‘Who Wants to Go Again?’ Motivation of German Soldiers for and during Peacekeeping Missions

Abstract

Reports from the Bundeswehr Institute of Social Sciences (SOWI) (Biehl, Keller, Kozielski, Reinholz, & Tomforde, 2004; Biehl, vom Hagen, & Mackewitsch, 2001) about the motivation of German soldiers in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo have already clarified that no longer only patriotism, political ideas, the identification with an ideology or charismatic leaders count as motivating factors for soldiers to risk their lives in combat or in peacekeeping missions abroad (see also Moskos, 1968). Also, it is not – as long proclaimed within military sociology – only cohesion between comrades, which will motivate soldiers to fight (see Segal & Kestnbaum, 2001). Instead, factors which concern the soldier as an individual, such as family support and the soldier's social environment influence greatly whether or not a soldier is willing to risk his or her life, or less drastically speaking, whether or not, he or she is willing to endure the hardships of peacekeeping missions.

Citation

Tomforde, M. and Keller, J. (2005), "‘Who Wants to Go Again?’ Motivation of German Soldiers for and during Peacekeeping Missions", Caforio, G. and Kümmel, G. (Ed.) Military Missions and their Implications Reconsidered: The Aftermath of September 11th (Contributions to Conflict Management, Peace Economics and Development, Vol. 2), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 443-456. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1572-8323(05)02026-6