Over the past decade, the United Kingdom has witnessed a proliferation of civil-military initiatives that have engendered overt and celebratory displays of support for the British Armed Forces. This thesis interrogates two of these initiatives: the annual public relations event Armed Forces Day and the military charity Help for Heroes. Significantly, these initiatives have emerged against a backdrop of morally and politically contentious military violence, notably in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hence, these initiatives raise important questions about the type of politics which underwrite them. In this thesis, I address these questions by critically engaging with a figure who occupies a key position within this UK civil-military landscape: the professional soldier. Adopting a Foucauldian approach, I place this figure within a broader political, social and historical context and show how, since the end of the Second World War, the professional soldier has continually remerged to rewrite the conditions of possibility for liberal war-fighting. Drawing on this insight, I identify a professional soldier, I label the biopolitical military professional, who greatly informs the contours of this contemporary UK civil-military landscape. The biopolitical military professional is an important figure because they are able to co-opt "civilian" political subjects into the service of liberal-warfighting despite a conflict's political context. This is made possible because the biopolitical military professional is a figure who incorporates their military expertise and professional concerns within a wider set of life-administering knowledges concerned with the health and well-being of the population. Crucially, the most overt expressions of biopolitical military professionalism are produced through these UK civil-military initiatives. I demonstrate this by showing how these initiatives mobilise a whole host of "civilian" proto-professional subjects into the active service of liberal war-fighting through an appeal to both their military "obligations" and their fitness and wellbeing. An effect of this is that participating in one of these initiatives becomes more than an act of military support it also becomes a way of partaking in a healthy and life-enriching activity. For example, a day out at Armed Forces Day is a way to get children to take part in active play and educational activities. Supporting the armed forces through Help for Heroes may involve running a marathon or taking part in a long-distance cycle ride. Consequently, via the presence of the biopolitical military professional these initiatives achieve a certain resonance with a civilian population disinterested in the politics of war but increasingly concerned with their health and wellbeing.

In 2018, the compulsory military service will be reinstated in Sweden and will, for the first time, be comprised of both men and women. The Swedish Armed Forces are looking to raise their diversity and wants to reflect the population of the Swedish society and are therefore working actively with their marketing to reach groups that have previously been excluded. The purpose of this thesis is to examine what type of image of Sweden the Swedish Armed Forces are (re)producing through their marketing and how it is used to try and interpellate new, poten-tial recruits. This will be done by examining four advertisement campaigns as well as comments retrieved from the Swedish Armed Forces social media accounts. The analysis will be conducted through a semiotic image analysis and a discourse analysis inspired by Laclau and Mouffe. The essay takes its theoretic starting point in a feminist critique against militarism and highlights the issues of using women and/or LGBTQ-people in the armed forces as symbolic figures of modernity and democracy. The study’s result shows that inclusion becomes a way for the armed forces to improve their own image and elude scrutiny regarding their own problematic structures by positioning themselves as an agency of good. This means that, by the inclusion of marginalized groups, there is as risk of legitimizing the Swedish Armed Forces existence, while still maintaining the problems that these groups are subjected to.

