Forskningsfältet som omfattar hur militärt indirekt ledarskap genomförs under påfrestande förhållanden och i extrema miljöer är mycket begränsat. Studiens syfte har därför varit att kartlägga indirekt ledarskap i ett svenskt förband som genomförde skarp insats i Afghanistan 2010. Studiens teori har utgjorts av en svensk preliminär hierarkisk top-down modell som beskriver hur indirekt ledarskap utförs. 220 respondenter har deltagit i enkätstudien som genomförts i tre nivåer, hög, mellanliggande och lägre organisatorisk nivå. Kvalitativ empiri kompletterar den kvantitativa empirin. Resultatet av studien innebär att det indirekta ledarskapet inte upplevdes koherent i den studerade miljön. Kontingentschefens bidrag till förbandets resultat, geografiska avstånd, olika ledningsstrukturer samt graden av utsatthet är aspekter som påverkar hur dennes indirekta ledarskap upplevdes av förbandet. Studiens bidrag till krigsvetenskapen och den militära professionen utgörs av att ny empiri tillförts med nya perspektiv som påverkar utövandet av indirekt ledarskap i denna typ av kontext. Perspektiv som skulle kunna adresseras en liknande framtida militär insats.

Denna studie ämnade undersöka relationen mellan den svenska insatsen i Afghanistan och Svensk säkerhetspolitik mellan åren 2000 och 2010. Frågorna som ställdes kretsade kring vilka konsekvenser insatsen har för svensk säkerhetspolitik, om vilken orsaksriktning relationen mellan de två fenomenen kan tänkas ha och dess inverkan på svensk nationell säkerhet. Teoretiskt utgick studien främst från professor Nils Andréns strukturmodell över säkerhetspolitikens mål och medel. Metodologiskt studerades ett antal texter. Dels mediematerial i form av tidningsartiklar som analyserades för att strukturera och kronologiskt kartlägga den svenska Afghanistaninsatsens utveckling under det gångna decenniet. Vidare analyserades innehållet i ett antal försvarspropositioner för att klarlägga utvecklingen av den svenska säkerhetspolitiken under samma tid. Innehållet i dessa sorterades genom att tillämpa Andréns modell. Slutligen studerades de två fenomenen för att söka finna på vilket sätt de interagerade. Slutsatserna av arbetet pekar på att den svenska politiken förändrats i riktning mot att i större utsträckning söka försvara Sverige utanför Sverige. Samt att insatsen i Afghanistan började som en solidaritetshandling men gradvis motiverades med mer säkerhetspolitiska argument. Vidare pekade studien på att förändringen i svensk säkerhetspolitik snarare påverkat utvecklingen i Afghanistan än det omvända.

The Afghan war post 9/11 has become the source of multiple case studies. Recent studies suggest that variations in domestic support for deployment of troops in Afghanistan can be explained by means of the strategic narratives provided by the policymakers of the contributing state; a strong consistent narrative increases public support. Scholars recognize a Swedish catch-all narrative, which suggests weakens the narrative, thus raising the uncertainty among the public. This thesis investigates the projection of Swedish strategic narrative through elite Swedish newspapers. The content analysis reveals an inconsistency between the policymaker’s formation of the strategic narrative and the narrative projected by individual newspapers. The finding suggests that the lack of a strong strategic narrative due to the inconsistencies raised an uncertainty among the public during the period. The results recognize media to be a significant, but surprisingly unnoticed actor in the projection of policymakers’ strategic narratives.

The legal humanitarian regime, set out in the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols, strives to alleviate human suffering through the provision of emergency goods and services, such as food supplies, water, temporary shelter, and medical treatment. This thesis examines how international non-government organizations (INGOs) contribute to the contestation of this regime in political emergencies, the effects of this contestation, and the factors driving INGO contestation. The thesis develops an analytical framework for understanding the nature and functioning of the legal humanitarian regime, and argues that INGO contestation occurs through the two processes of regime interpretation and regime implementation. It then goes on to identify the substantive content and effects of contestation, and the factors driving INGO contestation of the regime, through a detailed study of the policies and practices of CARE, Médecins Sans Frontiers, Oxfam, and World Vision, in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, from 1990-2010. The thesis argues that contestation has constitutive effects, as it re-defines the meaning of the formal humanitarian regime, and the underlying rules and norms that specify the regime’s function, scope, and operating principles. Contestation also has causal effects, as it can make INGOs participants in the conflict, eroding thereby the basis on which they negotiate access and their ability to respond to humanitarian needs, and the security of their staff. It has also facilitated the subordination of humanitarian assistance by donor states and combatants to their political and security objectives. INGO identity - expressed in terms of the constituent rules and norms that define INGO membership, their mandate and goals, and the manner in which they distinguish themselves from other actors - is argued to be a necessary factor for explaining INGO contestation. The focus on identity highlights the agency of INGOs in shaping the humanitarian regime and demonstrates that INGOs are not simply at the mercy of more powerful actors or external constraints.

