Interoperability As a Networked and Intertwined Phenomenon

From the point of view of NATO’s collective defence, it is essential for the allied actors’ activities to be compatible (interoperability). From the perspective of agency, theoretical and practical discussion about the concept is largely limited to the military-to-military framework and to the development of interoperability to achieve effective military activity. In this approach, a crisis or conflict is understood to be taking place in a vacuum without other actors, their tasks and the logics of their activities.

This study provides a holistic view of interoperability, making it visible by analyzing national reports on the Afghanistan operation. When the operation was brought to an end in summer 2021 in fairly chaotic circumstances, its participating countries felt a need to analyze its success. Studies and evaluation reports on the operation and its impact were produced to the most senior central government officials in Finland.

The extended view of interoperability goes beyond the traditional military-centric view and highlights the critical role of non-military actors as well as the interdependencies between different systems and the tensions linked to them. Interoperability is therefore visible as a networked and intertwined phenomenon combining processes of multiple directions and levels. The holistic view also highlights the need to understand multicentred cooperation, multidimensional assessment and accountability of activities in more depth.