The Superpower, The Bridge-Builder and Hesitant Ally

418 Pages·2011·7.58 MB·English

by  Rem Korteweg

The Superpower, the Bridge-
Builder and the Hesitant Ally
How Defense Transformation Divided NATO
(1991-2008)
Cover illustration: Dust storm at Forward Operating Base Kushamond, Afghanistan, July 17, 2009.
U.S. Army’s Office of the Chief of Public Affairs.
Cover Design: Maedium, Utrecht
Layout: Richard Podkolinski
ISBN 978 90 8728 147 2
e-ISBN 978 94 0060 065 2
NUR 697
© A.R. Korteweg / Leiden University Press 2011
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book
may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or
by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written
permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book.
The Superpower, the Bridge-
Builder and the Hesitant Ally
How Defense Transformation Divided NATO
(1991-2008)
PROEFSCHRIFT
ter verkrijging van
de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden,
op gezag van Rector Magnificus prof.mr. P.F. van der Heijden,
volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties
te verdedigen op donderdag 15 september 2011
klokke 16:15 uur
door
Arie Rem Korteweg
geboren te ’s-Gravenhage,
in 1980
Promotiecommissie
Promotor:
Prof. dr. R. de Wijk (Universiteit Leiden)
Copromotor:
Dr. N.J.G. van Willigen (Universiteit Leiden)

Overige Leden:
Prof. dr. H. Binnendijk (National Defense University, Washington DC)
Prof. dr. J.S. van der Meulen (Universiteit Leiden)
CDRE prof. dr. F.P.B. Osinga (Nederlandse Defensie Academie)
Dr. H. Pelikaan (Universiteit Leiden)
Contents
Prologue ..............................................................................................11
Introduction ........................................................................................13
1 Introduction ....................................................................................13
1.1 What is Transformation? .............................................................................13
1.2 Transformation and Revolutions in Military Affairs ............................15
1.3 Transformation and Change in the Function of the Military .............17
1.4 Two Types of Transformation ....................................................................19
1.5 The Contemporary Period of Transformation .......................................21
2 Transformation in NATO ............................................................22
3 Between Mars and Venus .............................................................25
4 Problem Statement .........................................................................31
5 Theoretical Framework .................................................................32
5.1 System and Domestic–Level Theories of International Relations.....33
5.2 Neoclassical Realism ....................................................................................37
5.3 Strategic Culture: National Character of States in Security ................45
6 Research Design:
Transformation and Neoclassical Realism ...............................55
7 The Organization of this Study ...................................................57
7.1 Case studies ....................................................................................................57
7.2 Methodology ..................................................................................................59
7.3 A Word on Notes ...........................................................................................62
Part 1 – Transformation in the United States............................63
Climbing the Ladder of Primacy .........................................................65
8 Introduction ....................................................................................65
9 US Transformation Defined ........................................................66
10 System Level Factors that Triggered US Transformation .....70
10.1 Collapse of the Soviet Union ......................................................................70
10.2 Guided Munitions Warfare: From Vietnam to Desert Storm ............71
10.3 Pax Americana ...............................................................................................81
10.4 Making War Obsolete ..................................................................................89
10.5 Technological War ......................................................................................103
11 Strategic Culture and US Transformation .............................111
11.1 A Symbol of Strategic Culture ..................................................................111
11.2 Watchmen of Freedom ..............................................................................112
11.3 Expressions of US Strategic Culture .......................................................121
11.4 The Ball of Liberty .......................................................................................137
11.5 Strategic Culture and its impact on Transformation ..........................144
12 US expressions of transformation ...........................................146
12.1 9/11 and Prevention ...................................................................................147
12.2 SOF-ing the Army .......................................................................................152
12.3 Air Force Transformation ........................................................................160
12.4 Naval Transformation ................................................................................161
12.5 The Hey-Day of Transformation: Towards the QDR 2006 ...............163
13 The Impact of Changes in the Security Environment .......166
13.1 A Struggle towards Strategic Transformation ......................................167
13.2 Translating Irregular Warfare into a new Adaptive Strategy .............178
13.3 Back to the Default ......................................................................................195
14 Conclusion of US Case Study...................................................205
14.1 Transformation Hubris ..............................................................................208
14.2 A Transformation Bubble..........................................................................210
Part 2 – Transformation in Europe:
The Netherlands & Germany ........................................213
The Netherlands: Between Relevance and Stability ..........................215
15 Introduction .................................................................................215
16 Dutch Transformation Defined ...............................................218
17 System-Level Factors
that Triggered Dutch Transformation ....................................218
17.1 Sustaining Western Power after the Cold War .....................................219
17.2 European Integration .................................................................................221
17.3 Towards Expeditionary Operations .......................................................224
18 Strategic Culture and Dutch Transformation .......................233
18.1 Stability Projection ......................................................................................234
18.2 Being Relevant .............................................................................................244
19 Expressions of Dutch Transformation ...................................257
19.1 Ambition-based Planning: 1991 & 1993 ...............................................257
19.2 Srebrenica and the Framework of Evaluation ......................................261
19.3 Adding a high-intensity comfort zone ...................................................263
19.4 Capabilities for the A-Team ......................................................................268
19.5 Network-centric emulation ......................................................................271
19.6 Financial Constraints on the Extractive Capacity ...............................272
20 The Impact of Changes in the
Security Environment: Clashes of Culture ............................276
20.1 Allied Force: Identity in Friction .............................................................276
20.2 Iraq: The Demand for Stability is larger than its Supply ....................279
20.3 Left-Right Tensions over Defense Procurement .................................281
20.4 Uruzgan .........................................................................................................283
21 Conclusion: Torn between Relevance and Stability ............299
Germany: A Slow, Strategic Awakening ............................................305
22 Introduction .................................................................................305
23 German Transformation Defined ...........................................306
24 System Level Factors
that Triggered German Transformation ................................309
24.1 An Expeditionary Era ................................................................................309
24.2 Solidarity .......................................................................................................314
25 Strategic Culture and German Transformation ...................316
25.1 A Culture of Defeat .....................................................................................316
25.2 Zivilmacht Germany .................................................................................325
26 Expressions of German Transformation ...............................330
26.1 Capability and Personnel Initiatives .......................................................330
26.2 Inapplicability of American Transformation .......................................332
27 The Impact of Changes in the Security Environment ........333
27.1 Transforming for combat? ........................................................................333
27.2 Caveats ...........................................................................................................336
27.3 A Process of awakening? ............................................................................337
28 Conclusion of German Case Study.........................................339
Part 3 – Conclusion .......................................................................343
How Transformation Divided NATO in an Expeditionary World ..345
29 Introduction .................................................................................345
29.1 Differences in Transformation Strategies ..............................................350
29.2 Differences in Strategic Cultures .............................................................353
29.3 Products of Transformation .....................................................................356
29.4 Different Expectations in an Expeditionary environment ................361
29.5 Two Philosophical Models of Progress ..................................................364
29.6 Impact on the Future of NATO ...............................................................369
Afterword: Death of a Concept .........................................................375
Bibliography ......................................................................................379
Archival Sources ........................................................................................................379
Interviews ...................................................................................................................379
Books and Monographs ...........................................................................................381
Published Articles ......................................................................................................388
Policy Documents, Speeches and Testimonies ...................................................393
List of Figures..............................................................................................................399
Glossary .......................................................................................................................400
Samenvatting .....................................................................................403
Acknowledgments .............................................................................415
Curriculum Vitae...............................................................................417
“Se vogliamo che tutto rimanga come è, bisogna che tutto cambi.”
– Tancredi Falconieri, “Il Gattopardo”