Whatever standard of success is adopted, certain general considerations apply. The intervention operation itself must have an efficient, responsive decision-making system. A decision-maker must be held accountable for their decisions. The operation must take measures to insures that its forces are not taken hostage or targeted directly by the combatants. The intervening group must retain and exercise consistent control over the nature and timing of the intervention.
Interventions tend to fail if the intervening group loses the initiative.
The intervention must be backed up by adequate information about the situation. Often the particular characters of the key players makes a crucial difference in the outcome of an intervention. Successful UN interventions tend to exhibit these features. In terms of strategy, the international community must be willing to support intervention into some internal conflicts. However, we should not seek to thrust the UN, or the United States, into every internal conflict.