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...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
Since 9/11, U.S. administrations have increasingly relied on Special Operations Forces (SOF) to counter irregular threats such as terrorism. Although the actual employment of SOF has increased, the...Show moreSince 9/11, U.S. administrations have increasingly relied on Special Operations Forces (SOF) to counter irregular threats such as terrorism. Although the actual employment of SOF has increased, the academic debate on the nature and value of SOF has lagged. Since the 1990s, multiple theories on SOF have been published, yet there remains much disagreement amongst scholars about which core characteristics SOF theory should have. This thesis provides an overview of this debate on SOF theory. Subsequently, it evaluates which theory - or type of theory - is best able to capture the nature of SOF.Show less
