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9 - Conclusion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 May 2018

Cornelius Friesendorf
Affiliation:
Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH)
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Summary

The first part of the conclusion, drawing on the case study findings, underlines variation in organizational behavior and limitations to organizational change. It also presents three examples other than Western military interventions that suggest that organizational idiosyncrasy is a general feature of international missions. The second part discusses the causes of military behavior. While the empirical findings underline the power of routines, they also reveal that realist, constructivist, and liberal explanations are not irrelevant. Historical cases, too, underline the need for eclectic theorizing. It is hypothesized that that organizational routines are especially powerful when there are no casualties; when international norms are vague and domestic cultures risk-tolerant; and when domestic polities give militaries discretion. The third part examines the local effects of international intervention: the findings put a question mark behind the expedient claim of Western governments that the missions in Bosnia, Kosovo, or Afghanistan were successful. Unfortunately, a shift to cosmopolitan intervention that does not prioritize the lives of foreign soldiers over those of ‘locals’ is unlikely because of vested interests, the claim that own citizens deserve more protection, and psychological mechanisms creating in and out groups.
Type
Chapter
Information
How Western Soldiers Fight
Organizational Routines in Multinational Missions
, pp. 239 - 262
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

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