Literature Review: The current review presents a recent review of the effectiveness of psychological therapies to treat sleep difficulties (such as insomnia and nightmares) in sufferers of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The review also aimed to investigate whether there are differences in the effectiveness of specific psychological therapies to treat sleep disturbances in PTSD, such as between the different types of psychological therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT). Eleven studies were included in the review that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results are presented in tables and a descriptive account is included. The review demonstrates that psychological therapies are effective for the treatment of insomnia and other sleep difficulties such as nightmares. However, firm conclusions cannot be drawn about the effectiveness of different types of psychological therapies as studies predominantly used CBT and only one non-CBT study was included in the review. Comparisons between the effectiveness of different CBT approaches is also not possible as there was a large range of diversity in the study characteristics and also there were only a small number of studies for each intervention, which therefore limits the generalisability of results in the current review. It may be that different CBT interventions such as CBT-I or EERT and IRT may be better suited to treat insomnia and nightmares respectively, but further research needs to be conducted into which of these approaches are beneficial for different PTSD specific sleep difficulties. Empirical Paper: Initial studies demonstrate that self-compassion reduces symptoms of PTSD in Armed Forces Veterans (AFV), however the use of self-compassion approaches in AFV is under-researched. The current study utilised self-report and psychophysiological measures to investigate whether a single self-compassion experimental induction reduced hyperarousal symptoms (PTSD Cluster E symptoms) and increased feelings of social connectedness in AFV. The study hypothesised that there would be a decrease in hyperarousal symptoms and an increase in social connectedness, which would be associated with PTSD severity. Fifty-three AFV who had been deployed to a combat zone took part in the study, of which n = 15 (28.3%) currently met criteria for PTSD and n = 4 (7.5%) met criteria for Subsyndromal PTSD on the PCL-5. Participants listened to a recording of a Loving Kindness Meditation for self-compassion (LKM-S) and psychophysiological recordings were taken throughout. Participants completed state measures of hyperarousal and social connectedness before and after the LKM-S. Findings partially demonstrated that self-compassion can be elicited in an AFV population. However, changes on the self-report measures were largely not supported by psychophysiological measures, apart from skin conductance levels (SCL). The longevity of the effects observed in the study were not measured and should be investigated in future studies. Although this study has demonstrated that self-compassion can be elicited within the AFV population, further research is needed including to test a longer self-compassion intervention.

One of the most significant events in the Cold War-dominated years of the 1950's and early1960's was the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. It not only has been reputed by most authorities as a major turning point in the Soviet Union-American struggle, but it dramatically illustrated the critical dimension of thermo-nuclear weapons in international relations. In addition, and of particular interest to one directly involved, it showed that firmness in policy and proper application of military power are key factors in obtaining favorable and peaceful settlements of international disputes.

In December 1945, four months after the end of the Second World War, two soldiers meet on an aeroplane flying towards Port Hedland, located in north-west Western Australia, the Pilbara district. Frank Grey found the war a horrific experience and is deeply traumatised. He is returning home, after an absence of five years, hoping to reunite with his wife, get his old job back, and continue on with his life as it was before the war. Patrick Gray is an Aboriginal. He also found the war horrific. However, for him, serving in the A.I.F. was also a liberating experience. For the first time in his life he received equal pay and conditions of white men. He found equality. He is hoping that because he, and other Aborigines, served in the armed forces, the social conditions for Aborigines will have improved in the 6 years he's been away. They are both disappointed.

This thesis argues that General Abdul Haris Nasution, the most influential military strategist that Indonesia has produced, developed an elective affinity between his strategies for 'people�s resistance' and an organicist vision of the proper relations between the state (including the military) and society that led to the Indonesian Army�s formulation of a unique, pervasive and highly durable means of military intervention in politics, the economy and society. Organicism is a stream of political thinking that views state and society as a single organic unity. Corporatist / functional modes of interest representation are often associated with organicist thinking. Nasution�s 'people�s resistance' strategies emerged during the armed struggle for national independence (from the Dutch) in the second half of the 1940s. The thesis argues that unlike the 'people�s war' strategies that emanated from the political left at roughly the same time, Nasution�s concepts were designed to uphold organic 'traditional' authority structures and depoliticise the national struggle. Associated with these strategies was a system of territorial commands that shadowed and supervised the aristocratically led civilian administration. The form of military intervention that grew out of this elective affinity reached its peak during the New Order regime of former President Suharto (1966 � 1998), when the army used its 'people�s resistance' doctrines and their associated territorial commands to control the population and the regime championed state-sanctioned corporatist / functional modes of interest representation. The identification of this elective affinity is a major point of departure from previous political biographies of Nasution. Another is the emphasis placed on Nasution�s family and personal life, particularly in the early chapters. This thesis explains how personal and family influences encouraged Nasution towards organicist thinking. It identifies how, in the early 1950s, Nasution idealised his 'people�s resistance' strategies and the support given to him during the armed struggle by organic 'traditional' authority figures. It shows how Nasution�s elective affinity between organicist thinking and 'people�s resistance' infused the interventionist doctrines that the army began to develop in the mid-to-late 1950s. In recent years the Indonesian Army has distanced itself from corporatist / functional forms of interest representation and has largely retreated from an active involvement in politics. Nevertheless, the thesis identifies a continuing adherence within the Army leadership to Nasution�s system of territorial commands and concepts of 'people�s resistance' that cannot readily be reconciled with democratic processes.

