When Violence Becomes Visible: The Bundeswehr's Struggle for Legitimacy in Afghanistan

Abstract

The Bundeswehr's deployment in Afghanistan under the International Security Assistance Force mission exposed significant challenges in how democratic states legitimize military actions, particularly within a society that harbors widespread skepticism towards the use of military force. A striking feature of the German government's approach to the Afghanistan conflict was its reluctance to label the mission as a "war," reflecting deeper anxieties about how violence is communicated to the public. This reluctance underscores the difficulty democratic states face in maintaining legitimacy over their monopoly on violence, especially when soldiers are killed in action. This article applies a neo‐institutionalist framework to analyze the dynamic interplay between politics, the military, and the public in the context of Germany's contribution to the International Security Assistance Force mission. It argues that the core issue was not the war itself, but the state's struggle to reconcile military violence with the expectations of a pacified society. The disconnect between formal military operations and public perception became apparent when media coverage of casualties broke the illusion of a distant, non‐violent mission. This highlights the broader governance challenge democracies face in sustaining public support for military actions that conflict with societal values. Ultimately, this article explores the implications for political communication, questioning how democratic states balance transparency, public expectations, and the need for strategic narratives during military interventions.