CROSS CULTURAL AWARENESS IN STABILIZATION OPERATIONS: CULTURAL CONTROVERSIAL FACTORS

The present paper contains the results from a research conducted from February 2009 to December 2010. The research was aimed at detecting the controversial cultural factors in the relationships between the military and local population while on post-conflict stability operations. This research was performed based upon two study cases: the Spanish Army experiences in Afghanistan and Lebanon. In both cases the qualitative techniques were applied to the study. The results surfaced the fact that tensions usually arise in five (5) realms: legitimacy, discourse, gender, honor and corruption. The operationalization of the results has permitted to build a two-fold tool: not only to identify controversial factors in peace-type operations where cultural coherence with local population is absent but to strengthen the security of internationals (NATO, UN or others) while on military operations in relation with the local population as well. Those five cultural factors could be described by indicators that give accounts of the specific variables under a framework where an international intervention takes place. In those scenarios a theoretical proposal is constructed through a legitimacy market in which the internationals will try to impose a mainly rational discourse in order to provide an environment of governance and respect to the Human Rights. The research pointed out that the Armed Forces involved in international operations are to be continually trained with up-to-date methods and techniques that will ease further interactions with the environment, above all, with the local populations.