Avoiding the slippery slope
Subtitle: conducting effective interventions
By: Thomas R. Mockaitis
Contributors: Army War College (U.S.). Strategic Studies Institute; Army War College (U.S.). Press
Series: Letort papers; Letort papers
Publisher: Strategic Studies Institute and U.S. Army War College Press
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Carlisle, PA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 86
ISBN-13: 9781584875727
Subjects: Intervention (International law); Case studies; Military policy; Foreign relations
Description: This Letort Paper covers U.S. military interventions in civil conflicts since the end of the Cold War. It defines intervention as the use of military force to achieve a specific objective (i.e., deliver humanitarian aid, support revolutionaries or insurgents, protect a threatened population, etc.) and focuses on the phase of the intervention in which kinetic operations occurred. The analysis considers five conflicts in which the United States intervened: Somalia (1992-93), Haiti (1994), Bosnia (1995), Kosovo (1999), and Libya (2011). It also reviews two crises in which Washington might have intervened but chose not to: Rwanda (1994) and Syria (2011-12). The author examines each case using five broad analytical questions: 1. Could the intervention have achieved its objective at an acceptable cost in blood and treasure? 2. What policy considerations prompted the intervention? 3. How did the United States intervene? 4. Was the intervention followed by a Phase 4 stability operation? and, 5. Did Washington have a viable exit strategy? From analysis of these cases, the author derives lessons that may guide policy makers in deciding when, where, and how to intervene in the future.
Notes: "June 2013."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 76-86).

Also available online in PDF format from Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) web site.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Military intervention in U.S. history. Era of gunboat diplomacy; title: The Cold War; title: The post-Cold War era; title: Analytical framework. Somalia; title: Haiti; title: Bosnia; title: Kosovo; title: Libya; title: Noninterventions. Rwanda; title: Syria; title: Patterns and possibilities. Where to intervene; title: When to intervene; title: How to intervene; title: Follow-on missions; title: Exit strategy; title: Balancing considerations; title: Implications for U.S. land power; title: Conclusion.