The strategic American culture has a long history intertwined around strategic security concepts. It can be traced back from the Cold war period during fight against communism and the domination of the Soviet Union. It was during this time that, the US security system started gaining some shape.
The collapse of the Soviet Union war on terror was deemed the most important strategic concept. The country took it upon itself to establish strategic security concepts to improve the security.
The end of the cold war paved way to fight against terror which to date, it still remains the most fundamental thing. American strategic culture makes sure that all the United States concepts are narrowed down to only specific. To Americans, this is a cultural habit that reduces the opposing barriers to only the specific persons.
These people are then reduced to the most symbols that deserve to be treated with psychological capacities and most of all, political capacities. The strategic culture is then built basing on these symbols and once the symbol is done away with, they will create awareness to the world concerning destruction of the enemy.
The major subjects of American’s concerns include Hitler of the World War II and Stalin after the war. Recently, America has had to deal with Saddam Hussain and also Libyan Kaddafi. Osama Bin Laden for instance, was popularly labeled the symbol of war and terrorism in America during 9/11 attacks.
In the recent years, Obama was given approval after the killing of Osama Bin Laden. The culture also advocates for the idea that the killings of the symbols is not the end of the war.
According to American analysts, the concept of terror and war is still a fundament aspect in America. This fact still remains a great challenge to the Americans hence the fight against terror is still far from over. According to the American bureaucratic system, it remains an indispensable aspect of the strategic culture.
The United States takes its cultural attitudes seriously by taking strategic stand points. The strategic standpoint in this case is a responsibility of the state department same case for the defense department and all of them are part of the bureaucracy.
The two departments carry out their responsibilities independently. Attention is paid much on the best decisions. However, it has been discovered that change in leadership have great effects on the functions and performance of these departments.
It is also believed that to understand the American Strategic culture, one has to be familiar with the strategic traits of those involved. The culture can also be understood from the basis of linking the ideas of the elites as well as that of the bureaucracy.
The Osama Bin Laden’s case paid much attention to the operations of the CIA and some affiliates in Pakistan and, Afghanistan. This was both a strategic and political tactic used to make the operation work. The most important aspect of the entire strategic process revolves around the concepts, decision making, bureaucracy and, symbols. International policies are also important in understanding the strategic culture.
The international policy also depends a lot on the security performance in the United States. In the overall, the United State still has a long way to go as regard to issues of terrorism. So far, their strategies are slowly bearing fruits.
Reference
Soundhaus, L. (2006). Strategic Culture and Ways of War: An Historical Overview. USA: Taylor and Francis.