Cultural and political challenges in military missions: how officers view multiculturality in armed forces

Since the end of the Cold War, armed forces have been busier than ever before. This necessarily led to an increase in cooperation between national armed forces. It also produced cultural and political challenges, which influence both the success and the effectiveness of military operations abroad.

In this respect, the views of military personnel regarding the advantages and pitfalls in multinational missions may be of interest to us. In an attempt to provide answers to these questions, nine high-ranking officers from European countries were interviewed during a course at the NATO Defense College in Rome in late January 2007.