Perspectives on Diversity in the Military: A Comparison between Belgium and the Netherlands

Abstract

In a comparative way, this article analyses the dimensions of cultural diversity in the military context of Belgium and the Netherlands, and describes how these organizations may be comparable or differ in their acceptance towards cultural diversity. To do this, we start by stressing the importance of dealing with cultural diversity in both the Belgian and Dutch military, and by depicting the main cultural traits of the two countries regarding major cultural groups. Multicultural attitudes, Muslim attitudes and Acculturation orientations are the main theoretical concepts we used in this research to elaborate ‘the perspectives on cultural diversity’ in the Belgian and Dutch military. We compared the results of a similar quantitative survey conducted in the Belgian and Dutch military. We discuss how cultural diversity is perceived among both organizations and the dimensions on which the subgroups tend to differentiate themselves.