----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2003 5:32 PM
Subject: [Futurework] On understanding other
political cultures
> I passed along some of the feedback on the
Woolsey piece (re: WW4) to my
> colleague who is a not so retired analyst. Originally USSR but now roaming
> around. His feedback is interesting on intell. analysts and how they
> approach a particular culture or country..
> ==================
> Thanks for the feedback. Your list respondent seems to be well informed, and
> well balanced in his assessment. I am not as taken with the Mideast or
> Islamic experts as he seems to be. Most of the time, the area experts, on
> the basis of knowing a culture well, tend to lean over backward in favor of
> the society and culture they are studying (even when, for example, they are
> intelligence analysts). I know this from my own experience in the Soviet
> field; one had to develop, whether one realized it or not, an interest and
> empathy in the culture to continue to work in the area and to be at all
> worthwhile in one's analysis. Most of the people I knew who were any good
> tended to the view that the Russian culture and society were good (decent
> human beings, values, etc.) and to compensate by seeing the Communist
> leadership as somewhat different; if asked, we probably would have
> considered the Russian people better off without their leaders (but few of
> us believed that this was possible - at most, we thought that the regime
> would change, not collapse). I think something similar is happening now. The
> Iraqis (or the Arab culture) are essentially good and decent, in the view of
> Islamic or Middle East scholars, but the regime is vicious. What this
> doesn't allow for is the possibility that regimes reflect the culture and
> society from which they arise. People might complain about the excesses and
> cruelties of the regime, but most people will put up with it and just try to
> stay out of trouble, avoid politics, and go along with whoever rules them.
> I agree with both Woolsey and Huntington: if one is confronting a culture
> with rival globalistic ambitions, they they are a danger. Of course, from
> the Arab point of view (and others) the same thing might be said about the
> U.S.
> colleague who is a not so retired analyst. Originally USSR but now roaming
> around. His feedback is interesting on intell. analysts and how they
> approach a particular culture or country..
> ==================
> Thanks for the feedback. Your list respondent seems to be well informed, and
> well balanced in his assessment. I am not as taken with the Mideast or
> Islamic experts as he seems to be. Most of the time, the area experts, on
> the basis of knowing a culture well, tend to lean over backward in favor of
> the society and culture they are studying (even when, for example, they are
> intelligence analysts). I know this from my own experience in the Soviet
> field; one had to develop, whether one realized it or not, an interest and
> empathy in the culture to continue to work in the area and to be at all
> worthwhile in one's analysis. Most of the people I knew who were any good
> tended to the view that the Russian culture and society were good (decent
> human beings, values, etc.) and to compensate by seeing the Communist
> leadership as somewhat different; if asked, we probably would have
> considered the Russian people better off without their leaders (but few of
> us believed that this was possible - at most, we thought that the regime
> would change, not collapse). I think something similar is happening now. The
> Iraqis (or the Arab culture) are essentially good and decent, in the view of
> Islamic or Middle East scholars, but the regime is vicious. What this
> doesn't allow for is the possibility that regimes reflect the culture and
> society from which they arise. People might complain about the excesses and
> cruelties of the regime, but most people will put up with it and just try to
> stay out of trouble, avoid politics, and go along with whoever rules them.
> I agree with both Woolsey and Huntington: if one is confronting a culture
> with rival globalistic ambitions, they they are a danger. Of course, from
> the Arab point of view (and others) the same thing might be said about the
> U.S.
Nicely put. I agree.
REH
