DYNAMICS OF MILITARY CULTURE AND MULTINATIONAL COOPERATION

A STUDY OF THE ROMANIAN ARMED FORCES

CRISTINA-RODICA POPONETE TILBURG UNIVERSITY 25 Nov. 2013

Main question of the thesis

What is the cultural profile of Romanian military and its impact on intercultural interactions?

Structure of the thesis

Feature analyzed Type of research involved

Research issues

Details about the research

Past: History

The changes imposed to ROAF from 1944 until today Cultural profile of the ROAF in the international cluster of the military

Study of social documents

History books, military and civilian reviews, newspapers, fiction and non-fiction civil and military literature, political and military official documents and statements published before and after 1989 National, organizational and subcultural levels diagnosed and compared within military academies (Air Force, Navy, Land Forces and Military Technique) Romania 2002; 257 respondents Comparing national, organizational and occupational cultural levels for two generations of Air Force graduates trained before and after 1989; Romania 2002 and 2004 148 respondents a. Romanian and Dutch soldiers cooperation in Bosnia. Romania, 2004 and 2005, and Netherlands, 2005 35 respondents b. Dutch and Romanian soldiers pre-deployment stage for common EUFOR mission in Bosnia, Netherlands 2005

Present: Peace time Military academies and Air Force career officers

Quantitative research

Intergenerational changes in values and practices within ROAF Romanian cultural profile in interactions. Perceived cultural differences between the military actors and the assessment of the mission with all implications

Quantitative research

Present: International mission: Dutch-Romanian cooperation in Bosnia

Combined design: quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (interviews and participant observation)

Findings
Mechanical change Fairly homogeneous culture across military academies No major changes between generations Former hypothesis on Romanian military culture not confirmed

Dutch flexibility, openness, and Romanian adaptability and friendliness

Veterans and military cooperation

Wow effect and

multinational cooperation

Sociologist or spy for the Romanian military?

Where is the transformation? Learning and leadership issues

A learning experience

Common symbols of

NL-RO military cooperation in Bosnia

Nobody told them, they just put up the tents!

Working .

together