Can Limited Intervention Work? Lessons from Britain's Success Story in Sierra Leone

Following frustrating campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, Western interventions are becoming more limited, with troops being deployed for short bursts and residual peace-building tasks being left to others. Although this approach limits exposure for the intervening government, it struggles to achieve...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of strategic studies Vol. 39; no. 5-6; pp. 847 - 877
Main Author Ucko, David H.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Routledge 01.10.2016
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Civil war
Effectiveness
Foreign policy
Hegemony
Historiography
International relations-UK
Intervention
Left wing politics
Peacekeeping
Peacekeeping forces
Political change
Politics
Sierra Leone
United Kingdom
United Nations
United Kingdom > UK
Sierra Leone
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Following frustrating campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, Western interventions are becoming more limited, with troops being deployed for short bursts and residual peace-building tasks being left to others. Although this approach limits exposure for the intervening government, it struggles to achieve meaningful political change. Examining the comparatively successful British intervention in Sierra Leone (2000-02), this article identifies the conditions for effectiveness in these campaigns. It challenges the historiography of the case by framing armed confrontations and raids as enablers of politics rather than ends in themselves; indeed, in both the conduct and study of intervention, politics must reign supreme.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0140-2390
1743-937X
DOI:10.1080/01402390.2015.1110695