The author focuses on the complex phenomenon of Hezbollah and its supporters. Although concluding it is unique in its combination of strategic objectives, military capabilities, the weak state of Lebanon, Iranian and Syrian military and political support, and the religious theocratic ideology, this is …

The author compares Israeli and Hezbollah land warfare with the principles stipulated for this in Dutch Army doctrine. It reveals the difficulty any western regular army would have when faced with an adversary partially employing irregular war fighting methods. This asymmetry includes some more structural …

The Afghan government is the subject of this contribution, which investigates how it has developed over time, what the efforts of recent years to build it up have resulted in, and – its actual objective– what it means for foreign militaries, such as the Dutch in Uruzgan at present, to have a weak …

On 2 February 2006, after earlier Dutch contributions in Afghanistan, a large parliamentary majority approved the Cabinet decision to deploy a mission to Uruzgan. On 3 February 2006 the decision was confirmed in the meeting of the Cabinet. This brought to a close the political decision making process …

Analysis of the newest US strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan. As such, it raises the questions what are realistic goals and ambition levels, differences between strategies of western partners, as well as burden sharing among them. Whether the new strategy will succeed, of course, also depends on Afghan …

Offering the societal perspective, the author deals with state building and the role of religion in Lebanon, prior to, during and after the 2006 war. The internal Lebanese problem is also an element in the international tensions between Sunnis and Shiites, between the Arab/Islamic world and Israel, between …

Marcel de Goedes perspective on the 2006 war is that of IDFs strategic culture, meaning the ideas, attitudes, traditions, habits of mind and preferred methods of operation that have been developed during its unique historical experience. He lists explanations for IDFs disappointing performance, describes …

The author, writing directly from his personal experiences, describes the difficulty of leading air force activities in a complex operation like in Afghanistan. Not only gaining and maintaining air superiority, and providing air support and transport, was on the agenda of ISAFs air force headquarters …

After more than three decades of war and conflict, Afghanistan is back on track towards becoming a functioning state again. Although security and stability have not taken root yet, the first results of peace are tangible. The quality of governance, the judicial …

The authors take a legal perspective at the 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli conflict, but also illustrate the difficulty states armed forces have when facing non-state adversaries. International law (ius ad bellum) and the laws of war (ius in bello) both seem to originate most of all from the history of western, …