Forces for Good?: Military Masculinities and Peacebuilding in Afghanistan and Iraq

208 Pages·2013·0.86 MB·English

by  Claire Duncanson (auth.)

RethinkingPeaceandConflictStudies
Series Editor: Oliver P. Richmond, Professor, School of International Relations,
UniversityofSt.Andrews,UK
EditorialBoard:RolandBleiker,UniversityofQueensland,Australia;HenryF.Carey,
Georgia State University, USA; Costas Constantinou, University of Keele, UK;
A.J.R. Groom, University of Kent, UK; Vivienne Jabri, King’s College London, UK;
Edward Newman, University of Birmingham, UK; Sorpong Peou, Sophia Univer-
sity, Japan; Caroline Kennedy-Pipe, University of Sheffield, UK; Professor Michael
Pugh, University of Bradford, UK; Chandra Sriram, University of East London, UK;
IanTaylor,UniversityofSt.Andrews,UK;AlisonWatson,UniversityofSt.Andrews,
UK; R.B.J. Walker, University of Victoria, Canada; Andrew Williams, University of
St.Andrews,UK.
Titlesinclude:
RolandBleiker
AESTHETICSANDWORLDPOLITICS
MorganBrigg
THENEWPOLITICSOFCONFLICTRESOLUTION
RespondingtoDifference
SusanneBuckley-Zistel
CONFLICTTRANSFORMATIONANDSOCIALCHANGEINUGANDA
RememberingafterViolence
KarinaZ.Butler
ACRITICALHUMANITARIANINTERVENTIONAPPROACH
HenryF.Carey
PRIVATIZINGTHEDEMOCRATICPEACE
PolicyDilemmasofNGOPeacebuilding
ClaireDuncanson
FORCESFORGOOD?
MilitaryMasculinitiesandPeacebuildinginAfghanistanandIraq
JasonFranks
RETHINKINGTHEROOTSOFTERRORISM
SarahHolt
AID,PEACEBUILDINGANDTHERESURGENCEOFWAR
BuyingTimeinSriLanka
VivienneJabri
WARANDTHETRANSFORMATIONOFGLOBALPOLITICS
DariaIsachenko
THEMAKINGOFINFORMALSTATES
StatebuildinginNorthernCyprusandTransdniestria
JamesKer-Lindsay
EUACCESSIONANDUNPEACEMAKINGINCYPRUS
RogerMacGinty
INTERNATIONALPEACEBUILDINGANDLOCALRESISTANCE
HybridFormsofPeace
RogerMacGinty
NOWAR,NOPEACE
TheRejuvenationofStalledPeaceProcessesandPeaceAccords
CarolMcQueen
HUMANITARIANINTERVENTIONANDSAFETYZONES
Iraq,BosniaandRwanda
S.M.FaridMirbagheri
WARANDPEACEINISLAM
ACritiqueofIslamic/istPoliticalDiscourses
AudraL.Mitchell
LOSTINTRANSFORMATION
ViolentPeaceandPeacefulConflictinNorthernIreland
SorpongPeou
INTERNATIONALDEMOCRACYASSISTANCEFORPEACEBUILDING
CambodiaandBeyond
SergeiProzorov
UNDERSTANDINGCONFLICTBETWEENRUSSIAANDTHEEU
TheLimitsofIntegration
MichaelPugh
LIBERALINTERNATIONALISM
TheInterwarMovementforPeaceinBritain
OliverP.RichmondandAudraMitchell(editors)
HYBRIDFORMSOFPEACE
FromEverydayAgencytoPost-Liberalism
OliverP.Richmond
THETRANSFORMATIONOFPEACE
BaharRumelili
CONSTRUCTINGREGIONALCOMMUNITYANDORDERINEUROPEAND
SOUTHEASTASIA
EmilSouleimanov
UNDERSTANDINGETHNOPOLITICALCONFLICT
Karabakh,SouthOssetiaandAbkhaziaWarsReconsidered
ChandraLekhaSriram
PEACEASGOVERNANCE
Power-Sharing,ArmedGroupsandContemporaryPeaceNegotiations
StephanStetter
WORLDSOCIETYANDTHEMIDDLEEAST
ReconstructionsinRegionalPolitics
LynnM.Tesser
ETHNICCLEANSINGANDTHEEUROPEANUNION
AnInterdisciplinaryApproachtoSecurity,Memory,andEthnography
RethinkingPeaceandConflictStudies
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Forces for Good?
Military Masculinities and
Peacebuilding in Afghanistan
and Iraq
Claire Duncanson
Lecturer,SchoolofSocialandPoliticalScience,
UniversityofEdinburgh,UK
©ClaireDuncanson2013
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-0-230-28226-1
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Contents
Acknowledgements vi
GlossaryofAcronymsandTerms viii
BritishSoldierAutobiographies xii
1 Introduction 1
2 CanSoldiersEverBeUsedtoAchievePeace?Feminists
DebateMilitaryIntervention 18
3 WhatCanWeLearnfromSoldiers’Narratives?
MethodologiesandMethods 52
4 BritishSoldierIdentitiesandtheWar-FightingEthos 72
5 BritishSoldiersDoingandUndoingEmpireinIraqand
Afghanistan 103
6 RegenderedSoldiersandtheTransformationof
HegemonicMasculinity 134
Conclusion 161
Notes 165
Bibliography 171
Index 192
v
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to many people for enabling me to write this book.
My biggest debt is to Professor Fiona Mackay, who has generously
given of her time to read and provide enormously helpful criticism
onseveralchaptersandwhosupervisedthePhDthesiswhichwasthe
genesisofthisproject.Shehasalsobeenagreatfriendandinspiration
throughout.IalsoowethankstoProfessorsKimHutchingsandLene
Hansen,whoexaminedmyPhDandofferedmanyexcellentpointers
forturningitintoabook–oneofwhichwasnottotaketoolong,but
ohwell!AdebtofthanksisduetotheESRC,whogenerouslyfunded
theoriginalPhDresearch.
Other colleagues and friends in Politics and International Rela-
