Contemporary Security Studies

Winning domestic support for the Afghan War

By: Beatrice De Graaf (Editor), George Dimitriu (Editor), Jens Ringsmose (Editor)

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Hardcover | 9 February 2015 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
410 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.39 x 15.6 x 2.39

Hardcover

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This volume explores the way governments endeavoured to build and maintain public support for the war in Afghanistan, combining new insights on the effects of strategic narratives with an exhaustive series of case studies.

In contemporary wars, with public opinion impacting heavily on outcomes, strategic narratives provide a grid for interpreting the why, what and how of the conflict. This book asks how public support for the deployment of military troops to Afghanistan was garnered, sustained or lost in thirteen contributing nations. Public attitudes in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe towards the use of military force were greatly shaped by the cohesiveness and content of the strategic narratives employed by national policy-makers. Assessing the ability of countries to craft a successful strategic narrative, the book addresses the following key areas: 1) how governments employ strategic narratives to gain public support; 2) how strategic narratives develop during the course of the conflict; 3) how these narratives are disseminated, framed and perceived through various media outlets; 4) how domestic audiences respond to strategic narratives; 5) how this interplay is conditioned by both events on the ground, in Afghanistan, and by structural elements of the domestic political systems.

This book will be of much interest to students of international intervention, foreign policy, political communication, international security, strategic studies and IR in general.

Industry Reviews

'This volume is a must-read to understand 21st century conflict. In today's supercharged world of social networks, instantaneous communications, and suddenly constructed narratives, national leaders must bring their publics along. The long, difficult, and still unfinished NATO campaign in Afghanistan offers many lessons -- both good and bad - for how to approach to aspect of creating security in a highly complex world.' -- Admiral James Stavridis, Supreme Allied Commander at NATO 2009-13 and Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, USA

'How states explain their participation in conflict is not a passive reflection of a policy position, but actively shapes the scope of the conflict itself, and frames how actions are understood by the enemy, one's own side, and other audiences. So strategic narrative matters. This admirable book, focused primarily on strategic narrative and domestic audiences, serves as a guide for policymakers and students of contemporary conflict.' -- Emile Simpson, Harvard University, USA

'How do Western governments persuade their publics of the necessity for fighting "wars of choice"? This fascinating volume explores the importance and effectiveness of different national strategic narratives for the war in Afghanistan and, in so doing, explains why some Western states were more successful than others in sustaining public support for this long and costly war.' -- Theo Farrell, King's College London, UK

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