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From taking interculturality into account to making it operational

BRENNUS 4.0
Operational commitment
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If interculturality is not a subject new, although the word does not exist not yet in the dictionary, she is just taking a long time to be clearly defined, conceptualized and implemented in a manner conscious and willing.

War among the people, the indigenization of the troops, the identification of the population as the centre of gravity are as many successive marks, marking out the course of military history, which shows the need but also the level "of intelligence» of this taking into account of the intercultural factor in military tactics or strategy. Like Mr Jourdain, Field Marshals Gallieni or Lyautey were doing interculturality. without knowing it or naming it, at least in those terms.


Why don't we leave it at that. there? Why, indeed, add a new component in an existing environment particularly complex? Interculturality really participate in the superiority superiority? A quick overview will convince us that this consideration is now indispensable today.

The intercultural market is in full swing. expansion. Interculturality is a growing offer. Numerous universities in France offer training courses top lineMaster management interculturel, Université Paris Dauphine; Master's degree intercultural communication and engineering of projects, University Paris 3, the Sorbonne; Master in intercultural communication, ISIT (Intercultural school Paris). The firms consultancy and training institutes are all over the Internet. This explosion of supply is only the answer to demand who's never been stronger. Almost all of them companies of all sizes or their sector of activity, realise thevalue of opening up to intercultural factors . Initiallyit was aquestion of better understanding the other in order to sell better .Now it is also to buy better, to work more efficiently, in a multinational and multicultural value-added chain ,or to seek better collaboration with partners of more diverse and numerous origins . It is nolonger just aboutdialogue between two cultures, but about bringing together actors from different cultures .This new interest is not limited to the business world. The Ministries of Education and Health have also understood that it isan indispensable element in coping with changes in French society .The question of the cultural origins of pupils or patients can no longer be avoided as a secondary factor. In everyday life , globalisation has led to a growing need to practice interculturality . Wecertainly did not have to wait to put a name to the concept of interculturality to practice it for along time. Some have practiced it almost innately. But this is not the case for everyone;we are not all equal in our capacity to be open to theother . TheAmericans have understood this perfectly well and the example of the US Department of Defense is quite interesting . Theteaching of interculturality is practised there invarious and often innovative forms, such as the American civil-military"Culture Gear"programme,which offers online simulation tools including scenarios that act on perception .Aware that each individual has a different intrinsic aptitude in this area, the American defence also conducts tests to select candidates predisposed tointerculturality and to screen out the others .This process, which may be surprising, also raises questions about thecredibility of such tools for measuring interculturality .

Interculturality training is therefore not a mere fashionable phenomenon, but a real need, expressed in terms of many forms. New information technologies and communication certainly offer possibilities that are not yet exploited. Are the French military lagging behind?

LEMSOME is the heir to the organizations that, since 1901.., prepare French troops for service outside of metropolitan France. One by one "Technical office of the colonial troops"The "Military Information and Documentation CentreforOverseas and Foreign Affairs" before becoming the "MilitarySchool ofSpecialization forthe OME" . Then in July 2016, as a "Specialized Stafffor Overseas and Foreign Affairs", EMSOME has a unique place inthe Army "in contact".As the headquarters responsible for the eleven OME-stationed army formations , it fully retains its historic vocation as a school . It isno exaggeration, moreover, to consider it as " theschool ofinterculturality", as this notion is at the heart of each of its missions: training, organic command and, more recently,as thesupporting bodyofthe Land Centre for Operational Military Partnership (CPMO ).Interculturality is indeed the cement, if not theDNA of each of the components of EMSOME.

Preparation for service outside metropolitan France involves more than of 17000 trainees per year. EMSOME trains all the army personnel planned for short periods of time. durations (external operations or short-term missions) or posted overseas and abroad (long-term missions). duration, adapted military service, security cooperation and defence, permanent positions abroad), but ensures also the preparation of families (spouses and elders) adolescents), as well as some members of other armies, and services, constables, and quite regularly staff from other government departments who rely on the expertise of of the EMSOME. Preparing for service outside metropolitan France is based on three axes: first of all the "sassets», by providing trainees with theoretical knowledge on the geographical and human environment of the territory, its standards and laws, its history. Then, the "savoir-faire»and the "savoir-être» such as attitudes, customs or various behaviours to adopt or avoid. As the training is relatively short, the aim is also to to arouse curiosity and question the ability of trainees to adapt to a profoundly different environment.

