Justifying military force? – The role of Othering in the German plenary debates on the Afghanistan missions Master Thesis Author: Juliane Itta Student number: S1792946 10.01.2021 Supervisor: Dr. G.M. van Buuren Second reader: Dr. T. Abbas Leiden University- Campus The Hague Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs Master’s Program: Crisis and Security Management Content List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ II List of figures .......................................................................................................................................... III 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 a) Subject of the research ................................................................................................................... 2 b) Research questions and structure .................................................................................................. 3 c) Research goal ................................................................................................................................... 4 d) Academic and societal relevance .................................................................................................... 4 2. Theoretical framework ........................................................................................................................ 6 a) State-building and its criticism ........................................................................................................ 6 b) Othering ........................................................................................................................................ 12 3. Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 16 a) The Bundestag as the decision-making body on the deployment of the Bundeswehr ................ 17 b) Computer-assisted qualitative content analysis ........................................................................... 18 4. Contextual Information ..................................................................................................................... 23 a) German military deployment to Afghanistan ............................................................................... 23 b) Germany’s political parties ........................................................................................................... 26 5. Analysis .............................................................................................................................................. 29 a) Portrayed image of Afghanistan .................................................................................................... 29 1) Over time ................................................................................................................................... 29 2) By political parties ..................................................................................................................... 36 b) Justification of the deployment .................................................................................................... 39 1) Over time ................................................................................................................................... 39 2) By political party ........................................................................................................................ 44 c) Afghans as reason for failure ......................................................................................................... 47 1) Over time ................................................................................................................................... 47 2) By political party ........................................................................................................................ 47 d) Disclosure of Othering ................................................................................................................... 49 1) Over time ................................................................................................................................... 49 2) By political party ........................................................................................................................ 51 6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 52 References ............................................................................................................................................. 57 Annex ...................................................................................................................................................... IV A) State of research on Bundestag debates on the Afghanistan deployment ................................... IV B) Security and defence policy making in Germany .......................................................................... VII I C) Chronology of the Bundeswehr deployment to Afghanistan ......................................................... X D) Overview on examined plenary debates ...................................................................................... XX E) Coding scheme ........................................................................................................................... XXIII F) Coding sheets ........................................................................................................................... XXVIII G) Example of a coded plenary debate ........................................................................................... XXX List of abbreviations AdF Alternative for Germany AWACS Airborne Early Warning and Control System CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany CSU Christian Social Union in Bavaria EU European Union FDP Free Democratic Party ISAF International Security Assistance Force MdB Member of the Bundestag NBC Nuclear Biological Chemical OEF Operation Enduring Freedom PDS Party of Democratic Socialism PRT Provincial Reconstruction Team RSM Resolute Support Mission SED Socialist Unity Party of Germany SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany UN United Nations II List of figures Figure 1: Quality criteria of this research, based on Mayring, 2016, pp.144ff. .................................... 22 Figure 2: Image of Afghanistan over time ............................................................................................. 29 Figure 3: "Backwardness of Afghanistan" over time ............................................................................. 31 Figure 4: Diverse Image of Afghanistan" over time .............................................................................. 34 Figure 5: Image of Afghanistan and party affiliation ............................................................................. 37 Figure 6: "Backwardness of Afghanistan" and party affiliation ............................................................ 38 Figure 7: Diverse image of Afghanistan and party affiliation ................................................................ 39 Figure 8: Justifications based on Othering over time ............................................................................ 40 Figure 9: Different justifications over time ........................................................................................... 41 Figure 10: Justifications based on Othering and party affiliation ......................................................... 44 Figure 11: Different justifications and party affiliation ......................................................................... 45 Figure 12: Blaming Afghans for failure of the missions over time ........................................................ 47 Figure 13: Blaming Afghans for failure of the missions and party affiliation ........................................ 48 Figure 14: Disclosure of Othering over time ......................................................................................... 49 Figure 15: Disclosure of Othering and party affiliation ......................................................................... 51 Figure 16: Speaking times of the political groups in the different legislative periods (Deutscher Bundestag, 2020). ................................................................................................................................... IX Figure 17: Overview of relevant German federal politics in the observation period ............................. X Figure 18: Timeline Afghanistan missions ............................................................................................. XII Figure 19: Overview on examined plenary debates ............................................................................ XXII Figure 20: Coding scheme ................................................................................................................. XXVII Figure 21: Coding sheet (party affiliation) ........................................................................................ XXVIII Figure 22: Coding sheet (time) ........................................................................................................... XXIX III 1. Introduction Given the historical context of Germany's role in