How does military culture influence military change? The case of British and German military attitudes towards post-Cold War expeditionary operations

In this article, it is argued that the British and German armed forces have had very dissimilar attitudes towards expeditionary operations, and that this has influenced both if and how the UK and Germany has involved itself in such missions. Military organisations are imbued with purpose through their sense of mission, providing a common purpose that justifies their existence. Based on what they see as their purpose, they establish programmes and routines which determine what tasks they are capable of performing. If asked to do something which is not seen as an essential mission, and for which there are few pre-existing routines, the organization will often be less willing and capable of carrying out the requested operation. British military culture has been imbued with a great enthusiasm and can-do attitude towards expeditionary missions, which has been regarded as a crucially important. The military’s positive attitude towards such missions has often successfully influenced British governments to ‘get them involved’ in missions abroad. German military culture has been much more reluctant, hesitant and conflicted about expeditionary missions. This has been especially true when it come structural reforms intended to make the German military more capable of participating in such missions.