How armed forces adapt to operational challenges has been a salient subject in War Studies in recent years. However, the process of institutionalization of such lessons post-conflict has received... Show moreHow armed forces adapt to operational challenges has been a salient subject in War Studies in recent years. However, the process of institutionalization of such lessons post-conflict has received less attention. This study seeks to examine military learning processes during missions and beyond. By synthesizing organizational learning theories with the literature on military innovation, it argues that there are distinct but related forms of learning during and after operations that are subject to peculiar dynamics. Specifically, this research analyzes Dutch and British learning processes during operations in southern Afghanistan and their enduring impact on the respective military organizations. The Dutch and British experiences and institutionalization efforts are reconstructed based on archival records, policy documents, official evaluations and over one-hundred interviews with service members, civil servants and scholars with direct involvement in the Uruzgan and Helmand campaigns during the most volatile years in the Afghanistan war and their aftermath. Show less
Eckhard, S.; Patz, R.; Schönfeld, M; Meegdenburg, H. van 2021
Intergovernmental deliberations in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) are typically considered the realm of sovereign nation states. We challenge this position by studying the role of the... Show moreIntergovernmental deliberations in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) are typically considered the realm of sovereign nation states. We challenge this position by studying the role of the UN Secretariat in UNSC debates, focusing on the debates on Afghanistan (1995–2017). We combine natural language processing with a network theoretical perspective to observe speaker position, topic introduction, and topic evolution and we complement this analysis with an illustrative case study. The quantitative analysis shows that UN officials take an overall impartial position but that they do, at times, introduce and promote their own topics putting them in the position to shape the debate. The qualitative case study selects one ‘bureaucratic topic’ to confirm bureaucratic agency. Combined, our methods allow to study the role of speakers in a debate and show that the UN bureaucracy acted as an autonomous speechmaker even in a venue were bureaucratic agency seems unlikely – the UNSC. Show less
Maruf, F.; Tappis, H.; Lu, E.; Yaqubi, G.S.; Stekelenburg, J.; Akker, T. van den 2021
BackgroundAfghanistan has one of the highest burdens of maternal mortality in the world, estimated at 638 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2017. Infections, obstetric hemorrhage, and unsafe... Show moreBackgroundAfghanistan has one of the highest burdens of maternal mortality in the world, estimated at 638 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2017. Infections, obstetric hemorrhage, and unsafe abortion are the three leading causes of maternal death. Contraceptive prevalence rate has fluctuated between 10 and 20% since 2006. The 2016 Afghanistan National Maternal and Newborn Health Quality of Care Assessment evaluated facility readiness to provide quality routine and emergency obstetric and newborn care, including postabortion care services.MethodsAccessible public health facilities with at least five births per day (n=77), a nationally representative sample of public health facilities with fewer than five births per day (n=149), and 20 purposively selected private health facilities were assessed. Assessment components examining postabortion care included a facility inventory and record review tool to verify drug, supply, equipment, and facility record availability, and an interview tool to collect information on skilled birth attendants' knowledge and perceptions.ResultsMost facilities had supplies, equipment, and drugs to manage postabortion care, including family planning counseling and services provision. At public facilities, 36% of skilled birth attendants asked to name essential actions to address abortion complications mentioned manual vacuum aspiration (23% at private facilities); fewer than one-quarter mentioned counseling. When asked what information should be given to postabortion clients, 73% described family planning counseling need (70% at private facilities). Nearly all high-volume public health facilities with an average of five or more births per day and less than 5% of low volume public health facilities with an average of 0-4 deliveries per day reported removal of retained products of conception in the past 3 months. Among the 77 high volume facilities assessed, 58 (75%) reported using misoprostol for removal of retained products of conception, 59 (77%) reported using manual vacuum aspiration, and 67 (87%) reported using dilation and curettage.ConclusionsThis study provides evidence that there is room for improvement in postabortion care services provision in Afghanistan health facilities including post abortion family planning. Access to high-quality postabortion care needs additional investments to improve providers' knowledge and practice, availability of supplies and equipment. Plain English summaryAfghanistan has one of the highest burdens of maternal mortality in the world. Infections, bleeding around childbirth, and unsafe abortion are the three leading causes of mortality in the country. The uptake of contraceptives is low, and only one-fifth of married women use contraceptives. A National Maternal and Newborn Health Quality of Care Assessment was conducted in 2016 at a selected number of public and private health facilities (n=226; n=20) to evaluate health facilities' capacity to provide postabortion care, and skilled birth attendants' knowledge and perceptions with regard to such care. Postabortion care is an essential package of services to make women survive complications of miscarriage and abortion and reduce unplanned pregnancies by providing postabortion family planning counseling and services, community empowerment, and mobilization. The result of this study showed that most facilities had supplies, equipment, and drugs to give postabortion care, including family planning services provision.However, there are gaps in birth attendants' knowledge and their capacity to deliver high-quality postabortion care services at public and private facilities. This study provides evidence that there is room for improvement in postabortion care services provision at health facilities in Afghanistan. Access to high-quality postabortion care needs additional investments to improve providers' knowledge and practice, and availability of supplies. Show less
