The Consequences of the Bundeswehr Mission in Afghanistan for German Military Engagement Abroad

Abstract

This article focuses on answering the question to what extent did the German foreign and security policy change, based on the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, especially when it comes to military deployment abroad. The author identifies and analyses the consequences associated with the German experience in Afghanistan and their influence on the current and future deployment of German armed forces abroad. For example, what consequences did the airstrike ordered by a German NATO commander in Kunduz on the 4th of September 2009, connected with multiple Afghan civil casualties bring? The attention is given to the German strategic culture of ”civilian power“ and the question, if Germany still fulfills the attributes connected with this theoretical concept. The author verifies this assumption by means of the role theory concept, which helps to understand the behavior of Germany on the international level.

Keywords

• Afghanistan
• ISAF
• Bundeswehr
• Germany
• Role Theory
• Civilian Power
• NATO.