Philipp Offermann’s research while affiliated with Goethe University Frankfurt and other places

In 2001, Afghanistan became a threat to Germany, an act of “writing security” that resulted in a strong Bundeswehr involvement in military missions. But to defend itself at the Hindu Kush in such a proactive way seems to be at odds with the noninterventionist history and identity of the Federal Republic. This identity conflict is reflected in a fierce and ongoing discourse on foreign deployments and Germany's identity as a responsible actor in world politics. This article looks into representations of this identity conflict in recent German TV films, where Afghanistan veterans and their families struggle to come to terms with the mission. But fighting in Afghanistan does not necessarily lead to peace in Germany; the veterans’ traumatic experiences in Afghanistan result in frictions and conflicts at home. Only when (and if) the mission is narrated as responsible behavior that brings stability, fights terrorism, and saves brown women from brown men, Germany can reconcile itself with its temporal other and with the current war.