Cultural Awareness in Modern Warfare

Abstract

The international events of recent years have pointed to the fact that the role of the correlation and relationship between cultural awareness and the armed forces are much more important than as previously thought, and the analysis of the cultural background of the adversary can greatly help defeat the enemy and understand their motivations in modern conflicts. Today’s confrontations are not only about the use of physical force, but also about the clash of cultural narratives and identities. The better we understand the cultural aspect, the better we can provide resources to learn about the enemy’s cultural background, and the faster we can find weak points and use them as leverage to develop a successful strategy. The role of cultural awareness in modern warfare should not be underestimated. The presence of cultural factors can also be discovered during the recent Russian–Ukrainian war, which can be analysed not only as a traditional clash of forces, but also as a cultural and historical clash of the two countries.