The Czech Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan: Context, Experiences and Politics

Abstract

This article is an empirical‐theoretical mapping of the Czech participation in the peacebuilding reconstruction of Afghanistan in the form of the Czech Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). As will become clear, an important part of such a study is a focus on the analysis of the influence of the security context and external factors on the participation and form of the Czech PRT. The study is divided into two basic parts. The first part gives the reader a necessary and sensible grounding. Specifically, it presents a contextual frame for the participation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Afghanistan. What then follows is an analysis of the domestic political debate in the Czech Republic. One of the findings is that any proper domestic political debate was absent, instead there was a polarization of the relationship between the government of the Czech Republic and the parliamentary opposition on the issue of the Czech PRT Logar. The article concludes with a question concerning the motives of the Czech government for sending the Czech PRT into Afghanistan.

Notes

1 David Lyon, Butcher and Bolt: Two Hundred Years of Foreign Engagement in Afghanistan (London: Hutchinson 2008).

2 It happened during the years of the Soviet occupation, and Afghanistan continues to form such alliances with neighbouring countries even today. The current Afghan revolt is characterized as a ‘Pakistan‐based, Taliban‐lead insurgency’.

3 Henry Kissinger, ‘A Strategy for Afghanistan’, Washington Post , 26 Feb. 2009.

4 Ahmed Rashid, Taliban: The Story of the Afghan Warlords (London: Pan Books 2001) pp.117–24.

5 Jan Eichler, ‘L’Otan peut‐elle réussir en Afghanistan?’, Défense Nationale et Securité Collective 3 (2007) pp.167–74.

6 H.R. McMaster, ‘On Wars: Lesson to be Learned’, Survival 50/1 (Feb./March 2008) p.28.

7 For a closer examination of this, see Stephen Biddle, Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy (Carlisle Barracks, PA: US Army War College Strategic Studies Institute 2002) pp. 1–3.

8 Barnet R. Rubin, ‘Afghanistan’s Uncertain Transition from Turmoil to Normalcy’, CSR Paper 12 (March 2006) p.7.

9 Peter Beaumont, ‘Fear, Disillusion and Despair: Notes from a Divided Land as Peace Slips Away’, The Observer (London), 8 June 2008, pp.34–5.

10 Southern Afghanistan COIN Operations, Tactics, Techniques and Procedures: A Handbook. Center for [US] Army Lessons Learned (Oct. 2006) ⟨http://call.army.mil⟩.

11 Hekmat Karzai, ‘Afghanistan and the Globalisation of Terrorist Tactics’, IDSS Commentaries (1/2006).

12 For a closer examination of this, see Natalie Nougayrede, ‘En Afghanistan, les Français Confrontés à la Méfiance’, Le Monde , 16 March 2009.

13 ‘Annual Defence Report’, Jane’s Defence Weekly 43 (Dec. 2006) pp.14–33.

14 Adam Roberts, ‘Doctrine and Reality in Afghanistan’, Survival 51/1 (Feb./March 2009) p.47.

15 Rubin (note 8) p.20.

16 The mandate was issued not because Afghanistan attacked the US, but because it refused to give up Osama bin Laden and the other individuals who planned the terrorist attacks carried out on September 11, 2001.

17 For a closer examination of this, see Lawrence Freedman, ‘War in Iraq: Selling the Threat’, Survival 46/2 (Summer 2004) pp.7–50.

18 For analysis in this vein, see Lawrence Freedman, ‘Iraq, Liberal Wars and Illiberal Containment’, Survival 48/4 (Winter 2006–07) pp.51–66 and esp. p.52.

19 Bernard Dupaigne, ‘En Afghanistan, Il Faut Revoir les Actions de Pacification’, Le Monde, 25Aug. 2008.

20 Elisabeth Bummiller and Carlotta Gall, ‘US Admits Civilians Died in Afghan Raids’, New York Times, 8 May 2009.

21 Defence Committee, UK Operations in Afghanistan, House of Commons 408 (London: 18 July 2004) p.13.

22 Roberts (note 14) p.32.

23 Mike Pugh, Neil Cooper and Mandy Turner, Whose Peace? Critical Perspectives on the Political Economy of Peacebuilding (Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan 2009); Mark Duffield, Global Governance and the New Wars (London: Zed Books 2002); Mark Duffield, Development, Security and Unending War (Cambridge: Polity Press 2007); David Chandler, From Kosovo to Kabul and Beyond (London: Pluto Press 2005).

