outcomes
Geography
Location to Russia / USSR
Invasions
World War 2
Cold War collapse
Political shifts
• Denmark: Cosmopolitism,
defencism to “activism”
• Finland: Neutrality &
homeland defence to “PfP”
• Norway: Homeland
defence to “international
operations”
• Sweden: Technology and
people’s army trade-offs
Shifting South African strategic culture
• Pre-1994
• Post 1994
• Aggressive first strike
• Democratic imperative
• Offensive
• Defensive
• Competitive realist
• Cooperative
• Politico-military lead
• Regional imperative
• National security
• International Humanitarian Law
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Migrating South African strategic culture …
•Embracing the
•broader view
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•External and domestic
shocks
•New incumbents
•Challenge to the status
quo
•Norm entrepreneurs
•Foreign policy shifts
•New defence policy
•Rejecting apartheid
•Introducing democracy
•Centrality of human security
•Foreign policy for co-operation
•The African agenda
•Co-operative military futures
•Constructive military alternatives
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•1994
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2011
Post 2010 – some loose ends ? …
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Conceptual: Clarity of defence in a democracy
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Sub-cultures: Different military cultures in the SANDF
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Preferences: Systems acquired through the arms deal
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Gate-keepers: Partially closed & in-house defence update
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Ideas: Raising the military profile in South African society
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Perceptions: Parliamentary stand-off on defence readiness
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Political Elites: Raising defence expenditure
Concluding remarks
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A migration from nuclear deterrence to regular (conventional) and
irregular armed conflicts
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Theoretical developments migrated to remain in step through
wave theory with a shifting strategic landscape
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Strategic culture remains one field to better understand the
changing landscape on the utility of armed coercion
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South Africa demonstrates the utility of second and third wave
theory to explain a particular case, albeit partial
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Strategic culture remains one lens to view how elites shift their
preferences about the importance and utility of armed coercion
Bibliography
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Department of Defence, Defence White Paper on National Defence: Defence in a
Democracy, (May 1996).
Gray, C. Out of the wilderness: Prime time for strategic culture, Comparative Strategy,
26/1, 2007.
Johnston, A.I. Thinking about strategic culture, International Security, 19/4, 1995.
Kier, E. Culture and military doctrine: France between the wars, International Security,
19/4, 1995.
Lantis, J.S. Strategic culture and national security policy, International Studies Review,
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and Conflict, 40/5, 2005.
South African Government Information, Speech by L.N. Sisulu, Minister of Defence
and Military Veterans, on the occasion of the Department of Defence Budget Vote,
Good Hope Chamber, Cape Town, 13 April 2011.
Snyder, J.L. The Soviet Strategic Culture: Implications for Limited nuclear Operations,
RAND Corporation, A Project Air Force Report, (September 1977).
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Williams, R. Integration or absorption: The creation of the South African National
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