Cultural Intelligence: The Skill You Need for a Global Career
What does a career in international relations look like? If you picture stern-faced officials in drab rooms debating economic policy, you’re only partly right. The world’s toughest problems (and that includes climate change and cyber-attacks) are never solved on the basis of facts and figures alone. They involve navigating the most complex terrain of all: human culture.
Thus, a career in international relations requires cultural intelligence.
What Is Cultural Intelligence?
Cultural intelligence is the skill or attribute that enables you to function across different cultural contexts or environments. It’s understanding cultural characteristics, realizing the difference they make, and being able to navigate cultural differences while avoiding conflict.
It was missing when Walmart ventured into Germany in 1997. On the surface, the numbers were good. The economy was stable, and the population was thriving. Walmart should succeed, or so Walmart thought.
Instead, the retail chain failed, and someone who understood the profound and significant impact of human culture on everything, including retail, probably saw it coming. The cultural differences were just so glaring:
- Walmart employees had to chant “Walmart” as a morale booster. That was out of character for the German employees (and was strange to the locals, too).
- Germans liked shopping efficiency. They knew what they wanted, and they wanted to spend as little time in-store as possible. Walmart’s superstore model (it sold almost everything), plus its typical layout that encouraged browsing, was incompatible with such efficiency.
- Walmart’s employees must smile at all times. Germans found this forced gaiety unnatural; they also did not like smiling at strangers. The employees’ smiles, therefore, looked forced and insincere, and this made customers who already found the plastered-on smiles disagreeable even more uncomfortable.
- Walmart employees bagged groceries at checkout. Germans felt uncomfortable with other people touching their things.
What does this have to do with international relations?
Cultural Intelligence and International Relations
The above example demonstrates the impact cultural differences can have on business. If cultural differences can shut down a major retailer, can you imagine what lack of cultural intelligence can do in international relations?
In fact, you don’t have to imagine. Think of “Mokusatsu,” the Japanese response to the United States’ demand for unconditional surrender (i.e., the Potsdam Declaration) in 1945. To the Americans who did not know the nuances of Japanese culture, it meant outright rejection. For the Japanese, it probably meant they’re withholding comment while deliberating on it.
The consequence was tragic. Atomic bombs were dropped because both parties neglected to account for cultural differences.
That’s how vital cultural intelligence is in international relations. An international relations career means managing the relationships and interactions among nations, states, jurisdictions, and international organizations. Each global player has a distinct cultural context, and understanding this and being able to effectively function regardless are only possible if you have cultural intelligence.
How do you develop cultural intelligence?
The World is Your Classroom: Where You Study Matters
You can’t truly master it from a book or a classroom alone. You learn it through immersion, by living and breathing in a new cultural context. This is why studying abroad can be fundamental to training for a global career.
Consider Europe. Everywhere you look bears the mark of thousands of years of history, art, and philosophy. Imagine contemplating the art that shaped nations not by looking at it on a replica on paper but by standing in front of it at the Prado in Madrid or the Louvre in Paris.
Spain, in particular, offers a unique advantage. For centuries, it was a crossroads where different cultures mixed, clashed, and came together. Its history is a living lesson in how different worldviews can create something new and brilliant together.
The Humanities Toolkit
Incorporate the study of the humanities into your college or graduate program. The humanities will help you understand the world as it is.
1. History
A border dispute may encompass centuries of conflict and national identity. Meanwhile, a trade deal can be tied to national pride. The study of history allows you to understand the deep-seated motivations that drive modern-day politics.
2. Philosophy
Global leaders must grapple with many challenging issues. Is a cyberattack an act of war? Can we use AI, and how do we do so ethically? Finding answers to these questions requires deep thinking, and philosophy can teach you how to think through complex ethical dilemmas with logic and clarity.
3. Arts & Literature
The proliferation of Korean content (e.g., K-pop, K-dramas, etc.) worldwide demonstrates the power of the arts in influencing global trends, building bridges and creating goodwill in ways that formal treaties never could. Studying literature and art teaches you to decode these powerful narratives. You learn to understand how a nation sees itself and how it wants to be seen by the world, which is a vital insight for any diplomat, marketer, or global CEO.
Are You Ready for the Real World?
A degree in the humanities, especially one earned while immersed in another culture, is practical training for how the world actually works. It equips you with the durable, adaptable, and deeply human skills that will always be in demand, no matter how much the world changes.
If you want to work in international relations, whether for governments, multinational corporations, or other global actors, consider studying overseas and incorporating humanities courses into your college program. For this purpose, a dual degree in business administration and international relations is an excellent option.
