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Mobilising the concept of strategic culture, this study develops a framework for understanding developments in German security policy between 1990 and 2003. Germany's contemporary security policies are characterised by a peculiar mix of continuity and change. From abstention in the first Gulf war, to early peacekeeping missions in Bosnia in the early 1990s and a full combat role in Kosovo in 1999, the pace of change in German security policy since the end of the Cold War has been breathtaking. The extent of this change has recently, however, been questioned, as seen most vividly in Berlin's response to ‘9/11’ and its subsequent stalwart opposition to the US-led war on terrorism in Iraq in 2003. Beginning with a consideration of the notion of strategic culture, the study refines and adapts the concept to the case of Germany through a consideration of aspects of the rearmament of West Germany. It then critically evaluates the transformation of the role of the Bundeswehr up to and including the war on terrorism, together with Germany's troubled efforts to enact defence reforms, as well as the complex politics surrounding the policy of conscription. By focusing on both the ‘domestics’ of security policy decision making as well as the changing and often contradictory expectations of Germany's allies, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of the role played by Germany's particular strategic culture in shaping policy choices. It concludes by pointing to the vibrancy of Germany's strategic culture.
conflicts’ have we, as journalists, hoped to bring to light? That expression is used a lot with regard to the DRC. But what ‘neglect’ are we talking about when, in terms of budget, the DRC has the largest UN peacekeeping mission and hundreds of active national and international NGOs? I understand how the language of emergency, crisis and neglect appeals to the communications people at emergency medical NGOs, and I make no judgements about the relevance of its use – these are
this is legal, since 2006 ( Daccord, 2018 ). The British Red Cross also admitted ‘a small number’ of sexual harassment or abuse cases in the UK ( Gillespie et al. , 2018 ). This sits in a longer international context, including the controversies around UN peacekeeping forces, starting with Cambodia in 1993, encompassing Bosnia and Herzegovina, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, DRC and Haiti, which led to the UN concluding in 2013 that the biggest risk in peacekeeping
peacekeeping mission to provide security ( Nyenyezi Bisoka et al. , 2021 ; GEC, 2020 ). The introduction of a well-funded Ebola response (approximately $1.2 billion) into an area where basic services are underfunded gave the impression that the response aimed to benefit responders rather than local communities ( Crawford et al. , 2021 : 41). In addition, the response created a parallel system, bringing staff from Kinshasa and abroad who were paid more
contributions and sacrifices (since 1948 there have been 3,471 fatalities in peacekeeping, peacebuilding and political missions),6 peacekeepers have increasingly been associated with SEA of the vulnerable populations they had been mandated to project. Hence on the one hand, there has been an ever-extending engagement of peacekeeping missions to protect civilian populations and safeguard them from mass sexual violence that had often accompanied the foregoing conflicts in volatile and fragile regions; on the other hand, these very missions have been tarnished by reports of rape
clearly demonstrates that it was not ‘typical’ of its period. The UN’s Congo mission was far more ambitious than any peacekeeping mission hitherto. Nevertheless, it is precisely the ambitious nature of the mission that makes it instructive for our purposes. We know, for instance, that the UN used force in the Congo. But what precisely were the objectives and underlying dynamics of the operation? What
1996 and 2017 , it had involved 6,863 military personnel in peacekeeping missions. In 2019, it still maintained troops in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Mali, the Aegean Sea, and South-Eastern Europe Brigade (SEEBRIG). Completed missions included those in Iraq, Chad, Georgia, and the ISAF mission in Afghanistan that lasted until 2014 (“Engagement Policy and Evidence of AAF Participation in PK Missions” n.d.). Closer
and concern about the grave situation in Chad.” 29 The first attempt by the Nigerian government to resolve the conflict in Chad was convening the Kano Conference in March 1979. The resulting agreement included a proposal to deploy a Nigerian peacekeeping mission to supplement the crisis management process. 30 Unfortunately, the 800-man mission was short-lived, ending in failure because of an unclear mandate and the unwillingness of the belligerents and local population to accept the legitimacy of the force. 31 Undeterred, the Nigerian government convened Lagos
intervention Looking at military intervention, what more could the UK have done? First is the question of whether front line British troops could have been deployed as part of UNAMIR II. Linda Melvern correctly suggests that in 1994 the UK had two military units that could have been rapidly mobilised for deployment overseas – the 5 Airborne Brigade and the Special Air Service (SAS);146 there were, though, other units that could have been deployed. The SAS, the army’s special forces unit, was not really suited to the proposed peacekeeping mission if for no other reason than
objective; the contribution must be effective and destruction must produce a definite military advantage. 128 Additionally, even if an object constitutes a military objective under this test, action against it must still be considered under the test of proportionality of Article 8(2)(b)(iv). 129 Article 8(2)(b)(iii) Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, as long as they are entitled to the