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This article combines linguistic discourse analysis with role theory to create a role-theoretic discourse analysis framework for German security policy. To illustrate this, we employ topos analysis on 30 plenary minutes of parliamentary debates regarding the International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan, conducted by German Members of Parliament between 2001 and 2014. We interpret their perception of Germany's roles in light of key behavioral norms related to German security policy. The parliamentary discourse, shaped by topoi, sets the stage for decisions on German military operations abroad. The use of topoi is influenced by dominant thought patterns, particularly the perspective on Germany's role in security policy held by the political elite. Political decisions, in turn, reflect behavioral preferences guided by these viewpoints. Our research reveals how changes in German security policy are mirrored in the discourse. This discourse is structured around five categories of topoi for legitimizing or delegitimizing military operations abroad: necessity, obligation, self-interest, capability and preparedness, and solution. An evaluation of the use of topoi through the lens of role theory indicates that perceptions of Germany's role have evolved over time, encompassing roles such as a "civilian power," a "normal state," and an "agenda-setting role" in sync with its foreign military engagements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past decade has seen the global growth of military-style reality television programming. These programmes, produced by militaries themselves or through collaboration with the entertainment sector, have proven to be an effective and increasingly powerful public relations conduit. Our article offers a theoretical treatment of reality television, both the aesthetic modes by which it invites the viewing subject as well as the political economy of its use in public relations. These dimensions are explored through two case studies. First, we focus on the genesis of military-style reality TV in the United States, where, after 9/11, the US military seized on the genre to pioneer and field-test various themes in response to public exigency as the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq drew on. Second, we analyse the German military as both a latecomer and innovator to these new public relations endeavours. By reading the generic and aesthetic strategies in both cases, we argue that the genre's public relations function goes beyond the immediate task of recruitment to cultivate civic participation in militaristic fantasies through a mediasphere rife with invitations to 'go soldier'. Military reality TV, we argue, represents the militarization of civic identity and the gradual displacement of values from deliberative to authoritarian, cosmopolitan to nationalistic and diplomatic to combative. Jeux éliminatoires : L'essor mondial de la télé-réalité militaire et la formation du citoyen sujet [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dieser Beitrag befasst sich mit der Einsatzbereitschaft der Bundeswehr, sich an Auslandseinsätzen im gesamten Konfliktspektrum beteiligen zu können. Vor dem Hintergrund der „Zeitenwende" werden drei Konflikte unterschiedlicher Intensität in der Ukraine, Afghanistan und Mali untersucht. Er bewertet sodann das Leistungspotenzial der Bundeswehr und gibt Empfehlungen für den Fähigkeitenaufbau: Neben der Modernisierung des Panzer- und Artilleriedispositivs fehlen vor allem Drohnen zur Fernaufklärung und als verharrende Waffen sowie eine wirksame Luftunterstützung – die jedoch in zwischenstaatlichen Konflikten hoher Intensität nur eingeschränkt einsetzbar sein wird. This contribution looks at the readiness of the Bundeswehr to contribute to external deployments in the full spectrum of conflict. Against the backdrop of the "Zeitenwende" three conflicts of differing intensity are analyzed. It then assesses the potential performance of the Bundeswehr and gives recommendations for the improvement of capabilities: Apart from the modernization of the tank and artillery weapon, what is lacking are drones for long-range reconnaissance and as loitering munitions, as well as effective air support – that will, however, only have limited use in interstate high intensity conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Female intelligence refers to a gender-sensitive perspective in collection planning that not only recognizes women as targets of collection but also considers females as operatives. These considerations become especially relevant in paternalistic cultural contexts, such as Afghanistan. Potential obstacles (e.g., myths) for female intelligence as well as past attempts at implementation (e.g., female engagement teams) are reviewed, before four areas of concern are identified that must be addressed in the future. The analysis is expanded by presenting survey and interview data from a sample of Bundeswehr operatives with human intelligence experience in paternalistic countries. We suggest how to address existing concerns and increase the actionability of field human intelligence units by incorporating females as valuable assets on both sides of the military intelligence collection process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The book "Deutsche Krieger. Vom Kaiserreich zur Berliner Republik - eine Militärgeschichte" by military historian Sönke Neitzel deals with the history of the German military from the time of the Kaiserreich to the present day. The focus is on the land forces, particularly the army. The book examines the political framework, the internal structure of the armed forces, and the practical level of the military. It shows that the continuity of the German military goes beyond the year 1945. The Bundeswehr of the Berlin Republic had to fight in Afghanistan, and soldiers once again saw themselves as archaic fighters. The author suggests that Germany should acknowledge itself as a civilian power in order to recognize the rupture in the relationship between Germans and the military after World War II. [Extracted from the article]

