Leiden University Student Repository

Korhorn, Ids (2022)

Colliding Realities? An Analysis of Discourse on Dutch Special Operations in Afghanistan

Bachelor thesis | Security Studies (BSc)

In the post 9/11-era, the Dutch government has made extensive use of special operations forces (SOF), predominantly in Afghanistan. While the importance and role of SOF continue to expand, the use of and discourse on the deployment of Dutch SOF has received little academic attention. This thesis provides new insight into the discourse on Dutch SOF operations in Afghanistan. A discourse analysis was conducted on government discourse vis-à-vis operational accounts. Consequently, a comparative analysis was conducted to establish if, and to what extent government discourse and operational accounts have collided. This thesis argues that during the first analysed deployment, from 2006 onwards, the mission set largely aligned with operational accounts. However, this mission set did not correspond with the expertise of a SOF unit, which led to dissatisfaction among the commandos. During the second analysed deployment, from 2018 onwards, government publications provided more clarity on the...Show moreIn the post 9/11-era, the Dutch government has made extensive use of special operations forces (SOF), predominantly in Afghanistan. While the importance and role of SOF continue to expand, the use of and discourse on the deployment of Dutch SOF has received little academic attention. This thesis provides new insight into the discourse on Dutch SOF operations in Afghanistan. A discourse analysis was conducted on government discourse vis-à-vis operational accounts. Consequently, a comparative analysis was conducted to establish if, and to what extent government discourse and operational accounts have collided. This thesis argues that during the first analysed deployment, from 2006 onwards, the mission set largely aligned with operational accounts. However, this mission set did not correspond with the expertise of a SOF unit, which led to dissatisfaction among the commandos. During the second analysed deployment, from 2018 onwards, government publications provided more clarity on the nature of the mission, although some ambiguity concerning combat aspects remained. Future research is recommended on other operational phases of Dutch SOF.Show less

special operations

Afghanistan

discourse analysis

ISAF

SOF

Author

Korhorn, Ids

Faculty

Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs

Supervisors

Meer, A. van der

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en