6 - Case Study: The Decision Path to Helmand

Summary

Introduction

The context of the United Kingdom's decision to commit its armed forces to the stabilisation of the Afghan province of Helmand should largely be seen in relation to the British intention to shift its attention from Iraq to Afghanistan. The Prime Minister's guidance on a prominent role for the United Kingdom in NATO's expansion into southern Afghanistan, combined with military alliance politics, was instrumental in the decision path that emerged.

Throughout the whole process of deciding if and how the British armed forces were to contribute to the stabilisation of southern Afghanistan, several strategic decisions, such as the selection of the province, were taken without having been articulated at the political level. These decisions were taken at the military level, as such implicitly questioning the primacy of politics in the matter.

Before scrutinising the series of decisions that resulted in the deployment of British forces to Helmand, we will first get acquainted with the features of British foreign and security politics in order to understand the context in which the decision-makers operated.

The United Kingdom: The Grandeur of a Great Power

The United Kingdom is a medium power with substantial military capabilities. A player in the major league of nations, it not only engaged in operations as a loyal partner of the United States, but especially during the time under study, also tended to view itself as a ‘force for good’, especially during the time under study. Ever since the First World War, a relatively steady decline in British economic and military power can be observed. Britain nevertheless maintained its relevance on the international stage through the mobilisation of ‘soft power’ (diplomatic) resources. Its foreign policy rhetoric and policy behaviour is predominantly guided by a ‘power broker’ conception of the state´s role in the international arena.

Three traditional pillars can be distinguished in British foreign policy: multilateralism, Atlanticism and neo-liberalism. At the time under study, the governing party (Labour) employed multilateralism and liberal values to utilise Britain's soft power capability to shape the rule-based international order. In practice, Prime Minister Blair's consecutive Cabinets utilised a combination of both formal and informal multilateralism: a formal kind either through established international organisations or through informal coalitions of the willing.