Focusing on communication as an important means besides other efforts for conflict resolution in an asymmetric armed conflict in Afghanistan, this study looked for a rhetorical communication approach appropriate to Pashtun tribal setting in South-eastern (Loya Paktya region) Afghanistan. The study explored and found some perceived essentials of such persuasive communication by conducting face-to-face semi-structured in depth interviews with 17 participants. Thematic analysis was used to code and categorize data. Aristotle’s rhetorical theory provided a framework for this qualitative study by narrowing down the focus to exploring credibility of the communicator (ethos), the rationality of the message (logos), and the emotional appeals (pathos), particular for the south-eastern Pashtun tribal setting, during communication. In addition, considering the relation between rhetorical and soft power theories in influencing the choice of an audience, this project also asked participants if and how communication in their tribal setting could be framed as an influencing power by attraction rather than by coercion. Therefore, soft power of which persuasive communication is a crucial part was also used as a theoretical framework for this study. The findings show the significance of persuasive communication in future conflict resolution efforts in Afghanistan.

Des rois grecs ont régné sur l'Asie centrale et l'ouest de l'Inde antique du IIIème siècle av. J.C. jusqu'au début de l'ère chrétienne. Ils laissent une image belliqueuse, car le fondement de leur pouvoir fut d'abord militaire. Des indices permettent d'envisager qu'à l'instar des autres souverains hellénistiques ils diffusèrent leurs portraits, mirent en place un culte royal, associèrent parfois leur fils au pouvoir, vécurent entourés d'une cour royale itinérante. Leur gestion économique fut suffisamment efficace pour que la région ne souffrît pas des guerres fréquentes ; les voies de communication furent préservées, le commerce et l'irrigation se développèrent, le système fiscal et administratif semble comparable en efficacité à celui des Perses ou des Séleucides. L'originalité de ces souverains réside dans leur adaptation aux milieux linguistiques et religieux : s'ils défendirent la langue et la culture grecque, pour des raisons identitaires et politiques, ils usèrent parfois du bilinguisme dans les monnaies et y firent graver des dieux compatibles avec les croyances ou les habitudes picturales locales. On peut envisager qu'au tournant de l'ère chrétienne les Grecs aient été lentement absorbés dans le monde asiatique. / Greek kings' domination in Central Asia and Western Antique India was effective from the IIIth Century BC till the beginning of Christian Era. The Greek kings of Central Asia image appears warlike, because their power was at the beginning and mainly a military one. We may suppose that, according to the example of the other Hellenistic sovereigns, these kings spread their sculptured portraits, organized a royal cult, and sometimes ruled with their son ; a royal itinerant court escorted them. The economic management of Greek Central Asia was so effective that the area prospered in spite of wars : the roads were protected, trade and irrigation developed, their fiscal and administrative system is similar to the Persian or Seleucid efficiency. These kings were remarkable because they adapted to the linguistic and religious environments : they defended the Greek language and culture, for political reasons and to preserve their identity ; the coins they engraved were sometimes bilingual, and we identify on it the image of Gods who are compatible with local faiths or pictorial habits. We may suppose that, circa Christian era, after defeat or disappearance of their kings, Greeks were slowly absorbed into the Asian world.