It is around these three axes that the practice of interculturality, a concept relating to exchanges and interactions between persons or groups of persons from different cultures different. Open-mindedness, awakening, humility but also of cues are the key words.

As the General Chief of Staff of the Army General Staff pointed out in his introductory speech to the colloquium on interculturality on 28 November 2018, «two main pitfalls to be avoided: ethnocentrism, and relativism... cultural.» The first is to focus on standards and the values that underpin our own culture. This pitfall pushes us to seek to decipher and explain the other one with our own operating system, our own reading grid, our cultural comprehension software. It generally results in an order of the different cultures based on the perception that we have of each other. on the other, with the erroneous conclusion that ours is the one in the lead. At the other end of the spectrum, cultural relativism does not permit consider and understand actions and beliefs from the other than from the point of view of his own culture. He refuses therefore to pass judgment on others, opening up the leads to the acceptance of everything, including the unacceptable. In the end, the main difficulty of interculturality consists in placing at the right level our cursor of comprehension of the other between areading of theworld from the angle of French humanism and the irresponsible one of a complete loss of reference points .

Interculturality can be considered as a dimension The specific approach is complementary to the global approach. It does not is on the same plane, it is indeed a dimension which gives a new relief to each sector. which is part of the overall approach. This dimension has therefore its full place in military action.

Interculturality is one of the keys to the success of actions. military. If it does not seem indispensable to pay a bonus Firstly, it guarantees a more complete efficiency or one that is more the results are obtained more quickly, or even in a more efficient way. more perennial.

The challenge for EMSOME is to make the following operational taking interculturality into account. It is no longer a question of simply from a humanistic approach or to limit oneself to allow our families to enjoy our expatriation, in other words, to acculturate ourselves to an environment that is ours. foreigner. It is now a matter of increasing our efficiency tenfold. efficiency. Firstly, through better interaction with our allies and partners in operations. It makes sense when we note that no mission is currently being conducted on a strictly national basis. If you hadn't until now that interculturality to be implemented with our African partners, think of the cultural gap that we face in the world. separates in some areas from our German neighbours by example.

Our operational efficiency is also being made more performance through our ability to understand the host State of our operations and the people we work with. The more intimate and more intimate knowledge and understanding of our enemy's deep-seated - of the "fnegative gold» finally contributes directly to our operational efficiency. There is no doubt that today's enemy will be one of the actors that we'll have to deal with tomorrow. An approach of all the actors will thus allow for a global intercultural to avoid insulting the future.

This operationalisation, i.e. this implementation concrete, inevitably passes through a certain conceptualization. EMSOME is at this stage. The concept of interculturality has always existed but has never been formalized. This is what EMSOME is trying to achieve. taking into account both the positive and negative aspects of the concept. More specifically, the aim is to develop methodological and pedagogical approaches through a global understanding of the issues. The work carried out since a year are based on the reflections of academics, writers, of researchers, teachers, French personalities and foreigners. The annual symposium on interculturality is the opportunity for everyone to express themselves on the subject but also and especially to share ideas, research, and feedback.

The organization by EMSOME, under the authority of the staff of the armies, the "training of trainers UN"destiny to foreign senior officers is another example concrete developments in EMSOME's action. Finally, the training of future operational leaders by the centre Land for Operational Military Partnership at «mises in final conditions PMO»is the last modus operandi as of the date of EMSOME's contribution to the operationalisation of interculturality.

The work currently underway with a committee of Operational Research Centre (ORCC) of the School of Land Warfare (EdG-T) to draft doctrine will help formalize the Army's ambition in this field, supported by EMSOME.

Interculturality is not a fake or a non-subject. The taking taking into account the cultural environment is a question of of topicality that challenges. A vast subject, whose future is not yet clear. of doubt for anyone. EMSOME has committed itself to this with determination for the greater benefit of the forces committed to operations. Its organic authority over the 11 army formations located overseas and in and abroad, its long history as a service training school, and its and overseas and the backing of the Earth Centre to the military operational partnership is consolidating day by day day after day, its expertise in the territories and physical and mental environments particular humans that they are. The annual symposium and Foresight work complements this expertise in order to make EMSOME the true school of interculturality by support for Army operations.

Séparateur
Title : From taking interculturality into account to making it operational
Author (s) : le colonel Martial REINBOLD, Chef d’état-majorde l’État-Major de Spécialisation de l’Outre-mer et de l’Étranger
Séparateur


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