A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of European NATO Members’ Involvement in Afghan Operations

Abstract

This article seeks to explain the significant variation of the levels of European NATO member  states’ contributions  to Afghan  combat  and  reconstruction  operations. The  first  part presents  the  theories  used  in  the  study  and  six  hypotheses,  which  are  tested  using  a  fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). This sophisticated method, which was introduced to the social  sciences  by  Charles  Ragin,  uses  a  special  software  to  find  combinations  of  independent variables  which  may  explain  the  dependent  variable  with  a  given  probability. The  findings  are presented in the second part, followed by three short case studies of Greece, the Netherlands and Estonia which provide a further insight into the issue. The study concludes that the most plausible explanation of high level of involvement in Afghanistan is a conjunction of allegiance to the „new Europe“ and dependence on importation of russian gas.