Culture as a Weapons System: The Role of Culture in the US Invasion and Occupation of Iraq (2003-2011)

Name: Culture as a Weapons System: The Role of Culture in the US Invasion and Occupation of Iraq (2003-2011)
Start: 2023-03-02T13:00:00+02:00
End: 2023-03-02T14:00:00+02:00
Location: The Sullivan Lounge

by Public and Community Events

Academic

Thu, Mar 2, 2023

1 PM – 2 PM (GMT+2)

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The Sullivan Lounge

AUC Avenue, P.O. Box 74, New Cairo, 11835, Egypt

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The U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq revealed how little the U.S. knew about Iraq and the new technologies and strategies for war-fighting being developed. In 2005, the military underwent a wholesale “culture” shift, taking on new counterinsurgency techniques based on “culture.” The U.S. military created pamphlets, powerpoints, and “mock” Iraqi villages in America, among other materials used to train U.S. soldiers about Iraqis, Arabs, and Muslims. In this project, I trace the historical material used to make Iraq and Iraqis legible and knowable information to justify the invasion and create training material for soldiers. This knowledge about Iraq and Iraqis was positioned for “cultural sensitivity” and news that soldiers could acquire and use in their “missions.” Understanding this knowledge production of the U.S. political and military projects of the 21st century connects them to discourses about “other” cultures, religions, and civilizations embedded within the long histories of colonial and imperialist policies and wars.

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Speakers

Rochelle Davis

Rochelle Davis’ research focuses on refugees, war, and conflict, particularly Palestinian, Syrian, and Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons. Her first book, Palestinian Village Histories: Geographies of the Displaced, (Stanford University Press, 2012) won the Middle East Studies Association Albert Hourani Award. From 2015-2022, she was a senior researcher on a joint project between Georgetown University and the International Organization for Migration conducting a mixed-methods panel survey of over 3000 Iraqi households displaced by ISIS/ISIL/Da’esh to understand their access to durable solutions. https://ccas.georgetown.edu/resources/iom-gu-iraq-idp-study/ She is currently writing a book on the role of culture in the U.S. military occupation of Iraq, using interviews with US military servicemembers and Iraqis, as well as governmental and military policy and strategy documents, cultural training material, journalists’ reporting, and soldier memoirs. She did her undergraduate degree in Art History from the University of California, Davis, which included 2 years study abroad at the American University in Cairo. She also did the Center for Arabic Study Abroad program at AUC.

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