Dutch Dilemmas in Afghanistan: Dilemmas and contradictions in the Dutch parliamentary debate about liberal peacebuilding in Afghanistan, 2001-2010

Abstract

This thesis explores how the underlying dilemmas and contradictory policy inherent to and resulting from liberal peacebuilding affected Dutch political decision-making and policy in the peacebuilding missions in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2010. It specifically focuses on four main elements of liberal peacebuilding: security sector reform, democratization, economic liberalization, and human rights. After a brief introduction to the three generations of liberal peacebuilding scholarship, three periods in the Dutch campaign in Afghanistan are analyzed: development aid and initial peacebuilding operations (2001-2004), the provincial reconstruction mission in Baghlan province (2004-2005), and Task Force Uruzgan (2005-2010). Many dilemmas and contradictory policy were part of the Dutch parliamentary debate about and policy for this campaign. However, it is argued that not all of these issues were identified or debated sufficiently. Nonetheless, Dutch parliamentarians and ministers seemed to have progressed alongside the dominant liberal peacebuilding scholarship, slowly gaining a better understanding of liberal peacebuilding’s complexities. Finally, recommendations are made that aim to improve liberal peacebuilding research and policy.