MILITARY INTERVENTION AFTER THE COLD WAR: THE EVOLUTION OF THEORY AND PRACTICE/ANDREA KATHRYN TALENTINO

Abstract

The 1992 United States-led international military operation into Somalia was a multilateral effort persuaded by and under the aegis of the United Nations (UN) to thwart a humanitarian crisis as a result of political cataclysm, civil unrest and natural disaster. The Unified Task Force (UNITAF) was mandated to create an environment conducive for the distribution of emergency aid against earlier attempts, which were derailed by warlords and the marauding gangs. The achievements on the humanitarian objectives were ephemeral because when the mission ended in 1993, an operation to make possible the political imperatives commenced, but all these efforts ended in violence. The ensuing withdrawal of its forces by the United States prompted the demise of UN operations and eventually the intervention was concluded with the political impasse unresolved.