24 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic, ‘Zemědělství’ [Agriculture], ⟨www.mzv.cz/prtlogar/cz/projekty/rozvojova_spoluprace/zemedelstvi_1/zemedelstvi.html⟩, (Prague 2008).

25 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic, ‘Podpora školství’ [Support for Education and Schooling], ⟨www.mzv.cz/prtlogar/cz/projekty/rozvojova_spoluprace/podpora_skolstvi/index.html⟩ (Prague 2008); the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic, ‘V Lógaru vyrostou dvě školy pro více jak 400 dívek’ [In Logar, Two Schools for More than 400 Girls Will Be Built], ⟨www.mzv.cz/prtlogar/cz/zpravy_a_reportaze/v_logaru_vyrostou_dve_skoly_pro_vice_nez.html⟩ (Prague 2009).

26 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic, ‘Podpora zdravotnictví v provincii Lógar’ [The Support of Healthcare in Logar Province], http://www.mzv.cz/prtlogar/cz/projekty/rozvojova_spoluprace/zdravotnictvi/index.html (Prague 2008); the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic, ‘Sanitky od českého PRT budou pomáhat zdravotnictví v celé provincii’ [Ambulances from the Czech PRT Will Aid Healthcare in the Entire Province], http://www.mzv.cz/prtlogar/cz/zpravy_a_reportaze/sanitky_pro_logar_budou_pomahat.html (Prague 2009).

27 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic, ‘Základní výcvik afghánských policistů podruhé’ [The Afghan Police Undergo Basic Training for the Second Time], ⟨www.mzv.cz/prtlogar/cz/zpravy_a_reportaze/zakladni_vycvik_afghanskych_policistu_1.html⟩ (Prague 2009); the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic, ‘Český PRT podporuje nezávislá média v Lógaru’ [The Czech PRT Supports Independent Media in Logar], ⟨www.mzv.cz/prtlogar/cz/zpravy_a_reportaze/cesky_prt_podporuje_nezavisla_media_v.html⟩ (Prague 2009).

28 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic, ‘Voda a vodní zdroje’ [Water and Water Resources], ⟨www.mzv.cz/prtlogar/cz/projekty/rozvojova_spoluprace/voda_a_vodni_zdroje/index.html⟩ (Prague 2008); the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic, ‘Přehrada Surchab’ (Surchab Dam), ⟨www.mzv.cz/prtlogar/cz/projekty/pribehy_pomoci/prehrada_aurchab.html⟩ (Prague 2009).

29 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic, ‘Projekty rychlého dopadu’ [Quick Impact Projects], ⟨www.mzv.cz/prtlogar/cz/projekty/projekty_rychleho_dopadu_1/index.html⟩ (Prague 2008).

30 Personal interview with a high‐ranking representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, 30 May 2008.

31 Václav Exner’s presentation at the 23rd session of the House of Deputies of the Czech Republic on 5 Dec. 2007 (from the stenographic record).

32 Already on 2 Feb. 2007, at the 9th session of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Deputies of the Czech Republic, Martin Povejšil, the political director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic (CR), gave notice that the CR aimed to place its PRT in Baghlan Province.

33 Personal interview, 21 April 2009, Prague.

34 Personal interview, 21 April 2009, Prague.

35 Personal interview, 22 April 2009, Prague.

36 Personal interview with Lt. Col. Pavel Lipka, 21 April 2009, Prague.

37 Personal interview, 21 April 2009, Prague.

38 František Šulc’s interview with Col. Ivo Střecha, Lidové noviny, 23 March 2009.

39 Ibid.

40 Personal interview with a high‐ranking representative of the Army of the Czech Republic (AČR), 6 May 2009, Prague.

41 Michael Humphrey, ‘New Wars and the Therapeutic Security Paradigm’, in Damian Grenfell and Paul James (eds.), Rethinking Insecurity, War and Violence (New York: Routledge 2009) p.67.

