Coming to terms with the legacies of a secret war : A narrative inquiry of the United States redressing the issue of unexploded ordnance in Laos
Matinlauri, Juho (2023)
Matinlauri, Juho
2023
Master's Programme in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research
Yhteiskuntatieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Social Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2023-06-13
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202306096648
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202306096648
Tiivistelmä
In 2016, President Barack Obama visited Laos and announced that the United States would increase financial aid for the survey and clearance of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Laos, promising a total of 90 million dollars for a period of three years. Laos became the most bombed country per capita on earth after the United States bombed it with cluster munitions and other weapons between 1964 and 1973 in a secret war led by the CIA. No formal reconciliation process has been launched, but the diplomatic relations between the two countries were fully restored in 1992. The announcement in 2016 was a further indication that the United States was coming to terms with its legacies of the secret war.
This thesis focuses on the role of individuals behind the policy process that resulted in the United States increasing their assistance for Lao PDR. The research question is: How did the United States end up increasing their funding for UXO clearance in Lao PDR? More specifically, who were the key individuals behind this development, and how did their actions contribute to this outcome? These questions are answered within the framework of humanitarian disarmament theory, which emphasises the role of norms and framing in explaining state behaviour.
The methodological framework builds upon the work of Donald E. Polkinghorne, who has theorised two types of narrative inquiry. These are narrative analysis, in which narrative data is ordered employing a plot, and analysis of narratives, in which narrative data is categorised. This thesis uses both types of narrative inquiry for analysing the narrative data, which was gathered from various public sources. First, in narrative analysis, the narrative data is presented as a short story cycle. Second, in analysis of narratives, the narrative data is analysed for two frames, which Holli A. Semetko and Patti M. Valkenburg have initially identified from news coverage. The human interest frame is used to bring a human face to an issue, and the responsibility frame is used to assign responsibility for the issue.
The results show how five individuals framed the issue of unexploded ordnance and influenced the decision of the United States to redress the legacies of war in Laos. These individuals are Fred Branfman, Channapha Khamvongsa, Anthony Bourdain, Ben Rhodes and Barack Obama. The conclusion highlights the importance of human agency behind humanitarian disarmament. The limitations of this thesis are the possible gaps within the individual level of analysis and the exclusion of other levels of analysis. Further research could complement these results by identifying more individuals behind the decision and including other levels of analysis.
This thesis focuses on the role of individuals behind the policy process that resulted in the United States increasing their assistance for Lao PDR. The research question is: How did the United States end up increasing their funding for UXO clearance in Lao PDR? More specifically, who were the key individuals behind this development, and how did their actions contribute to this outcome? These questions are answered within the framework of humanitarian disarmament theory, which emphasises the role of norms and framing in explaining state behaviour.
The methodological framework builds upon the work of Donald E. Polkinghorne, who has theorised two types of narrative inquiry. These are narrative analysis, in which narrative data is ordered employing a plot, and analysis of narratives, in which narrative data is categorised. This thesis uses both types of narrative inquiry for analysing the narrative data, which was gathered from various public sources. First, in narrative analysis, the narrative data is presented as a short story cycle. Second, in analysis of narratives, the narrative data is analysed for two frames, which Holli A. Semetko and Patti M. Valkenburg have initially identified from news coverage. The human interest frame is used to bring a human face to an issue, and the responsibility frame is used to assign responsibility for the issue.
The results show how five individuals framed the issue of unexploded ordnance and influenced the decision of the United States to redress the legacies of war in Laos. These individuals are Fred Branfman, Channapha Khamvongsa, Anthony Bourdain, Ben Rhodes and Barack Obama. The conclusion highlights the importance of human agency behind humanitarian disarmament. The limitations of this thesis are the possible gaps within the individual level of analysis and the exclusion of other levels of analysis. Further research could complement these results by identifying more individuals behind the decision and including other levels of analysis.