NATO/US Invasion of Afghanistan

 NATO/US Invasion of Afghanistan

Method

For this report, I picked the book “Man, the State and War: A Theoretical Analysis” by Kenneth N. Waltz. The book shows how Waltz classifies the theories on the causes of war. In the book, the three theories are referred to as images with each image taking up two chapters. This book served the primary purpose of providing necessary and relevant information for the report.

In addition, the book “The theory of international politics” by Kenneth N. Waltz was used. The book gives detailed and in-depth information about the theory of international politics. The book serves gives one a deeper understanding of why the US found it necessary to invade Afghanistan and eliminate the Taliban movement.

Also, a thematic report on the “Local Afghanistan Power structures and the international military intervention” was used. The thematic report provided information on the local power structure of Afghanistan and why there was need for international military intervention.

Also, an article namely, “Afghanistan still at a standstill” was included. This article was useful in finding out how the invasion affected Afghanistan politically, socially as well as economically.

This report took a detailed design because the paper sought to describe the current status of a phenomenon, in this case, being the NATO/US invasion. Furthermore, this report was entirely dependent on secondary data that was later used for a comparative descriptive design.

A pre-generated a list of questions that served as hypothesis for the study. The internet was also helpful as a source of more information concerning the NATO/US Afghanistan invasion.

Results

After reading the book and the other sources of information, several things were discovered. The first was that domestic politics did not play any role in the NATO/US Afghanistan invasion. When compared to the book “Man, The State, and war,” it was clear that the attack got influenced by international forces of the United States whereby the states felt threatened by the terrorist activities in Afghanistan.

Also, the case of the NATO/US Afghanistan invasion fit only two levels of the expected outcome predicted by the theory by Kenneth N. Waltz three level of analysis. In his book, Kenneth N. Waltz talks about the three levels of analysis about the nature of war and the possible causes of conflict in the world.

Besides that, another discovery was the most critical factors in influencing conflict are prior experiences and the importance of the issue to the parties involved. All sources revealed that the significant factors that influenced the NATO/US Afghanistan invasion were prior experiences of terrorism in the United States as well as the importance of National liberty to both The United States and Afghanistan.

Also, the most appropriate level of analysis for understanding the NATO/US Afghanistan invasion was the third image thinkers’ theory of analysis. The war between the United States was fueled by the need for America to dismantle a terrorist movement and replace it with a US-friendly government while Afghanistan wanted to maintain its Taliban government.

Discussion

The theoretical premise of Kenneth N. Waltz

Kenneth N. Waltz has tried to show the different causes of war in this book “Man, The State, and War.” In his book, Waltz has laid down three different theories of origins of the conflict, explaining each method with in-depth arguments.

In the First-image theory, Waltz argues that human nature causes war. According to this theory, conflict is inevitable in human nature, and thus the only cure for war is preventing such conflicts. The optimists believe that since human nature is changeable, education is the only cure for war. On the other hand, pessimists think that external control is the only cure for war since human nature is unchangeable.

In the second-image theory, Waltz says that the internal structure of a country causes war. According to this theory, if all the countries in the world adopted the right structure, there would be no war globally. In line with this theory, the liberals believe decentralization of government and free trade would prevent conflict and discourage war. Socialists, on the other hand, believe that free trade would lead to internal and external conflict, therefore the need for a centralized government to ensure equality.

In the third image theory, Waltz argues that the lawless anarchy in many sovereign states causes war. In this theory, conflict arises when different countries address grievances and ambitions according to the dictates of their reason or desire. Third-image thinkers believe that the only way to prevent war is by having a superior universal institution of power that provides international guidelines for all nations globally.

Did domestic politics play a role in the NATO/US Afghanistan invasion?

Domestic politics did not play any significant role in the Afghanistan invasion. According to Amina (2008), the US President G. W. Bush stated that the war in Afghanistan would continue or the country would become a haven for drugs, terrorism, and organized crime. The statement by the former US president implies that the primary reason for the invasion was the security of the United States. The American government argued that they were fighting a dangerous Islamic ideology that threatened to become a global movement based on the terrorist attacks in the United States. In line with Waltz (2010, pg 10), some states have little choice than to pursue power and seek dominance over other states in the system. As such, to protect their country as well as its citizens, the US invaded Afghanistan to capture or kill the leader of the Al-Qaeda movement and after that replace the Taliban with a US-friendly government. Therefore, the Afghanistan invasion was fueled by international forces rather than domestic politics.

Did the case fit or defy the expected outcomes predicted by Waltz theory of three levels of analysis?

The NATO/US Afghanistan invasion defied the first image analysis. According to first image analysis, it is individuals who cause war since conflict is inevitable in human nature. However, when Osama Bin Laden was killed in 2001, the Afghanistan war continued; the situation implied that the Afghanistan invasion defied the first image analysis. However, the invasion aligned with the third image analysis. In his book, Kenneth N. Waltz talks about the three levels of commentary about the nature of war and the possible causes of conflict in the world. The third image theory stands out because the American government felt that there should be a superior power, other than the Afghanistan government, that oversaw how the country ran its affairs in accordance to the US government.

The most important factors in influencing conflict

The most important factors that influenced the conflict between America and Afghanistan were prior experiences and the importance of the issue to the parties involved. In previous encounters, America got hit by several terrorist attacks all hailing from Afghanistan. Due to that prior experience, America felt the need to dismantle the terrorist group namely Al-Qaeda as well as the Taliban movement that was lead by Osama Bin Laden. In an attempt to restore peace in America, the American government sought to replace the Taliban movement with a US-friendly government.

Liberty was of crucial value to both America and Afghanistan. As such, the American felt threatened by the terrorist movement that had attacked the US severally, and in equal measure, Afghanistan felt threatened by the US government that wanted to replace the Taliban movement with a US-friendly government. Therefore, war erupted as each country tried to preserve their interests.

How the levels of analysis explain the NATO/US invasion of Afghanistan

The level of analysis that demonstrates the NATO/US invasion of Afghanistan was the third image analysis only. The first image theory failed to explain the actions of individuals like Osama Bin Laden. The first image analysis says that the remedy to conflict is either education or an outward force. However, the invasion defied the analysis since the war continued long after Osama Bin Laden was killed implying the he was not the cause of the war.

The NATO/US Afghanistan invasion also aligns with the third-image theory of analysis. According to third-image thinkers, war erupts because the globe lacks an international superior ruling system. The US government feared that the ideology of Islamic extremism threatened to become a global movement, a movement that posed a great danger to the United States (Munch, 2013, pg 8). Therefore, the US government, aided by NATO felt the need to dismantle the action and replace it with a US-friendly government. The invasion implies that America felt that if any movement was to gain global superiority, it had to become US-friendly to protect the interests of the US government as a whole. Furthermore, the Taliban movement wanted to execute its power globally meaning that they too believed that the globe needed a superior ruling system.

References

Khan, A. (2008). Afghanistan: Still at a standstill. Strategic Studies, 28(1), p6.

Münch, P. (2013). Local Afghan Power Structures and the International Military Intervention. AAN Report, 12.

Waltz, K. N. (2001). Man, the state, and war: A theoretical analysis. Columbia University Press.

Waltz, K. N. (2010). Theory of international politics. Waveland Press.