Research Catalog

Avoiding the slippery slope : conducting effective interventions /

Title
Avoiding the slippery slope : conducting effective interventions / Thomas R. Mockaitis.
Author
Mockaitis, Thomas R., 1955-
Publication
Carlisle, PA : Strategic Studies Institute and U.S. Army War College Press, [2013]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Filter by

2 Items

StatusFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
TextUse in library JZ6368 .M63 2013Off-site
TextUse in library Off-site

Details

Additional Authors
  • Army War College (U.S.). Press, publisher. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2014004772
  • Army War College (U.S.). Strategic Studies Institute, publisher. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80120847
Description
viii, 86 pages; 23 cm.
Summary
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.
Series Statement
Letort papers
Uniform Title
Letort papers.
Subjects
Note
  • "June 2013."
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (pages 76-86).
Additional Formats (note)
  • Also available online in PDF format from Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) web site.
Contents
Introduction -- Military intervention in U.S. history. Era of gunboat diplomacy -- The Cold War -- The post-Cold War era -- Analytical framework. Somalia -- Haiti -- Bosnia -- Kosovo -- Libya -- Noninterventions. Rwanda -- Syria -- Patterns and possibilities. Where to intervene -- When to intervene -- How to intervene -- Follow-on missions -- Exit strategy -- Balancing considerations -- Implications for U.S. land power -- Conclusion.
ISBN
  • 1584875720
  • 9781584875727
LCCN
2013433679
Owning Institutions
Princeton University Library