Creating White Space: Interaction and the Adaptation of Team Social Identity in Complex Environments - American Military Interactions While Conducting Village Stability Operations (VSO) in Afghanistan

This fascinating report from March 2019 has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. American military teams are increasingly embedded at the grassroots level in foreign environments to create white space. White spaces are pockets of stability within nations whose populations often suffer from instability, factionalism, civil strife, isolation, and extreme deprivation. The information warfare literature espouses soft power at the level of policy; however, it does not provide explanations for the challenges on the ground. The aim of this study is to identify the environmental conditions that impact American military team interactions while conducting village stability operations (VSO) in Afghanistan. To this end, the research question asks: What are the conditions that facilitate or hinder interaction between American teams and Afghan groups in complex cultural environments? This is a phenomenological study of the lived experience of special operators. Using a grounded theory methodology of critical incidents, this study explores the conditions that facilitate interactions with Afghan hosts and proposes a substantive theory exploring the meaning-making and social identity adaption process of American teams. American teams adapt their social identities based on the expression of intent, monitoring of cues, and interpretations of Afghan expectations before, during, and after interactions. Further research could be undertaken to operationalize the typologies, action strategies, and propositions brought forth by this research.

This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

I. Introduction * A. Motivation * B. Methodological Framework * C. Research Question * D. Dissertation Outline * Ii. Related Research * A. Introduction * B. Cultural Interaction * 1. Interaction In Complex Cultural Environments * 2. Interactions Between In-Groups And Out-Groups * 3. Conditions Affecting Cultural Interaction * 4. Cultural Competency * 5. Intercultural Communications * 6. Social Motivation And Trust In Cultural Environments * 7. Outcomes From Cultural Interaction * 8. Conclusions * C. Meaning-Making * 1. Sense-Giving In Cultural Environments * 2. Sense-Making In Cultural Environments * 3. Information-Seeking * 4. Conclusions * D. Social Identity Theory * 1. Image * 2. Identity * 3. Social Identity * 4. Conclusion * E. Summary * Iii. Research Methods * A. Introduction * 1. Organization Of Data * 2. Transferability * 3. Researcher Bias * 4. Research Ethics * B. Data Collection * 1. Purposeful Sampling * 2. Data Handling Procedures * C. Critical Incidents * D. Grounded Theory * 1. Initial Coding * 2. Focused Coding * 3. In Vivo Codes * 4. Theoretical Coding * E. Gioia Method * 1. Data Structure * 2. Process Model * F. Conclusions * Iv. Setting * A. Introduction * B. Destabilizing Events * C. Physical Environment * 1. Terrain And Infrastructure By Region * 2. Climate * 3. Manmade Effects On The Physical Environment * D. Human Environment * 1. Pashtun Tribal Systems * 2. Afghan Governance * 3. Afghan National Defense And Security Forces (Andsf) * 4. Afghan National Police * 5. Afghan National Army * 6. Afghan National Army Special Operations Command * 7. Anti-Taliban Militia And Warlords * 8. Adversarial Groups * E. Information Environment * 1. Information * 2. Radio, Broadcasting, And Television * 3. Internet Connectivity * 4. Cellular Telephony Service * 5. Literacy * F. Village Stability Operations/Afghan Local Police * 1. U.S. Special Operations Forces * G. Conclusions * V. Exploring Social Identity Types And Action Strategies * A. Meaning-Making And Social Identity As An Interactive Process * B. Identity Performance Types * more