Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Germany's Options in Afghanistan

2009; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 51; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00396330903309865

1468-2699

Timo Noetzel, Thomas Rid,

Peacebuilding and International Security

Abstract Germany's military mission in Afghanistan has become increasingly politicised in the eight years since it was launched. Political and ideological differences between parties and even between ministries are becoming more pronounced, not less. This trend narrows the room for manoeuvre and limits the strategic debate. Greater instability in Kunduz province, at the heart of Germany's area of regional responsibility in Afghanistan, has two immediate effects: it both increases the need to act decisively and it heightens the risk of political paralysis in Berlin. This article argues that the latter is likely to prevail. Notes Thomas L. Hughes, 'The German Mission to Afghanistan, 1915–1916', German Studies Review, vol. 25, no. 3, October 2002, p. 447–76. Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), March 2009, http://www.bmz.de/de/laender/partnerlaender/afghanistan/zusammenarbeit.html. Federal Ministry of the Interior, http://www.bmi.bund.de/DE/Themen/Sicherheit/Polizei/Afghanistan/Afghanistan_node.html. Federal Ministry of the Interior, 'Polizeiliche Aufbauhilfe in Afghanistan', 1 July 2009, http://www.bmi.bund.de/cln_144/DE/Themen/Sicherheit/Polizei/Afghanistan/Afghanistan.html. Richard Holbrooke's assessment was that the Afghan police was 'underfunded, underpaid, undertrained, under-equipped, and easily corruptible'. The most important civilian programme, he said, was 'actually helping the enemy'. See 'Afghanistan: A Plan to Turn the Tide?', Hearing before the Committee on Foreign Relations, US Senate, Transcript, 31 January 2008, pp. 60–1. Deutscher Bundestag, 16 Wahlperiode, Drucksache 16/10473, 7 October 2008, pp. 4–5. Interview with senior chancellery official, Berlin, 12 June 2009. Jerome Starkey, 'For us ze war is over by tea time, ja', Sunday Times, 18 November 2007. Thomas Kröter, 'Krieg kommt in den Norden', Frankfurter Rundschau, 2 May 2009, p. 4. All casualty figures in this essay are from http://casualties.org as of 24 August 2009. See Statista, http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1546/umfrage/ansicht-zu-bundeswehreinsaetzen-inafghanistan/. Statista, http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1082/umfrage/aufstockung-des-truppenkontingentsin-afghanistan/. Statista, http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1277/umfrage/deutsche-hilfe-im-kampf-gegen-denterror-auf-bitten-von-obama/#info. 'Deutsche lehnen Afganistan-Einsatz ab', Cicero, 25 March 2009. Otto Depenheuer, 'Was wir verteidigen', Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 26 February 2009, p. 8. Emphasis added. Statista, http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/2121/umfrage/afghanistan---krieg-oderhumanitaerer-einsatz-derbundeswehr/ Interview with Hellmut Königshaus, Berlin, 15 June 2009. Interview with Willy Wimmer, Berlin, 15 June 2009. Interview with Rolf Mützenich, Berlin, 15 June 2009. Interview with Winfried Nachtwei, Berlin, 15 June 2009. Interview with senior CDU staffer, Berlin, 27 February 2009. See also Klaus Naumann, Einsatz ohne Ziel? (Hamburg: HIS Verlag, 2008). Interviews with CDU staffers, Berlin, February and June 2009. Interview with Hans-Ulrich Klose, Berlin, 11 June 2009. Timo Noetzel, 'Weniger Taschenkarten, mehr Wirkmittel. Afghanistan als Testfall für Deutschland und die NATO', Internationale Politik, vol. 63, no. 3, March 2008, p. 25–32. Timo Noetzel and Martin Zapfe, 'Aufstandsbekämpfung als Auftrag. Instrumente und Planungsstrukturen für den ISAF-Einsatz' SWP-Studie/S 13, May 2008, pp. 5–22. Thomas Kröter, 'Das Ministerium überlegt längst diskret, mehr deutsche Soldaten zu entsenden', Frankfurter Rundschau, 20 August 2009, p. 4. Interview withWinfried Nachwei, Berlihn, 15 June 2009. Interview with senior chancellery official, Berlin, 12 June 2009. Europol, TE-SAT 2009: EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report, p. 17, http://www.europol.europa.eu/publications/EU_Terrorism_Situation_and_Trend_Report_TE-SAT/TESAT2009.pdf. For a detailed analysis of how counter-insurgency has limited value as a counter-terrorism strategy, see Thomas Rid, and Marc Hecker, War 2.0: Irregular Warfare in the Information Age (Westport CT: Praeger, 2009). Additional informationNotes on contributorsTimo NoetzelTimo Noetzel is a Research Group Leader at the Centre of Excellence at Konstanz University and a Fellow of the Stiftung Neue Verantwortung, Berlin.Thomas RidThomas Rid is a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center and an Adjunct Professor at the School of International Service, American University.