<p>Syftet med uppsatsen har varit att undersöka vilka skillnader som finns i analysen av CBRN-skyddsförmågan i BG08 och BG11. För att kunna genomföra undersökningen har det varit nödvändigt att beskriva hur EU Battle Group konceptet har tillkommit samt vad konceptet innebär. Följande frågeställningar har legat till grund för studien: Vilka förändringar har gjorts i analysen av CBRN-funktionen i BG08 och BG11? Om det finns några förändringar, hur förklarar man och förstår dessa förändringar? Utifrån de rådande politiska ingångsvärdena för de två styrkorna har viss diskrepans, dock liten, identifierats. Den största skillnaden ligger i vilken nation som skall bidra med förmågan. Den här skillnaden påverkar dock inte nämnvärt de framtagna CBRN-skyddskoncepten. Däremot har det under undersökningens gång framkommit att det hos en del befattningshavare inom Försvarsmakten funnits en önskan om att vidareutveckla CBRN-skyddskonceptet på ett antal punkter till BG11. Då arbetet med BG08 tog form fanns det stöd i HKV att tillgå på strategisk/operativ nivå, vilket saknades under arbetet med BG11. Utifrån den genomförda undersökningen i denna studie framstår detta stöd som relevant för att kunna utveckla det här konceptet på ett adekvat sätt. Författaren har under arbetes gång konstaterat att det torde bli en förändring i den reella förmågan som levererades av Finland till BG08 mot den reella förmåga Norge kommer att besitta i BG11. Det här har inte diskuterats under framtagandet av de två koncepten utan argumentationen har endast baserats på de politiska ingångsvärdena samt hotbilden för EU Battle Group.</p> / <p>The purpose of this paper has been to examine the differences in the analysis of CBRN protection capability of the BG08 and BG11. A secondary purpose to carry out this analysis was to describe the EU Battle Group concept, its development and meaning. The following issues formed the basis for the paper: What changes have been made in the analysis of CBRN branch in BG08 and BG11? If there are any changes, how do we explain and understand these changes? Given the current political input values for the two forces only minor discrepancies could be identified. The main difference is due to the nation responsible for CBRN capacity. This difference, however, does not seriously affect the developed CBRN protection-concepts. However, during the investigation it has emerged that some executives within the Armed Forces desire to develop some points of the CBRN protection-concept in reference to the BG11. When BG08 formed itself there was available support in HKV in strategic/operational level, which was missing in the workflow to BG11. Based on the findings of this paper this support seems relevant to develop the concept adequately. In the course of working on the paper the author has discovered a most likely change in the real capability delivered by Finland to the BG08, and the real ability that Norway will possess in BG11. The development process of the two concepts has not included an analysis of the ultimate ability. Instead is has been based on the input values and political threat for the EU Battle Group.</p>