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This article analyses the way in which Germany's participation in the international intervention in Afghanistan has shaped and transformed the country's politics of defence and deriving policies. It argues that in the wake of operational challenges posed by the insurgency in northern Afghanistan since 2007, and in particular the increasing rate of German combat fatalities, established post-Cold War dogmas of German politics are becoming subject to erosion. Developments in the Kunduz region of northern Afghanistan, with the tanker bombing of 4 September 2009 as its apex, have had a catalyst function in this process. In particular, strategic, operational and tactical requirements for counterinsurgency operations have had significant politico-strategic repercussions for the country's defence and security policy more generally. As a result, in recent years the Bundeswehr has begun to undergo a far-reaching structural process of military adaptation and innovation. The article explains and analyses this phenomenon of political change and military learning in the context of political paralysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following its "networked security" approach Germany intensifies its military and civilian efforts in Afghanistan to prepare the ground for a handover of responsibility to Afghan authorities as a precondition for a successive withdrawal of the German armed forces contingent starting in 2011. Recent experience, however, reveals conceptual deficits and administrative hurdles in combination with a strong reliance on the military. This prohibits "networked security" from developing into a comprehensive framework for the coordination of a variety of actors and capabilities needed in Afghanistan. Hence, structural changes in concept and practice of "networked security" are needed to enhance the civilian dimension in the Afghan build-up and development process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the significance the concept of 'counterinsurgency' (COIN) has for the German Armed Forces. It starts with a discussion of the theoretical content of 'COIN'. From this, the conclusion is drawn that 'COIN' is an truly vaguely defined concept that allows practitioners to label a wide range of practices as such. The following part therefore explores how 'COIN' is understood by members of the German Armed Forces and how it is implemented in operations in Afghanistan. The article comes to the conclusion that 'COIN' is mainly used as a means to preserve the value of traditional military expertise and to legitimize the use of violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the operational conduct of German forces in northern Afghanistan and the making of German strategy in the context of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) since the expansion of the Afghan insurgency to northern Afghanistan in 2007. It is argued that the German contribution to ISAF is characterized by a severe mismatch between politico-strategic planning and decision-making in Berlin on the one hand and operational conduct and requirements on the ground on the other. Since 2007, however, politico-strategic insistence that the German engagement in Afghanistan constitutes a contribution to a post-conflict stabilization and reconstruction effort is steadily eroding. Analysis of German operational conduct in northern Afghanistan makes evident the existing mismatch between strategy and operations, but also reveals that the deterioration of the security situation on the ground has lead to a bottom-up-development of counterinsurgency doctrine, capabilities, institutions, and modus of operandi. Operations have been driving the making of German strategy, not vice-versa, which has severely hampered German efforts to counter insurgents' progress in the north of Afghanistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was performed to provide an overview of the molecular epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in Afghanistan isolated by the German military medical service during the Afghanistan conflict. A total of 18 isolates were collected between 2012 and 2018 at the microbiological laboratory of the field hospital in Camp Marmal near Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, from Afghan patients. The isolates were subjected to phenotypic and genotypic differentiation and antimicrobial susceptibility testing as well as to a core genome multi-locus sequence typing (cgMLST) approach based on whole-genome next-generation sequence (wgNGS) data. Next to several sporadic isolates, four transmission clusters comprising strains from the international clonal lineages IC1, IC2, and IC9 were identified. Acquired carbapenem resistance was due to blaOXA-23 in 17/18 isolates, while genes mediating resistance against sulfonamides, macrolides, tetracyclines, and aminoglycosides were frequently identified as well. In conclusion, the assessment confirmed both the frequent occurrence of A. baumannii associated with outbreak events and a variety of different clones in Afghanistan. The fact that acquired carbapenem resistance was almost exclusively associated with blaOXA-23 may facilitate molecular resistance screening based on rapid molecular assays targeting this resistance determinant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]