This diploma thesis deals with the postconflict reconstruction in Afghanistan from the american invasion in 2001 with the special focus on institutional reforms which were implemented there and whether these reforms caught on and function properly. Firstly, I deal with the conclusions which the theoretics of institutional economics came to regarding the role of institutions in economic development, how economic and political institutions come to existence and develop and if it is possible to change country's instituional environment. The institutions which lead to economic growth are above all equality before law, equality of opportunities, rule of law and free bussiness and trade. However, not all countries developed this optimal instituional framework because of different economic and political history. These countries then suffer from poverty and instability and in many of these cases the international community intervene to change this unfavourable situation. However, as many these unsuccessful interventions show, to change the country's institutional environment is not easy. Spontaneously or from below developed institutions are deeply rooted in society and if they are not in accordance with new institutional reforms, they will probably not function properly or will even lead to opposite results. In the case of Afghanistan, many years of civil war resulted in creation of war economy and total fall of state institutions while this power vacuum wal filled by rise of local warlords who, with the help of armed militias, seized control over number of regions and made a living by illegal trade. The reform process started after the successful military invasion in 2001 and after the fall of Taliban regime with the goal to establish liberal democracy of western type in Afghanistan was not successful. Most of the country is again under the control of Taliban, economy consists mostly of opium growing and illegal trade and the country is still extremely poor and instable and in spite of the change of formal rules actually nothing has changed- Afghanistan is still war economy and fallen state.

Although efforts have been made by the Afghan government and its international partners to promote the tents of gender equality in Afghan society, biases against women and other marginalized groups persist in the society and media sector, particularly. The current study is a timely research because feminist media studies are an under-researched field in the context of Afghanistan. My research aims to be a contribution to this field and open a path for Afghan feminist media studies. The current study explores the representations of gender relations in transnational television soap operas broadcast on Afghan television stations, audiences’ decoding of the representations, and the role of the media in promoting social change. The selected soap operas for the study are Paiman and Qesay Maa, Turkish television soap operas dubbed in the Dari language. The current study is based on feminist theory and feminist methodology, providing a balance of content and reception analysis. Drawing on feminist media studies and focusing on media representations, the content analysis of transnational soap operas echoed previous studies on representations of gender relations and indicated that gender relations are often portrayed in stereotypical and traditional manners. The content analysis further demonstrated that women are objectified in different ways and are often represented as domestic, passive, selfless beings in men’s service. Moreover, relationships between women are often based on rivalry, hatred, and shaming and often without any particular reason. The study also found that contrary to women, men are often represented at outdoor and professional settings. Additionally, grounded on encoding/decoding model through a feminist lens, the thematic analysis of focus group discussions demonstrated that audiences constantly interact with media text and actively make meaning. Interestingly, FGD findings further indicated that as active viewers, both female and male participants, derive multiple and often diverse meanings from the media text. Although both female and male participants problematize the content of transnational soap operas, their interpretations of representations of gender relations and gender equality are dissimilar. The study concludes that transnational soap operas, and the media in general, can play an important role in promoting social change in Afghanistan, particularly gender parity through the Entertainment-Education strategy. However, an intersectional framework is essential in designing EE programmes for promoting gender equality in a diverse society like Afghanistan.

This study explores the portrayal of the climate-conflict nexus in global and national communications on climate change response. It utilizes a qualitative inductive approach and the IPCC AR5 (2014) was chosen to represent global communication documents, while two Afghan communications, the Initial as well as Second National Communication, on climate change and response were used to represent the national level. Through a content analysis, several themes were discerned through which the climate-conflict nexus is portrayed. It can be concluded that there are several differences between the global versus Afghan communication documents, as well as between the Initial National Communication (2012) and the Second National Communication (2017). The Second National Communication overall attempts to mirror the communication used by the IPCC by using the same themes but in a more indirect way. The analysis finds that the climate-conflict nexus is often portrayed through indirect communication and that this leads to a lack of conflict-sensitivity in the Afghan national documents, concluding by making suggestions on how to improve conflict-sensitivity in these documents.

The goal of master thesis Afghanistan as an insulator of regional complexes? Sectoral analysis of Afghan security was to analyze security of Afghanistan based on sectors and from the viewpoint of Regional security complex theory developed by Barry Buzan and Ole Wæver. The purpose of the thesis was to review categorization of Afghanistan as an insulator and identify factors which undermine his status as such. Afghanistan's location is very much unique because it lies among three different regional security complexes - Central Asia, The Middle East, and South Asia. The analysis was conducted through combination of a) discourse analysis of statements and speeches of president Ashraf Ghani and CEO Abdullah Abdullah (2014 - ) and added with information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and b) material relations in regions, such as trade routes, military aid etc. and c) history. Analysis is based on military, political, and economic sectors. The discursive analysis pays attention to the perception of Afghanistan on itself with focus on institutional discourse and broader debate in the English-speaking afghan media.