<p>I 30 år har kvinnor funnits på militära befattningar i Försvarsmakten. Fram till för fyra år sedan hade nästan inga åtgärder vidtagits för att anpassa den personliga utrustningen till kvinnors behov. Enligt en undersökning från 2005 bidrar detta inte enbart till direkta fysiska begränsningar, utan även till sänkt självförtroende och känslor av kränkning och underordning. Sedan 2006 har Försvarsmakten och FMV arbetat med att ta fram en rad olika persedlar i mindre storlekar, och daglig dräkt har även tagits fram i dammodell. De små storlekarna har visat sig lösa delar av de problem som kvinnor har upplevt. I Försvarsmaktens jämställdhetsplan står det dock bland annat att genus- och jämställdhetsperspektiv ska anläggas vid nyanskaffning av materiel. Det har visat sig finnas ett personligt intresse hos de ansvariga på Högkvarteret och FMV, men det organisatoriska engagemanget i frågan kring utrustning för kvinnor verkar nästan obefintligt. Jag ser dessutom brister i kommunikationen mellan användarna och de som är ansvariga för framtagningen av ny utrustning. Den enda kanalen mellan förbanden och Högkvarteret är s.k. brukarrepresentanter, som ensamma svarar för att föra hundratals människors åsikter uppåt. Enligt teorier kring gruppsammansättningar och minoriteter finns det också anledning att tro att kvinnor, som den minoritet de utgör, riskerar att kvävas av rösterna från majoriteten när denna metod används. Som en lösning på problemet förordar jag ett ökat organisatoriskt engagemang i frågan, genom tydligare stöttning från den högsta ledningen, samt en enkätundersökning, som på bred front samlar in användarnas åsikter om den materiel som tillhandahålls.</p> / <p>Until four years ago no measures had been taken to adapt the personal equipment to women’s needs.This doesn’t only cause direct physical limitations, but also brings out feelings of lowered self-esteem, insult and subordination. Since 2006 the Swedish Armed Forces and FMV (Swedish Defence Materiel Administration) have worked with developing smaller sizes in a number of items of equipment, which also have turned out to solve some of the problems that women have been experiencing. The Swedish Armed Forces’ gender equality plan says that gender and equality perspectives are to be adopted when developing new equipment. Although there has turned out to be a personal interest among the people responsible, the organizational commitment to the issue seems almost non-existant. A lack of communication between the users and the people responsible for the adaptation of equipment for women has also been noted. The only channel between the units and the Headquarters is so called “user representatives”, who are single-handedly responsible for the forwarding of opinions of hundreds of people. There are reasons to believe that women, as a minority, risk being smothered by the voices of the majority when this method is used. As a solution to this problem it is recommended that the organizational commitment is increased, through a more overt support from the higher command, and that a survey is conducted collecting the opinions of a wide group of people about the personal equipment that is supplied by the Armed Forces.</p>

Syftet med uppsatsen har varit att undersöka vilka skillnader som finns i analysen av CBRN-skyddsförmågan i BG08 och BG11. För att kunna genomföra undersökningen har det varit nödvändigt att beskriva hur EU Battle Group konceptet har tillkommit samt vad konceptet innebär. Följande frågeställningar har legat till grund för studien: Vilka förändringar har gjorts i analysen av CBRN-funktionen i BG08 och BG11? Om det finns några förändringar, hur förklarar man och förstår dessa förändringar? Utifrån de rådande politiska ingångsvärdena för de två styrkorna har viss diskrepans, dock liten, identifierats. Den största skillnaden ligger i vilken nation som skall bidra med förmågan. Den här skillnaden påverkar dock inte nämnvärt de framtagna CBRN-skyddskoncepten. Däremot har det under undersökningens gång framkommit att det hos en del befattningshavare inom Försvarsmakten funnits en önskan om att vidareutveckla CBRN-skyddskonceptet på ett antal punkter till BG11. Då arbetet med BG08 tog form fanns det stöd i HKV att tillgå på strategisk/operativ nivå, vilket saknades under arbetet med BG11. Utifrån den genomförda undersökningen i denna studie framstår detta stöd som relevant för att kunna utveckla det här konceptet på ett adekvat sätt. Författaren har under arbetes gång konstaterat att det torde bli en förändring i den reella förmågan som levererades av Finland till BG08 mot den reella förmåga Norge kommer att besitta i BG11. Det här har inte diskuterats under framtagandet av de två koncepten utan argumentationen har endast baserats på de politiska ingångsvärdena samt hotbilden för EU Battle Group. / The purpose of this paper has been to examine the differences in the analysis of CBRN protection capability of the BG08 and BG11. A secondary purpose to carry out this analysis was to describe the EU Battle Group concept, its development and meaning. The following issues formed the basis for the paper: What changes have been made in the analysis of CBRN branch in BG08 and BG11? If there are any changes, how do we explain and understand these changes? Given the current political input values for the two forces only minor discrepancies could be identified. The main difference is due to the nation responsible for CBRN capacity. This difference, however, does not seriously affect the developed CBRN protection-concepts. However, during the investigation it has emerged that some executives within the Armed Forces desire to develop some points of the CBRN protection-concept in reference to the BG11. When BG08 formed itself there was available support in HKV in strategic/operational level, which was missing in the workflow to BG11. Based on the findings of this paper this support seems relevant to develop the concept adequately. In the course of working on the paper the author has discovered a most likely change in the real capability delivered by Finland to the BG08, and the real ability that Norway will possess in BG11. The development process of the two concepts has not included an analysis of the ultimate ability. Instead is has been based on the input values and political threat for the EU Battle Group.

