U. S. Policy in the Balkans: a Hobson's Choice

U. S. Policy in the Balkans: a Hobson's Choice
Author: Stephen J. Blank
Publisher:
Total Pages: 40
Release: 2013-01-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781482099652

The United States is already engaged militarily in the ongoing crisis in the Balkans. Since November 1992, U.S. naval vessels have taken part in the maritime enforcement of the U.N. embargo of the belligerents. U.S. Air Force transport aircraft have dropped tons of humanitarian aid to besieged enclaves. U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy aircraft participate daily in the enforcement of the U.N. "no-fly zone" over Bosnia-Hercegovina, have shot down Bosnian Serb aircraft, and have been the principal participants in NATO bombing missions supporting the U. N. Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in Bosnia- Hercegovina. American planes have been fired on by Bosnian Serb anti-aircraft batteries and surface-to-air missiles and one USAF F-16 has been shot down. U.S. Marines have already undertaken military action on the ground in Bosnia to rescue downed Air Force pilot Captain Scott O'Grady. To the south, over 500 U.S. soldiers are in Macedonia to deter expansion of the conflict. Given the escalating nature of the conflict (e.g., Bosnian Serb seizure of "safe havens" and Croatian offensives in the Krajina region), U.S. engagement may deepen suddenly, requiring quick decisions concerning increased U.S. military involvement in the crisis. Indeed, nearly every potential turn of events could lead to an increased commitment of U.S. military force to the region. Potential ethnic Bosnian Serb attacks against the remaining "safe havens" have brought NATO threats of "firm and rapid response of NATO's air power" that would undoubtedly involve large numbers of U.S. aircraft.

Fractured States and U.S. Foreign Policy

Fractured States and U.S. Foreign Policy
Author: E. Farkas
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 188
Release: 2003-11-07
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1403982430

When does the U.S. support partition of a warring or failing state? Why has the U.S. supported partition for some secessionists, or irredentists, but not for others? Is it a policy of last resort or are there certain variables that are strong determinants of this position right from the start? This book seeks to answer these questions by examining U.S. policy toward secessionist movements in three countries during the first decade following the end of the Cold War: Iraq, Ethiopia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. This book uses detailed comparative examintion of U.S. policies in these three cases to assess the relative impact of a number of factors in U.S. decisionmaking.

Regions and Powers

Regions and Powers
Author: Barry Buzan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 598
Release: 2003-12-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780521891110

This book develops the idea that since decolonisation, regional patterns of security have become more prominent in international politics. The authors combine an operational theory of regional security with an empirical application across the whole of the international system. Individual chapters cover Africa, the Balkans, CIS Europe, East Asia, EU Europe, the Middle East, North America, South America, and South Asia. The main focus is on the post-Cold War period, but the history of each regional security complex is traced back to its beginnings. By relating the regional dynamics of security to current debates about the global power structure, the authors unfold a distinctive interpretation of post-Cold War international security, avoiding both the extreme oversimplifications of the unipolar view, and the extreme deterritorialisations of many globalist visions of a new world disorder. Their framework brings out the radical diversity of security dynamics in different parts of the world.

The History and Future of Warfare:Selections from the Professional Readings in Military Strategy Published by the Strategic Studies Institute of the U. S. Army War College

The History and Future of Warfare:Selections from the Professional Readings in Military Strategy Published by the Strategic Studies Institute of the U. S. Army War College
Author: Harry Almond
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 960
Release: 1999-12-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

The History and Future of Warfare Selections of the Professional Readings in Military Strategy Published by the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College Legal standards are an important part of military strategic decision making, both as to whether or not to take military action and how military action should be conducted once the decision is made. Insight into the practical and economic application of these standards is at the core of this thought-provoking book. Edited with extensive legal commentary and analysis by two prominent US military lawyers with global experience, The History and Future of Warfare presents a revealing survey of the most significant findings, over a 30-year period, of outstanding military advisers and scholars on the use, control, and conduct of military forces in hostilities. Drawing on the work of the Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College--work which has deeply influenced military thinking and doctrine not only in the US but worldwide--this book distills the considered judgment of a generation of commentators on the operational controls that have evolved since the 1960s and been tested and refined in conflicts from Vietnam to Kosova. Collecting 31 essays in ten chapters (with introductory comments to each chapter), the book addresses such specific issues and practical problems as the role of NATO and its enlargement; justifications of the recourse to war, especially the `Weinberger Doctrine'; setting legal controls on new weapons and new military technologies; and the doctrine of peacekeeping and its strategic promise. There are also essays dealing with particular geographical and regional military issues that arise in Russia, China, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, as well as studies of the changing role of the United Nations and the US in the New World Order. The History and Future of Warfare allows international lawyers, defense policymakers and other interested parties to consider in depth serious problems involving the use of military force. Through its clear thinking about legal standards, both existing (such as the Geneva Protocols of December 1977) and proposed, it helps these professionals to resolve issues of improper or unlawful conduct in regard to the use of military force.