Modern warfare is almost always multilateral to one degree or another, requiring countries to cooperate as allies or coalition partners. Yet as the war in Afghanistan has made abundantly clear, multilateral cooperation is neither straightforward nor guaranteed. Countries differ significantly in what they are willing to do and how and where they are willing to do it. Some refuse to participate in dangerous or offensive missions. Others change tactical objectives with each new commander. Some countries defer to their commanders while others hold them to strict account. NATO in Afghanistan explores how government structures and party politics in NATO countries shape how battles are waged in the field. Drawing on more than 250 interviews with senior officials from around the world, David Auerswald and Stephen Saideman find that domestic constraints in presidential and single-party parliamentary systems--in countries such as the United States and Britain respectively--differ from those in countries with coalition governments, such as Germany and the Netherlands.
As a result, different countries craft different guidelines for their forces overseas, most notably in the form of military caveats, the often-controversial limits placed on deployed troops. Providing critical insights into the realities of alliance and coalition warfare, NATO in Afghanistan also looks at non-NATO partners such as Australia, and assesses NATO's performance in the 2011 Libyan campaign to show how these domestic political dynamics are by no means unique to Afghanistan.
By:
David P. Auerswald,
Stephen M. Saideman
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: 1
Dimensions:
Height: 235mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 16mm
Weight: 397g
ISBN: 9780691170879
ISBN 10: 0691170878
Pages: 280
Publication Date: 31 May 2016
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
List of Illustrations ix Abbreviations xi Acknowledgments xiii Chapter 1 NATO at War: In Afghanistan and at Home? 1 Chapter 2 NATO and the Primacy of National Decisions in Multilateral Interventions 31 Chapter 3 Explaining National Behavior in Multilateral Interventions 63 Chapter 4 Presidents in Charge: The United States, France, and Poland 85 Chapter 5 Single-Party Parliamentary Governments: The British and Canadians 115 Chapter 6 Coalition Governments in Combat 141 Chapter 7 Does Membership Matter? Examining the Outsiders: Australia and New Zealand 177 Chapter 8 Extending the Argument: Libya and Operation United Protector 195 Chapter 9 Implications for Policy and Theory 217 References 237 Index 251
David P. Auerswald is professor of security studies at the National War College. His books include Congress and the Politics of National Security. Stephen M. Saideman holds the Norman Paterson Chair in International Affairs at Carleton University. His books include For Kin or Country: Xenophobia, Nationalism, and War.
Reviews for NATO in Afghanistan: Fighting Together, Fighting Alone
This book is very impressive, relying on some 250 interviews with key policy makers, including defense ministers, as well as senior military commanders. No other study provides such wide assessment of caveats. The authors provide in-depth case studies of the countries that provided he most troops to this operation. . . . The authors also devote an excellent chapter to NATO decision making procedures, which helps produce such different levels of political commitment to military operations, and results in contributing states fighting wars in their own unique ways. --Choice The relationship between theoretical and empirical work contribution is certainly the great strength of this book, which demonstrates once again the importance of education in political science to the understanding of strategic phenomena. . . . [This] book deserves to become required reading for anyone interested in the conflict in Afghanistan the future of NATO. --Olivier Schmitt, War Studies Publications
