Vilka incitament kan förklara Sveriges engagemang i Afghanistan? : En undersökning ur ett liberalistiskt, ett realistiskt och ett konstruktivistiskt perspektiv

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study was to examine the incentives behind Sweden’s decision to engage in the Afghanistan conflict. The method used to fulfil the purpose of the study is content analysis. The material that has been used in the study is various books and articles concerning Sweden in Afghanistan, Swedish foreign policy and perspectives in political science. The study is multi-theoretical and thus the analysis explains the incentives from a liberal, a realist and a constructivist point of view. The conclusion of the study is that identity has a great part in explaining the incentives for Sweden to engage in Afghanistan, especially because of the transformation in strategy and foreign policy that has taken place since the end of the cold war. Other factors, such as peace building and national interests also are incentives supported by the material used in the study. Yet, perhaps they are first and foremost connected by the constructivist idea of identity.