I 30 år har kvinnor funnits på militära befattningar i Försvarsmakten. Fram till för fyra år sedan hade nästan inga åtgärder vidtagits för att anpassa den personliga utrustningen till kvinnors behov. Enligt en undersökning från 2005 bidrar detta inte enbart till direkta fysiska begränsningar, utan även till sänkt självförtroende och känslor av kränkning och underordning. Sedan 2006 har Försvarsmakten och FMV arbetat med att ta fram en rad olika persedlar i mindre storlekar, och daglig dräkt har även tagits fram i dammodell. De små storlekarna har visat sig lösa delar av de problem som kvinnor har upplevt. I Försvarsmaktens jämställdhetsplan står det dock bland annat att genus- och jämställdhetsperspektiv ska anläggas vid nyanskaffning av materiel. Det har visat sig finnas ett personligt intresse hos de ansvariga på Högkvarteret och FMV, men det organisatoriska engagemanget i frågan kring utrustning för kvinnor verkar nästan obefintligt. Jag ser dessutom brister i kommunikationen mellan användarna och de som är ansvariga för framtagningen av ny utrustning. Den enda kanalen mellan förbanden och Högkvarteret är s.k. brukarrepresentanter, som ensamma svarar för att föra hundratals människors åsikter uppåt. Enligt teorier kring gruppsammansättningar och minoriteter finns det också anledning att tro att kvinnor, som den minoritet de utgör, riskerar att kvävas av rösterna från majoriteten när denna metod används. Som en lösning på problemet förordar jag ett ökat organisatoriskt engagemang i frågan, genom tydligare stöttning från den högsta ledningen, samt en enkätundersökning, som på bred front samlar in användarnas åsikter om den materiel som tillhandahålls. / Until four years ago no measures had been taken to adapt the personal equipment to women’s needs.This doesn’t only cause direct physical limitations, but also brings out feelings of lowered self-esteem, insult and subordination. Since 2006 the Swedish Armed Forces and FMV (Swedish Defence Materiel Administration) have worked with developing smaller sizes in a number of items of equipment, which also have turned out to solve some of the problems that women have been experiencing. The Swedish Armed Forces’ gender equality plan says that gender and equality perspectives are to be adopted when developing new equipment. Although there has turned out to be a personal interest among the people responsible, the organizational commitment to the issue seems almost non-existant. A lack of communication between the users and the people responsible for the adaptation of equipment for women has also been noted. The only channel between the units and the Headquarters is so called “user representatives”, who are single-handedly responsible for the forwarding of opinions of hundreds of people. There are reasons to believe that women, as a minority, risk being smothered by the voices of the majority when this method is used. As a solution to this problem it is recommended that the organizational commitment is increased, through a more overt support from the higher command, and that a survey is conducted collecting the opinions of a wide group of people about the personal equipment that is supplied by the Armed Forces.