Imperatives In The Ugly American

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You don’t need to know and understand the SO imperatives to be successful working with other cultures in foreign countries. To be successful you would need to understand the meaning of the imperatives. There are multiple characters in the book The Ugly American that were not aware of the SO imperatives yet displayed the ability to understand the purpose of the imperatives. Ambassador MacWhite displayed an understanding of the SO imperatives with his actions in Sarkhan. Conversely, Ambassador Sears failed in nearly every way during his time in Sarkhan. I chose three characters to compare and contrast using their successes and failures as they apply to the SO imperatives. I have also tied the characters actions and the use of the SO imperatives …show more content…
In the chapter “The Sum of Tiny Things” he outlined six new rules to put in place in Sarkhan. Five of the six items were small changes that would have a large impact on the American presence in Sarkhan. He developed many options in Sarkhan with the people that he contacted and invited to the country. He arranged to have Homer Atkins reassigned to Sarkhan hoping that he could solve the issue of getting water from the river up to the paddies on the hilltops. Like MacWhite, Atkins also had an understanding of how small things could have a large impact. MacWhite also talked with U Maung Swe and Colonel Hillandale both of whom understood that you must take care of basic problems before moving on to grander projects. He understood that living in lavish homes and driving vehicles that were not part of the local environment did not set the tone for engaging with locals and had a psychological effect on the perception of Americans. His understanding of the small things in Sarkhan was a way to discriminately engage larger issues in the country. They would develop a basis for long term American engagement. Understanding how our everyday actions effect perceptions of locals is key to controlling the psychological …show more content…
Eventually, we were able to develop a great relationship with the Ugandans. We did not refer to the SO imperatives to address the steps that we should take, but we did accomplish the intent of the imperatives. We started small by sending part of the team out to Ugandan outstations to stay for a week or more at a time. Those individuals built rapport and discussed operations with the unit leadership. Later we were able to begin patrolling the jungle with them for usually a week or two showing that we were credible and capable of living just as they did. The Ugandan leadership were surprised we could live in the jungle and amazed that we could carry so much weight while patrolling just as far as them. That lead into the opportunity to provide training to the soldiers, weapons training, small unit tactics, and even PT. There were still some struggles that we dealt with by not living with the units like we could have been. Having the camp did not allow us a good balance of security and synchronization. Their leadership rarely came to our camp, even though we went to theirs nearly every day, and they never appeared comfortable when they did come. We really only talked with the soldiers during training or patrolling and could have had a closer relationship if we lived among them. Having a built up camp seemed to be a carryover
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