Papers by Torunn L Haaland
Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift, 2018
Under en internasjonal operasjon er det regjeringen som har det overste ansvaret for styrkene ute... more Under en internasjonal operasjon er det regjeringen som har det overste ansvaret for styrkene ute. Den vil ha politiske grunner til a ta visse avgjorelser, men kan ikke operere i et militaert vakuum. Regjeringen far anbefalinger fra de militaere, men disse vil ikke nodvendigvis passe med politiske avveininger. Sa hvordan fa partene til a forsta hvilke hensyn som ligger til grunn for hverandres vurderinger? Haaland og Guldhav drofter avveiningene mellom militaere behov for raske beslutninger og politikernes behov for kontroll.
Core Values and the Expeditionary Mindset: Armed Forces in Metamorphosis, 2011
Civil–Military Entanglements
Civil–Military Entanglements, 2019
Journal of Strategic Studies, 2016
ABSTRACTThis article – based on interviews with Norwegian Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) co... more ABSTRACTThis article – based on interviews with Norwegian Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) commanders and the lessons-learned database of the Norwegian Armed Forces – argues that what appear to be an inability or unwillingness to learn and adapt in war may have other explanations. The ambiguity of experiences makes lessons contested, contradictory, and fluid interpretations of confusing events. Consequently, they do not provide unequivocal guidance for adaptation. Even when lessons learned are fairly clear and agreed upon, adaptation does not automatically follow, as force autonomy may be quite limited, at least for small states in coalition operations conducted in partnership with indigenous forces.
Memory Studies, 2019
This article examines how and to what extent recent wars affect war commemoration. We do this thr... more This article examines how and to what extent recent wars affect war commemoration. We do this through an analysis of the establishment of a Veterans Day in Norway, instituted on May 8, the traditional Liberation Day in memory of World War 2. We document how this merger has transformed May 8 from a low-key war commemoration to a celebration of the Armed Forces. Through our study, we emphasize how authorities attempt to form new mnemonic practices to give meaning to recent wars. These practices were informed by transnational events, but also constrained by deeply embedded national genres of commemoration. In Norway, the Liberation and Veterans Day has become a secluded event, attended by political and military leaders, but largely ignored by the public. We argue that commemorative practices that fail to resonate with shared experiences in society and are at odds with national identities will have limited appeal and support.
International Peacekeeping, 2007
International Peacekeeping, 2010
International Peacekeeping, 2010
Journal of Strategic Studies, 2010
Memory studies, 2019
This article examines how and to what extent recent wars affect war commemoration. We do this thr... more This article examines how and to what extent recent wars affect war commemoration. We do this through an analysis of the establishment of a Veterans Day in Norway, instituted on May 8, the traditional Liberation Day in memory of World War 2. We document how this merger has transformed May 8 from a low-key war commemoration to a celebration of the Armed Forces. Through our study, we emphasize how authorities attempt to form new mnemonic practices to give meaning to recent wars. These practices were informed by transnational events, but also constrained by deeply embedded national genres of commemoration. In Norway, the Liberation and Veterans Day has become a secluded event, attended by political and military leaders, but largely ignored by the public. We argue that commemorative practices that fail to resonate with shared experiences in society and are at odds with national identities will have limited appeal and support.
This article – based on interviews with Norwegian PRT commanders and the lessons-learned data bas... more This article – based on interviews with Norwegian PRT commanders and the lessons-learned data base of the Norwegian Armed Forces – argues that what appear to be an inability or unwillingness to learn and adapt in war, may have other explanations. The ambiguity of experiences makes lessons contested, contradictory, and fluid interpretations of confusing events. Consequently, they do not provide unequivocal guidance for adaptation. Even when lessons learned are fairly clear and agreed upon, adaptation does not automatically follow, as force autonomy may be quite limited, at least for small states in coalition operations conducted in partnership with indigenous forces. ISAF In November 2007, reflecting on the first large-scale combat experience of the Norwegian Armed Forces in northern Afghanistan, Chief of Defence Sverre Diesen summarised an important lesson: 'We know that the key persons behind the rising [insurgency] in the Qaysar-Ghowrmach area kept at a good distance from the fighting, and we know that they will return to the villages and resume their effort to build new groups of warriors.'1 Five years later, the outgoing commander of the last regular Norwegian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Faryab, northern Afghanistan, when summarising the team's six months of experiences, seemed to have learnt the same lesson: 'Most of the large-scale ANA [Afghan National Army) operations therefore have limited effect, in fact on many
Keyword: author to supply meaningful googleable words [The golden rule of referencing is that ano... more Keyword: author to supply meaningful googleable words [The golden rule of referencing is that another researcher must be able to access material with helpful indicators of location] Norway, armed forces, military culture, warriors, peace operations __________________________________________ This article analyses a cultural transformation taking place in Norwegian units deployed abroad as the framework for these operations shifted from UN to NATO command in the mid-1990s. In UN operations during and shortly after the Cold War, there was a cultural gap between the military at home and the units deployed abroad, and experiences from these operations were perceived as without relevance for national defence. After NATO became the preferred framework for Norwegian deployments, national military culture focused primarily on war-fighting skills and discipline, replacing the UN culture's focus on non-combat skills and practical problem solving. This transformation had an impact on the Norwegian units' interaction with local cultures in the deployment area. But since the identity of individual service members remained primarily linked to Norway and the Norwegian armed forces, the changes were of a practical rather than ideological or motivational nature. __________________________________________ Since the end of the Cold War, Norway's contributions to military operations abroad have been fundamentally transformed. This transformation has influenced the internal culture in the Norwegian military organisation at home, the culture of the Norwegian units deployed abroad and the military's interaction with civilian cultures. This last includes the local cultures in the deployment area and the civilian cultures of the non-military western actors such as international governmental organizations (IGOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and governmental development agencies and diplomats. This article analyses the transformation of the Norwegian military culture in the units deployed abroad which took place during the 1990s and continued after 2000. After a brief survey of the history of Norway's foreign deployments, it sketches the
Taking the Norwegian Armed Forces as a case study, this article examines how perceptions of gende... more Taking the Norwegian Armed Forces as a case study, this article examines how perceptions of gender and masculinities are expressed in internal documents produced by military forces deployed abroad as well as in the military bureaucracy at home during the 1990s. One main finding is that women are largely invisible in these documents. This is true for both female participants in the Norwegian units as well as the local women in the deployment area. Assessments of the gendered consequences of operations are completely lacking. Another significant finding was that aggressiveness was hardly ever mentioned as an important quality among Norwegian military personnel abroad. The most valued qualities of a good soldier were rather endurance, a good sense of humour and personal initiative. However, the forces had a clear image of themselves as militaries, and their main priority was to maintain their warfighting skills. Expressions of racism, misogyny and homophobia were rare, which at least suggests that these are values are not encouraged, or condoned, in military training in Norway.
Drafts by Torunn L Haaland
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Papers by Torunn L Haaland
Drafts by Torunn L Haaland