Why Soldiers Returning from War Reinforce National Order Rather Than Change It
Introduction
Nations are often described as communities held together by shared beliefs, ideologies, or opinions. This description is misleading. Societies remain stable even when many citizens privately disagree with official narratives or possess contradictory information. What maintains cohesion is not belief, but a shared sense of reality.
A shared sense of reality refers to the collectively enforced expectations about how the world actually works: which authorities matter, which rules will be enforced, which actions have real consequences, and which futures are plausible. It operates below ideology and opinion. People may disagree verbally, but they still anticipate similar outcomes for similar actions.
This shared sense of reality emerges from the human brain’s predictive nature. Individuals continuously test their expectations against outcomes, and over time, societies align these expectations through institutions, rituals, rewards, and sanctions. When this alignment becomes widespread, it forms national order.
The return of North Korean soldiers from deployment related to the Ukraine war provides a clear example of how such a shared sense of reality is actively maintained. Public ceremonies and official interpretations do not primarily aim to persuade. Their function is to stabilize collective expectations, ensuring that foreign experiences are absorbed into, rather than allowed to disrupt, the nation’s shared sense of what is real.
1. The Brain as a Prediction System
Human cognition operates through continuous prediction. The brain constantly anticipates what will happen next and compares those expectations with actual outcomes. When expectations are met, internal regulation remains stable. When they are violated, discomfort arises and behavior or interpretation must adjust.
This internal regulatory signal is not a belief, emotion, or conscious thought. It is a pre-conscious mechanism that evaluates whether current expectations remain viable. People experience it indirectly as tension, unease, or the need to “make sense” of events.
2. From Individual Expectations to National Order
When large populations grow up under the same institutions, laws, symbols, and social consequences, their individual expectation systems gradually align. Over time, a nation develops a shared baseline of what feels normal, reasonable, or unthinkable.
This shared structure is not primarily about what people say they believe. It is about which expectations can be held without triggering internal or social instability. National order emerges when most individuals learn—often very early—which interpretations of reality are safe to maintain and which are dangerous to express or even imagine.
3. National Order Exists in All Political Systems
Every society develops a shared expectation structure. Political systems differ not in whether this structure exists, but in how tightly it is constrained.
In open systems, multiple expectations can coexist and compete. Disagreement and contradiction are tolerated, and shared expectations shift gradually. In tightly controlled systems, expectations are narrowly defined and rapidly corrected when deviations appear. Both forms rely on the same underlying cognitive mechanisms.
4. The Return of Soldiers as a Stress Test
When soldiers operate abroad, they encounter different environments, institutions, and social norms. This introduces potential tension between existing expectations and lived experience. Such tension is not unique to any political system; it occurs whenever individuals confront realities that do not match their prior assumptions.
The return of North Korean soldiers from deployment related to the Ukraine war presented precisely this situation. Foreign exposure created the possibility of destabilizing comparisons between what was previously expected and what was directly experienced.
5. Public Reintegration and Expectation Stabilization
State-organized ceremonies welcoming returning soldiers serve a specific stabilizing function. Through ritual, symbolism, and authoritative interpretation, ambiguity is reduced and meaning is assigned to potentially disruptive experiences.
Sacrifice is framed as duty, hardship as honor, and foreign exposure as confirmation of national purpose. By embedding personal experiences into a shared narrative, individual tension is resolved and collective expectations are restored. The process does not require persuasion; it relies on providing a clear and socially reinforced interpretation that reduces uncertainty.
6. Central Reference Points in Tightly Controlled Systems
In highly centralized systems, expectation stability depends on a single dominant reference for interpreting reality. This reference is maintained through consistent symbols, leadership representation, and clearly signaled consequences for deviation. Alternative interpretations are not debated; they are made unsafe.
When individuals return from environments with different norms, their experiences are rapidly realigned with this central reference. The shared framework reasserts itself, preventing fragmentation.
7. Why Returning Soldiers Rarely Become Agents of Change
Historical experience shows that returning soldiers rarely transform societies simply by sharing what they have seen. Information alone does not alter shared expectations. Change occurs only when alternative interpretations can be held without social or psychological risk.
Without institutional support, social permission, and protective structures, contradictory experiences are privately absorbed and publicly neutralized. Silence and conformity restore stability more effectively than open confrontation.
Conclusion
Nations are stabilized by shared expectations rather than shared beliefs. These expectations are formed through early socialization and continuously reinforced by institutions, symbols, and collective rituals. When disruptions occur, societies move quickly to restore interpretive stability.
The return of soldiers from foreign conflicts illustrates this mechanism clearly. Exposure to different realities does not automatically lead to change. National order persists because maintaining shared expectations remains safer than challenging them.
