Domestic factors in the making of defense policy: The case of the Netherlands

The importance of domestic factors in explaining the foreign-policy process can, today, not be overlooked. It has been suggested that four sets of variables play an important role in determining the chances for domestic groups to exercise influence on this process: external autonomy, internal (domestic) consensus, the availability of time and the presence or absence of conditions of influence such as legitimacy, resources and access. From a series of case studies on foreign policymaking in the Netherlands two were selected for this article: the introduction of the neutron warheads and the deployment of cruise missiles. Both were very controversial in the Netherlands. They show that under favourable conditions, i.e. divisions within the ruling Christian Democratic Party, committed and well-organized domestic groups which are capable of keeping public opinion mobilized over time can have an important and even decisive influence on the outcome of the making of defence and foreign policy. Domestic conditions being what they are, the making of defense policy in the Netherlands is bound to remain a delicate balancing act for any Dutch government.     

Walking the Line: Brokering Humanitarian Identities in Conflict Research

ABSTRACT

Increasingly, academic research in conflict-affected contexts relies on support from humanitarian organizations. Humanitarian organizations constitute sites of study in and of themselves; they partner with academics to roll out surveys or randomized program interventions; and they frequently facilitate security, logistics and transportation for independent researchers. We use a research partnership between IRC, the World Bank, and academic researchers in the UK, the US and eastern DR Congo, to explore the effects of humanitarian affiliation on conflict field research. In investigating when, how and under what conditions humanitarian identities are adopted by researchers (and how these affiliations shape research dynamics) we identify three paradoxes. First, “wearing humanitarian clothes” to facilitate research logistics can both facilitate and constrain access. Second, humanitarian affiliations invoked by researchers to ensure security and protection in volatile research sites can undermine the “insider” status of local staff. Finally, working through humanitarian organizations allows local and international researchers to benefit from the protections and privileges afforded to humanitarian employees without providing any of the services on which privileged access rests. In this article, we map out decisions faced by local and international researchers concerning when to adopt and discard humanitarian identities, and the fraught logistical, ethical and methodological consequences of these decisions.