Paper short abstract:

Foreign military deployment has assumed a permanent position within current security policy of Western democracies. My presentation, drawing on comparative research, sheds light on the impact of the new, extended security conceptions for military role conceptions from an anthropological perspective.

Paper long abstract:

Deviations from classical understandings of nation-state security have become established to an extent that foreign military deployment has assumed a permanent position within current security policy of many Western democracies. The resulting implications have not yet been duly reflected upon in their entire scope. My presentation aims to highlight the impact of the new, extended security conceptions for military role conceptions from an anthropological perspective.

The changes in global security conditions since the end of the Cold War have been much discussed in political science on the IR level but less in social anthropology with an eye towards human agency in the affected security institutions. Democracies wish for their 'citizens in uniform' to be civilized and democratic. Democracies also wish for them to prove effective and strong when called upon. Soldiers are expected to be loyal citizens, armed helpers, and professional fighters all at the same time. The fact that these requirements are riddled with tension, if not outright contradictory, is seldom articulated. Such tensions have increased in the context of troop deployment decisions in 'wars of choice' as will be argued with examples from several European countries: Military deployments are never limited to 'armed social work', but soldiers are faced with the possibility of combat involvement and have to integrate these contradictory moments in their professional identities. On the grounds of results from a large comparative research project, conducted in 12 European countries for the past five years, I shall present a typology of soldiers' coping strategies.