Using strategic culture to understand participation in expeditionary operations: Australia, Poland, and the coalition against the Islamic State

This article investigates how strategic culture influenced the decision-making of

Australia and Poland regarding the global coalition against the Islamic State. In

the coalition, Australia has followed its tradition of active participation in United

States-led operations, while Poland has embarked on a more cautious line,

thereby breaking with its previous policy of active participation. The article

examines how Australian and Polish responses to the coalition were shaped

by five cultural elements: dominant threat perception, core task of the armed

forces, strategic partners, experiences of participating in coalitions of the

willing, and approach to the international legality of expeditionary operations.

It finds that Australia and Poland differed on all five elements but that the

major differences are found in dominant threat perception and core task of

the armed forces.