42 Editorial, ‘Mr Obama, Mr Zardari and Mr Karzai’, International Herald Tribune, 5 May 2009.

43 Personal interview with a high‐ranking representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, 26 March 2009, Prague.

44 Frances Vendrell, ‘Current Conflicts: Afghanistan’, in Tim Huxley and Alexander Nicoll (eds.), Perspectives on International Security: Speeches and Papers from the 50th Anniversary of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Adelphi Paper 400–401 (London: Routledge for IISS Dec. 2008) p.47.

45 Personal interview with Maj. Gen. Jiří Halaška, 22 April 2009, Prague.

46 František Šulc’s interview with Col. Ivo Střecha, Lidové noviny, 23 March 2009.

47 Personal interview with a high‐ranking representative of the AČR, 7 May 2009, Prague.

48 ⟨www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/afghanistan_pakistan_white_paper_final.pdf⟩.

49 See, for example, Graham Fuller (a former CIA resident in Kabul), ‘Out of Afghanistan’, International Herald Tribune, 9–10 May 2009.

50 Lubomír Zaorálek’s presentation at the 23rd meeting of the House of Deputies of the Czech Republic on 5 Dec. 2007 (stenographic record).

51 Jan Hamáček’s presentation at the 23rd meeting of the House of Deputies of the Czech Republic on 5 Dec. 2007 (stenographic record).

52 PSČR, ‘Vládní návrh působení sil a prostředků rezortu Ministerstva obrany v zahraničních operacích v roce 2009’ [The Government Proposal for the Participation of the Forces and Resources of the Department of the Ministry of Defence in Foreign Operations in the Year 2009], ⟨http://www.psp.cz/sqw/text/orig2.sqw?idd=30700⟩ (Prague 2008).

53 Jiří Paroubek, ‘Afghánistán: čím víc, tím hůř’, Právo ( 5 Jan. 2009).

54 ČSSD press release, 4 Nov. 2008, ⟨www.cssd.cz/s14983/tiskove-zprávy/a21021.html⟩.

55 Zprávy iDNES, ‘Usnesení grémia ODS’, 20 Dec. 2008, ⟨http://zpravy.idnes.cz/hadka-o-vojaky-paroubek-je-pry-sobecky-vrah-topolanek-sprosty-cynik-11b-/domaci.asp?c=A081220_151411_domaci_klu⟩.

56 Zprávy iDNES, ‘Hádka o vojáky: Paroubek je prý sobecký vrah, Topolánek sprostý cynik’, 20 Dec. 2008, ⟨http://zpravy.idnes.cz/hadka-o-vojaky-paroubek-je-pry-sobecky-vrah-topolanek-sprosty-cynik-11b-/domaci.asp?c=A081220_151411_domaci_klu⟩.

57 PSČR, ‘Vládní návrh působení sil a prostředků v zahraničí v roce 2009’ [The Government Proposal for the Participation of Forces and Resources in Foreign States for the Year 2009], the 48th Meeting of the PSČR (4 Feb. 4, 2009), the 114th vote, ⟨http://www.psp.cz/sqw/hlasy.sqw?G=48695⟩ .

58 Gen. Halaška’s presentation at the PSČR conference ‘Afghánistán: Mission Impossible?’, 21 April 2009, Prague.

59 James G. March and Johan P. Olsen, ‘The Logic of Appropriateness’, ARENA Working Paper 4/1999, (Univ. of Oslo 1999) p.4.

60 Vlasta Parkanová’s presentation at the 23rd meeting of the House of Deputies of the Czech Republic on 5 Dec. 2007 (stenographic record).

61 Personal interview with Lubomír Zaorálek, 14 May 2009, Prague.

62 Andrew Jordan, ‘“Overcoming the Divide” between Comparative Politics and International Relations Approaches to the EC: What Role for “Post‐Decisional” Politics?’, ECSA Paper (Seattle, WA, USA 1997) pp. 1–35; Donald Puchala, ‘Domestic Politics and Regional Harmonization in the European Communities’, World Politics 27 (1975) pp.496–520.

63 Karel Schwarzenberg’s presentation at the 48th meeting of the House of Deputies of the Czech Republic on 4 Feb. 2009 (stenographic record).