Assignment task: Please provide brief responses to the following questions, based on your own reading of the Learning Resources:
1. According to Kartchner, in what sense can strategic culture be a "culprit"?
2. According to Jeannie Johnson, a Cultural Mapping Exercise (CME) is the basic building block of "Cultural Topography" research. How are the four dimensions of "identity," "values," "norms," and "perceptual lens" defined and factored into this analytical framework?
3. What is Adamsky's concept of "cognition," and how does it explain variations in the approaches to radical developments in military thought and technology in the U.S., Russia, and Israel?
4. From the Adamsky reading, explain the distinctions between "high context" and "low context" cultures.
5. What are some common themes that emerge from your review of the "Definitions of Strategic Culture" table provided in Table 1.1 of Kartchner "Defining and Scoping Strategic Culture"?
Readings:
Routledge Handbook of Strategic Culture, Chapter 1, Kerry M. Kartchner, "Defining and Scoping Strategic Culture: Promises, Challenges, and Conundrums," pp. 3-16.
Routledge Handbook of Strategic Culture, Chapter 29, Jeannie L. Johnson, "Strategic Culture Scholarship: A User's Guide to the Cultural Topography Methodology," pp. 415-429.
Adamsky, The Culture of Military Innovation, "Introduction," pp. 1-14;
Adamsky, The Culture of Military Innovation, Chapter 1: "Cognitive Styles and Understanding Revolutions in Military Affairs," pp. 15-23.
Brigitte E. Hugh, "From First Generation to Fourth Growth and Refinement Across the Field of Strategic Culture," Chapter 2 in Routledge Handbook of Strategic Culture, pp. 17-30. (see 'Required Textbooks')
Stephen Smith, "The Geographic Origins of Strategic Culture," Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. Vol 14 (2012).
Jeannie Johnson and Matthew Berrett, Appendix A, Cultural Analysis, Concepts and Questions ("Analytical Questions for Constructing a Cultural Topography Map")
Jeffrey S. Lantis, Strategic Culture: From Clausewitz to Constructivism, Prepared for Defense Threat Reduction Agency, 31 October 2006