tions at the University of Edinburgh read chapters, gave feedback
in seminars and generally provided a supportive and intellectually
stimulatingenvironmentinwhichtowork.Particularthanksinthis
regard go to Andrea Birdsall and Elizabeth Bomberg. I also want to
thank many students of Global Politics of Sex and Gender; their
engagement and contributions have proved really valuable in moti-
vating me to continue with this area of research. A group of these
studentsprovidedcrucialassistanceinreadingandtranscribinghuge
sectionsofsoldiers’autobiographies,atasktheycarriedoutwithgreat
diligence and skill; a huge thank you to Sarah Barr, Katie Griffiths,
KirstyMcCaffery,HeidiRileyandGritWesser.
Many others have contributed questions, critique and encourage-
ment at various conferences, particularly those organized by the
Feminist Theory and Gender Studies section of the International Stud-
ies Association (ISA) and the Gendering IR group of The British
InternationalStudiesAssociation(BISA),includingVictoriaBasham,
Katherine Brown, Cynthia Enloe, Paul Higate, Jenny Mathers, Jane
Parpart,LauraShepherd,SandraWhitworth,AnnickWibben,Rachel
Woodward and Marysia Zalewski. Discussions with all of the above
have been enormously helpful in strengthening the arguments of
this book. Special thanks to feminist IR friends far and near, Megan
vi
Acknowledgements vii
MackenzieandCatherineEschle,whohavemademanyaconference
ormeetingseemmuchmorelikefunthanwork!
I also want to thank Harriet Barker and Julia Willan at Palgrave
Macmillan for their support and patience, Palgrave’s anonymous
reviewer and Oliver Richmond for selecting the book for inclusion
intheseriesRethinkingPeaceandConflictStudies.
Earlierelaborationsofsomeoftheideaswithinthisbookappeared
in an article in the International Feminist Journal of Politics (2009.
11:1,63–80)andinchaptersinAnnikaBergman-RosamondandMark
Phythian (eds) (2011) War, Ethics and Justice: New Perspectives on a
Post-9/11World,and(co-authoredwithHilaryCornish)inPaulDixon
(ed)(2012)TheBritishApproachtoCounterinsurgency:FromMalayaand
NorthernIrelandtoIraqandAfghanistan.
Friends and family in Edinburgh have endured the stress of dead-
lines alongside me and done wonders taking care of my children,
providing distractions and keeping me sane. The book could not
have been completed without them, so my sincere thanks. Finally,
thebookisdedicatedtoAlan,CJandMarthaMollywithlotsoflove
andtheaspiration,ifnotapromise,thatthenextonewillbeeasier–
forallofus!
Glossary of Acronyms and Terms
AAC ArmyAirCorps
ADG AdjutantGeneral’sCorps
Ally soldier-speak(particularlyinthePARAs)forcool
orsmart
ANA AfghanNationalArmy
ANP AfghanNationalPolice
APC ArmouredPersonnelCarrier
ATO AmmunitionTechnicalOfficer
BG BrigadierGeneral
CAS CloseAirSupport
CGS ChiefoftheGeneralStaff
Challenger BritishArmy’smainbattletank
Chinook Twinrotortransporthelicopter
CIMIC CivilMilitaryCooperation
CIMICHouse BritishArmyBaseinAlAmara,Iraq2004
CO CommandingOfficer
COLDMGDS ColdstreamGuards
Contact hostileencounterwiththeenemy
Cpt Captain
CSM CompanySergeantMajor
DfID DepartmentforInternationalDevelopment
FAC ForwardAirController
FCO ForeignandCommonwealthOffice
FOB ForwardOperatingBase
GPMG GeneralPurposeMachineGun
GRENGDS GrenadierGuards
HCav HouseholdCavalry
HERRICK codenameforBritishoperationsinAfghanistan
HLZ HelicopterLandingZone
HMG HerMajesty’sGovernment
IED ImprovisedExplosiveDevice
IG IrishGuards
ING IraqiNationalGuard
INTCORPS IntelligenceCorps
viii
GlossaryofAcronymsandTerms ix
IPS IraqiPoliceService
IRoA IslamicRepublicofAfghanistan
ISAF InternationalSecurityAssistanceForce
ISF IraqiSecurityForces
JDAM JointDirectAttackMunition
JDCC JointDistrictCoordinationCentre
JDCC JointDoctrineandConceptsCentre
JDOC JointDefenceOperationsCentre
KAF KandaharAirField
KAIA KabulInternationalAirField
KIA KilledinAction
KRH King’sRoyalHussars
LANCS DukeofLancaster’sRegiment
LD LightDragoons
LE LateEntry(officerscommissionedfromtheranks)
LI LightInfantry
LTC LieutenantColonel
LZ LandingZone
MAJ Major
MAR Marine
Medevac MedicalEvacuation
MERCIAN MercianRegiment
Minimi Lightmachinegun(minimitrailleuse)
MOD MinistryofDefence
MP MilitaryPolice
NATO NorthAtlanticTreatyOrganization
NC Non-Combatant
NCO Non-CommissionedOfficer
OC OfficerCommanding
OIC OfficerinCharge
OMLT OperationMentorandLiaisonTeam
OP ObservationPost
Op Operation
OPTAG OperationalTrainingandAdvisoryGroup
PARA ParachuteRegiment
PB PatrolBase
PLorPLT Platoon
PRT ProvincialReconstructionTeam
PWRR PrincessofWales’sRoyalRegiment