The work of the Research Group on Cultures of Interventions (IK) at the Department of Social Sciences of the University of Oldenburg (in northern Germany's Lower Saxony) is focused on the "effects and impact of military based humanitarian interventions." The research group orients its work on the "target societies" of "Afghanistan, Kosovo and Liberia".[1] Professor Michael Daxner, director of the research group, had been personally engaged on behalf of the western occupying powers in Afghanistan. It was under his leadership that both the statutes for the Afghan University Presidents' Conference and the "basic rules" for those universities were formulated.[2]
Research Network
The Research Group in Oldenburg has initiated the "research network on the Culture of Intervention", by which it is basically linked to numerous other academic institutions working in the service of western occupation strategies. Among the cooperation partners are the Deutsche Stiftung Friedensforschung (German Foundation of Peace Research),[3] the Center for Conflict Studies (CCS) at the Marburg University, the Research Center 700 (SFB) at the Free University of Berlin [4] and the "Military Studies" Department, principally designed by the German Bundeswehr, at the University of Potsdam.[5] The Research Group in Oldenburg, like these institutions, consider the internationally accepted principle of national sovereignty to have been "laid to rest" long ago, which is why violations of this principle are to be considered "legitimate".[6]
Social Reform
The sociologists in the Oldenburg Research Group consider western military interventions, such as in Afghanistan, to be large scale "social reform projects", whose objective is to impose a drastic, western-type "modernization" onto the society in question. The researchers draw upon the French colonial policy in Algeria as their classic example. Even though the "aspect of the open colonization" is currently lacking in the western occupation regimes, the "case of Algeria" still furnishes "important insights" according to the IK. They consider that the French "reforms" and "modernization attempts" had failed because "these stood in too great a conflict with the habitus of the intended recipients," which is why the IK demands that the occupation troops have a comprehensive "sensitivity toward the cultural factors". The IK's director explains that particularly in Germany, there is a considerable "amount of catching up to be done in knowledge that former colonial powers still have on hand".
Many victims
The IK researchers describe the pending Afghanistan modernization as a project of "West European-type state building" - including a "war to impose a monopoly over the use of force". It should be remembered that also in the West "domestic conflicts around state building" not only demanded "much time" but also caused "many victims". It will "be no different" in Afghanistan. "For a powerful western state, compromises in questions of peace and security must be made - at least during the 'hot' phase of state building. And this phase can last a long time". It must also be taken into account that in the "state building" process, the "democratization" of social relations, as propagated by the West "has never constituted, in itself, the solution of conflicts", but is "rather another catalyst for unrest and violence".
Learning from Mistakes
The IK consequentially classifies the "war against the insurgents," being waged with utter savagery by western occupation powers in Afghanistan, as necessary and inevitable, but the "means being used" must be "put into question". These social researchers explain that "the same mistakes should not be made" as the Soviet invaders, who placed the emphasis on their "air supremacy". "The bombardments, seen as arbitrary and indiscriminate, have fanned the flames of Afghan resistance and kept it alive - in spite of military successes."
The Namesake
Oldenburg's University, home of the IK Research Group, bears the name of the publicist, Carl von Ossietzky. In recognition of his political engagement, Ossietzky was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize November 23, 1936 - in absentia. At the time, Ossietzky, an anti-militarist activist, was confined to a prison hospital bed in Berlin, where he had been delivered suffering from several years in Nazi concentration camps. May 4, 1938, Ossietzky died from the effects of the maltreatment he was submitted to during his concentration camp imprisonment.
Posts
