A novel submitted to fulfill the requirements of the M.F.A. degree. Subjects include the war in Afghanistan & memory.

This paper investigates the Danish newspaper “Politiken’s” portrayal of the people forced to flee thefall of Afghanistan in August 2021 and the war in Ukraine beginning February 2021. It compares thefindings about the two groups of refugees. I use Tajfel and Turner’s (2011) social identity theory, DeGenova’s (2013) theory of the border spectacle, and Scheel and Squire’s (2014) theory of theproduction of forced migrants as illegal migrants, to explain the impact of Politiken’s discourse has onthe social reality. The method used is Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis (CDA). Thepaper finds that there is clear difference in the way Politiken portrays people forced to flee from thetwo countries. Politiken contributes to a discourse where Afghan refugees are labelled as the out-groupand categorized as illegal migrants. Opposite, the discourse used to portray the Ukrainian refugees ispositive and reinforces their belonging to the Danish in-group. They are categorized as legal migrantsand deserving of protection. This discourse extends to the social reality, and a good example is theexemption law, urgently passed to allow immediate protection of Ukrainian refugees arriving inDenmark. This paper adds an additional layer to existing research by comparing the two recent eventsof Ukraine and Afghanistan.

Detta examensarbete ämnar belysa tankar om högstatusyrken hos nyanlända killar frånAfghanistan. Syftet är sammanlänkat i de två frågeställningar vi utgått från: Vad är etthögstatusyrke enligt nyanlända killar från Afghanistan? Finns det influenser som kansägas påverka nyanlända killar från Afghanistans syn på ett högstatusyrke?Arbetets titel ”Killar från Afghanistan och deras tankar om högstatusyrken” kansammanfattningsvis belysas genom undersökningens huvudresultat: att varahögutbildad; att hjälpa andra; att vara respekterad, att vara bra på något; lön. Somviktiga influenser inför ett yrkesval, var det vanligaste svaret att det skulle varaintressant och roligt. Yrken som uppgavs ha högstatus var exempelvis läkare ochadvokat. Samtliga killar ansåg att det yrke de ville bli och som kan sägas påverka deraskarriärval, hade hög status.

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Yes / This contribution discusses the national security objectives and the political parameters of the Obama administration’s decision to shift towards a counterinsurgency strategy and increase troop levels in Afghanistan. On the basis of the key strategic documents that formed the basis of the interagency process, as well as the political constraints under which the Obama administration was operating, it is possible to understand the key factors that defined the policy. The article also explain the various contradictions between the geopolitical context, the strategic objectives as defined by Obama and means to achieve them. On the basis of such analysis it is clear that the policy could at best achieve a partial success.

Amidst the turbulence of political shifts and the re-emergence of the Taliban, this phenomenological research shines a light on the lived experiences, aspirations, and challenges of female undergraduate students in an Afghan university. Through in-depth, qualitative interviews, this study unravels six pivotal themes shaping their collegiate journey: gender-centric oppression, systemic and structural barriers, academic hindrances, family support, and the motivation to endure and prevail amidst profound adversities, such as enforced gender apartheid and stringent clothing mandates. Within an intersectionality framework, this research not only bridges a critical gap in the literature but also serves as a crucial narrative for global academia and policy-making arenas, underlining the imperative for robust advocacy and policy reforms. The stark findings and nuanced insights gleaned from this study underscore the imperative to foster gender equality and educational access, whilst advocating fervently for the re-est

Why does counterinsurgency emerge during periods of warfighting failure and in crisis situations? How is it conceptualized and legitimized? As the second counterinsurgency era for the United States military ends, how such a method of warfare arises, grips the military, policy makers, and think tanks provides a tableau for examining how we conceptualize the strategy process and account for geostrategic change. This dissertation takes these puzzles as it object of inquiry and builds on the discursive-argumentative geopolitical reasoning and transactional social construction literatures to explore the ways in which the counterinsurgency narrative captures and stabilizes the policy boundaries of action. It conceptualizes strategy making as a function of defining the problem as one that policy can engage, as the meaning applied to an issue delimits the strategic options available. Once the problem is defined, narratives compete within the national security bureaucracy to overcome the political and strategic fragmentation to produce consensus. A narrative framework is applied to study counterinsurgency strategy during the Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghan wars. This framework examines the symbolic power and positioning of COIN advocates, hegemonic analogies and commonplaces used to legitimize COIN, and the romanticized language and imagery associated with COIN doctrine. These elements define the "who, what, where, and why" of the courses of action. Together these discursive resources serve as the building blocks for the counterinsurgency narrative and enable it to capture the geostrategic debate space. This narrative further defines how COIN is conceptualized in particular geostrategic contexts and how it is to be executed. The study concludes that by empirically tracing the ways in which the actors, analogies, and narratives are produced and deployed into war strategy debates the reasons for COIN's emergence in crisis periods can be determined. This allows for a thicker analysis of wartime and crisis decision making and a broader view of the ways in which strategy and policy are actually produced within the national security bureaucracy. In conceptualizing military strategy and policy in this way, we are better able to understand how dramatic changes in strategy occur and map the dynamics which enable that change to occur. / Ph. D.

Ett federalt system kan vara ett verktyg för att minska spänningar och öka inkluderingen i ett multietniskt samhälle som Afghanistan. Genom att ge regioner större självstyre kan federalism öka representationen och autonomin för olika etniska grupper, vilket minskar marginalisering och konflikter. Lokala regeringar kan utveckla anpassad politik och program, främja deltagande och balansera makten mellan central och regional styrning. Federalism förenar behovet av nationell enhet med erkännandet av etnisk och kulturell mångfald, bevarar lokala språk och traditioner, och stärker nationell sammanhållning. Regional autonomi kan hantera etniska spänningar genom att ge grupper kontroll över sina angelägenheter, vilket främjar representation och delaktighet. Genom att sprida makten och öka legitimiteten kan federalism hjälpa lokala myndigheter att bättre tillgodose olika intressen och svara på medborgarnas krav, förhindra maktkoncentration och främja bredare politiskt engagemang. / A federal system can be important to reduce tensions and increase inclusion in a multi-ethnic society like Afghanistan. By giving regions greater autonomy, federalism can increase the representation and autonomy of different ethnic groups, reducing marginalization and conflict. Local governments can develop appropriate policies and programs, promote participation, and balance power between central and regional governance. Federalism reconciles the need for national unity with the recognition of ethnic and cultural diversity, preserves local languages and traditions, and strengthens national cohesion.Regional autonomy can manage ethnic tensions by giving groups control over their affairs, which promotes representation and participation. By diffusing power and increasing legitimacy, federalism can help local governments better serve diverse interests and respond to citizen demands, prevent the concentration of power, and promote broader political engagement. / <p>2024-05-24</p>