US DRONE BLOWBACK: How the US drone programme in Afghanistan has been portrayed and received

Abstract

[ The US-led NATO mission ‘Resolute Support Mission’ was active from January 2015 until August 2021. With this mission came a shift from boots on the ground to remoteness, employing drones. This thesis focuses on answering the main question: ‘How has the United States’ use of drone strikes had an impact on blowback in Afghanistan between 2015 and 2021?’. The central theory used in this thesis is Johnson’s blowback theory. I will argue in this thesis that the negative consequences of the US drone strikes are the civilian casualties caused and the meaning given to these civilian casualties by the local actors in Afghanistan. To operationalise the meaning given within the blowback theory, I have combined the blowback theory with framing by Jabri combined with Benford and Snow. To make sense of the secrecy element of the blowback theory, I have engaged with epistemic politics, as presented by Gould and Stel. Presenting this thesis, I have provided new guiding options for operationalising the blowback theory. Often, scholars jump to recognise blowback in new Taliban recruits without first researching the meaning-making processes on the local level as to how the Taliban was able to recruit more members. I argue that the grievances that arise from the civilian casualties caused by the US drone program can be used to mobilise collective action. Nevertheless, this research is based on limited anecdotal research. I have not researched this in depth. Much more research is needed.]