Through bilateral treaties between Moscow, Ankara, Tehran and Kabul, revolutionary diplomacy shaped the ‘Northern Tier’ of the Middle East in the early 1920s. This article argues that the infamous... Show moreThrough bilateral treaties between Moscow, Ankara, Tehran and Kabul, revolutionary diplomacy shaped the ‘Northern Tier’ of the Middle East in the early 1920s. This article argues that the infamous Young Turk leaders, though in exile after the First World War, remained at the centre of a significant moment in transnational revolutionary diplomacy in Eurasia. Based on a hitherto underutilised collection of published and unpublished private papers in juxtaposition with other archival sources, this article illustrates the working of a dual process of internationalism. While campaigning for Muslim internationalism, the Young Turk leaders were able to partake in international politics, but ironically reduced their own legitimacy and capacity as non-state actors by championing revolutionary bilateralism between Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Soviet Russia. Show less
Military involvement in foreign policy decision-making, and its role as a driving force in that process, has long been anathema to both academic and practitioner circles. Without wanting to pursue... Show moreMilitary involvement in foreign policy decision-making, and its role as a driving force in that process, has long been anathema to both academic and practitioner circles. Without wanting to pursue the quest for principles or ultimate predictions this study looks specifically into the role of the military in foreign policy decision-making. It does so by carefully reconstructing and comparing the sequential series of decisions of a group of British and Dutch senior civil and military decision-makers which have led to the deployment of their militaries into to Afghan provinces of Helmand and Uruzgan. Show less
The dissertation examines the justification and conditions of global citizenship and the relation between global citizenship education and education in general. An applicable concept of... Show moreThe dissertation examines the justification and conditions of global citizenship and the relation between global citizenship education and education in general. An applicable concept of cosmopolitanism is derived from both a historical and conceptual analysis and by means of a comparative method lessons are drawn from (the history of) Afghanistan and the detrimental effects of foreign intervention on the formation of a democratic nation-state. The case for new forms of a cosmopolitan concept of democracy is made, applicable to an interdependent and globalising world. This philosophical analysis is applied to the present-day educational systems of both the Netherlands and Afghanistan. From this a starting point for a proposal towards world citizenship education is derived. In this research the case of the human rights violation of Farkhunda is used as a benchmark for the validity of the discussed theories. Show less
Atiqzai, F.; Manalai, P.; Amin, S.S.; Edmond, K.M.; Naziri, M.; Soroush, M.S.; ... ; Tappis, H. 2019
Objective To assess readiness and quality of essential newborn care and neonatal resuscitation practices in public health facilities in Afghanistan.Design Cross-sectional assessment.Setting 226... Show moreObjective To assess readiness and quality of essential newborn care and neonatal resuscitation practices in public health facilities in Afghanistan.Design Cross-sectional assessment.Setting 226 public health facilities in Afghanistan, including 77 public health facilities with at least five births per day (high-volume facilities) and 149 of 1736 public health facilities with fewer than five births per day (low-volume facilities).Participants Managers of 226 public health facilities, 734 skilled birth attendants (SBAs) working at these facilities, and 643 women and their newborns observed during childbirth at 77 high-volume health facilities.Outcome measures Availability of knowledgeable SBAs, availability of supplies and compliance with global guidelines for essential newborn care and neonatal resuscitation practices.Results At high-volume facilities, 569/636 (87.9%) of babies were dried immediately after birth, 313/636 (49.2%) were placed in skin-to-skin contact with their mother and 581/636 (89.7%) had their umbilical cord cut with a sterile blade or scissors. A total of 87 newborn resuscitation attempts were observed. Twenty-four of the 87 (27.5%) began to breath or cry after simply clearing the airway or on stimulation. In the remaining 63 (72.5%) cases, a healthcare worker began resuscitation with a bag and mask; however, only 54 (62%) used a correct size of mask and three babies died as their resuscitation with bag and mask was unsuccessful.Conclusions The study indicates room for improvement of the quality of neonatal resuscitation practices at public health facilities in Afghanistan, requiring only strengthening of the current best practices in newborn care. Certain basic and effective aspects of essential newborn care that can be improved on with little additional resources were also missing, such as skin-to-skin contact of the babies with their mother. Improvement of compliance with the standard newborn care practices must be ensured to reduce preventable newborn mortality and morbidity in Afghanistan. Show less
This dissertation examines the use of the military instrument for initiating a state-building process in fragile states as a foundation for stability and basic security. This is done by analysing... Show moreThis dissertation examines the use of the military instrument for initiating a state-building process in fragile states as a foundation for stability and basic security. This is done by analysing the position of the armed intervening parties in Afghanistan in the 2001-2011 period as an empirical and qualitative single-case study. Owing to their weak governmental institutions, instability and lack of basic security, fragile state can represent serious security risks. Events taking place far from national borders of developed states governed by the rule of law can therefore affect the national security situations of those states. Whatever the motive for an armed intervention, before it commences the question must be asked as to whether the intervention force is fit-for-purpose regarding the tasks to be carried out and whether there is a large enough support base, not only for the invasion, but also for the long-term process required for the political consolidation of military results. The intervening force must be capable of kneading this harmonisation into a workable and integrated strategy, giving as much confidence as possible to the legitimate and broadly supported leadership and ownership of the fragile state that was subject of the intervention Show less
