text: Operational Environment of Counterinsurgency
  • What could dishonor an individual, family, or group? How do you correct serious situations
  between individuals, families, or groups or families?
  Science and Technology
  • Does the country or area have Internet service? Satellite or hardwired?
  • Does the enemy use the Internet? How and why?
  • What Internet sites are forbidden or blocked?
  • What is the country recognized for inventing or discovering? What do the people generally
  believe their country invented or discovered?
  CULTURAL VARIATIONS
  1-101. Cultural variations are the behaviors, values, and interests common to a culture. Understanding
  these variations allows US and HN security forces to interact and thus to operate more effectively
  in negotiations, advisory roles, population control, and daily interaction with the populace to gain better
  cultural competence.
  Behaviors
  1-102. A culture’s behavior consists of actions which can be sensed; specifically a group’s language,
  social mores, customs, structures, and institutions. Culturally competent units understand and train
  to recognize these behaviors as a means to identify insurgent actions, anticipate the population actions,
  and detect subtle changes within the population. Actions inconsistent with the population’s behavioral
  norms could be indicators of guerrilla activity, internal conflict, or the confirmation or denial
  of intelligence. Living and operating among the population is essential to understanding population
  behavior.
  Values
  1-103. Values are the principles the population uses to evaluate alternatives or consequences of decisions
  and actions. A value is a concept that describes the beliefs of an individual or culture and is identity based,
  for example, Army Values. Values are how people understand what they are and what they will and will
  not tolerate. Values define their sense of honor and respect. Values are often unchangeable. Soldiers never
  attempt to change the population’s values, confuse its interests with its values, or use its interests in an
  attempt to alter its values. During tactical operations, counterinsurgent forces prioritize the population’s
  values over its interests to demonstrate the Host Nation government’s legitimacy in supporting the
  population.
  Interests
  1-104. An interest is what the population wants or desires for a group’s benefit or advantage (it is often
  perceived as a right or legitimate claim). An interest may be flexible and can change. Interests are linked to
  the situation, such as what people want at present. US perceptions should not dictate what the population
  needs and wants. The insurgency likely understands these needs and wants and eagerly exploits them
  to gain support, as well as to turn the population away from the HN government. A vulnerable population
  gravitates towards who it feels best understands and satisfies its needs and wants. During tactical COIN
  operations, the counterinsurgent must know the local population’s difference between a need and a want
  and not operate with a US cultural bias.
  CULTURAL MANIFESTATIONS
  1-105. Cultural manifestations are the concrete displays of a culture’s thought and behavior measured by
  the senses. It is how a population demonstrates its views on authority, legitimacy, negotiation style,
  compromise, and other similar thoughts and behaviors.