CIAO DATE: 02/06

Backgrounder: Multiethnic Armed Forces

Abstract

For most countries, managing national and ethnic diversity in their military structures pre-sents major challenges. In a multiethnic state, the armed forces need to reflect adequately the composition of society if the population is to have confidence in the armed forces, and if the armed forces are to be able to fulfil their mission. At the same time, armed forces need to have a common vision that transcends the different identities of its members in order for them to perform cohesively and effectively in the field.

Diversity management in the military is part of the process of diversity management within society as a whole that is crucial for political stability and growth, especially in societies whose make-up is subject to significant, ongoing change.

This paper focuses on the issue of multiethnicity in the armed forces of countries in the Euro-Atlantic area. The terms, ethnic and ethnicity, are used synonymously with religious, racial and linguistic, except where this indicated not to be the case.

This Backgrounder does not deal with the representation of national minorities in other branches of the security sector, which appears to be a particularly challenging question in the intelligence sector and in the staffing of civil management and oversight authorities.

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Pages 2-5 (PDF, 4 pages, 582.8 KB)