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De geïntegreerde benadering in Afghanistan

tussen ambitie en praktijk

Open access

De geïntegreerde benadering in Afghanistan

tussen ambitie en praktijk

Open access

Samenvatting

During the peacekeeping operations in the 90s of the last century it became clear that the
military instrument alone could not bring the solution, other actors were also required to
solve the multidimensional problems. This meant that in addition to soldiers a range of
actors in the crisis regions were present. The presence of a large group of state and nonstate
actors, however, led to fragmentation of available capabilities redundancy, overlap,
gaps or contradictory policies, inefficient spending and difficulties in achieving objectives.
Soon it was realised that within the fragmented landscape of actors coherence had to
be achieved. In order to achieve more consistency the actors had to cooperate with one
another. Not only in the implementation of activities but also in the planning phase of a
response to a crisis. In addition to this cooperation out of conviction, there were practical
reasons to work together. By recognising the need to work together a philosophy emerged
that came to be known as the comprehensive approach or the integrated approach. After a
shaky start this philosophy was embraced by both international organisations and national
governments.
Since military contingents are often given an area of responsibility within a region in
crisis, it is possible to extrapolate the integrated approach to the national level. Because
of the deployment of various instruments of power at the national level, it is evident that
ministries - as parent organizations of these instruments - should work together. In this
thesis, the interdepartmental cooperation in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom
during the mission in Afghanistan (2006-2010 has been examined). To this end, the main
question was formulated as follows: How is the interdepartmental cooperation, as part of the
integrated approach, in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom given substance? What obstacles have to
be recognized and what factors may foster the cooperation?
In order to solve complex or wicked problems, most of the literature states that horizontal
coordination between the different actors is necessary. However, within the departments
mostly vertical coordination takes place. In order to examine these two forms of
coordination and interaction between them, an analytical framework has been developed
which is used to study the interdepartmental cooperation in the Netherlands and the
United Kingdom. Although this cooperation has not been considered as a network entirely,
the network theory did serve as an important source for the development of the analytical
framework. Besides the variables Control, Trust, Dependency, Performance, Perceptions
and Arrangements which are derived from the network theory, a close look at the
political context in both countries was also necessary. The cooperation in both countries
was investigated through a comparative case study. In order to investigate both cases,
quantitative and qualitative research has been done. Based on the analytical framework
a survey for quantitative research was developed and the received data was analysed
through SPSS-18 and Social Network Analysis. For the qualitative research semi-structured
interviews were conducted which were encoded and analysed using the software program
Atlas.ti. In addition, relevant literature has been studied.

Quantitative analysis of the data shows that there are no significant differences between the
two countries. In addition, it is clear that the variable Control greatly influences the variable
Trust; trust in the interdepartmental cooperation seems to be manageable. The role of trust
in the collaboration is clear, it is both of influence on Process Performance and Content
Performance. These results are consistent with those of other studies. What differs from
other research is the influence of Control. Remarkably, this variable has no direct influence
on Content Performance, but only indirectly through the influence of Control on Trust and
Process Performance.
The qualitative part of the research does show differences between the two countries.
Although a range of differences (and similarities) between the countries can be seen, the
biggest difference is evident in the development of the concept of the integrated approach
in the course of time. Whereas in the Netherlands it was hard to recognise any adjustments
to the concept several changes were made in the UK, mainly due to the ongoing mission in
Afghanistan. By launching several initiatives to provide inter-departmental transparency,
the UK has shown to seek improvements at the institutional level in order to address
complex crisis situations and coordination.
Two recurring observations become clear from comparing the two countries. Firstly, it
can be said that the inter-departmental cooperation is as good as the intra-departmental
cooperation allows. The departmental reflex still overshadows cooperation. The second
observation concerns the interdepartmental strategy. Initially a difficult obstacle, it serves
as a vehicle that supports the cooperation once taken. It also is a sign of integration and as
progress of the integrated approach. It is therefore preferable to ratify or at least adopt the
strategy and its objectives at the highest political level.
In addition to these two observations, various tensions in the cooperation become visible.
These tensions arise because vertically organised departments need (and want) to work
with each other horizontally. The first group of tensions is related to the necessity to work
together on the one hand and going solo on the other. The second group of tensions is
related to the search for the right balance between horizontal coordination strategies and
vertical top-down induced coordination strategies in managing the cooperation. Since it is
likely that the integrated approach and interdepartmental cooperation remains necessary
and implemented in the future, it makes sense to consider how to improve this cooperation
in the Netherlands. The improvements proposed in this study relate to the appointment of
the Council for the Intelligence and Security as a subcommittee of Cabinet to coordinate
the cooperation at the political level. In addition, the impoverished structure of the forums
should be restored so that also the ministries surrounding the core departments have
access to the results of the collaboration. Furthermore, because of the added value of the
UK Stabilisation Unit and Cabinet Office for interdepartmental cooperation, it would be
advisable to adjust the mandate of the existing Stability and Humanitarian Aid Board in
such a manner that the added value of both institutions could also be implemented in the
Netherlands.

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Trefwoorden
Jaar2016
TypeBachelor
TaalNederlands

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