Abramov А.Р. The "Cultural Turn" in the U.S. Army's strategy for engaging with social sciences. Izvestiya Yugo-Zapadnogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Ekonomika. Sotsiologiya. Menedzhment = Proceedings of the Southwest State University. Series: Economics, Sociology and Management. 2026;16(1):214-225. (In Russ.) https: ...

Abstract

Relevance. For many centuries, humanity has been drawn into an endless number of wars and conflicts. The conduct of military operations always creates an objective need to study the future theater of war by integrating cultural understanding into the planning, preparation, and execution of military operations. The experience of the United States can be particularly useful, as American sociology was at the forefront of military sociology. The conflictual reality of the present is forcing the Russian scientific community to consolidate and turn to foreign experience, in which social sciences are given a special place, and their sociocultural potential opens up new horizons for cognitive and research activities. The purpose s to present the possibilities of interaction between social sciences and the U.S. Department of Defense in the implementation of research projects such as Camelot, Human Landscape Systems, and Minerva. Objectives: to characterize the significance of the cultural factor in warfare; to identify the advantages and disadvantages of the "cultural turn" in the strategy and tactics of the U.S. Army's warfare; and to illustrate the measures of social support for combat veterans. The methodology is based on a sociocultural approach, which allowed us to present the practices of interaction between social sciences and the U.S. Army's management bodies. Results. The article describes the main social projects that identified the causes of failures in military conflicts involving the U.S. Army and formed the basis for the "cultural turn" in the relationship between social sciences and the military. It shows that combat veterans play a special role in conducting sociological research. Conclusions. The use of an interdisciplinary approach based on sociocultural methodology allows for the integration of social sciences into military research and the development of effective solutions tailored to the specific characteristics of each military conflict.