Bulletin n. 1/2012
June 2012
CONTENTS
  • Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government
  • Section B) Global governance and international organizations
  • Section C) Regional integration processes
  • Section D) Federalism as a political idea
    • Coticchia Fabrizio
    The ‘enemy’ at the gates? Assessing the European military contribution to the Libyan war
    in Perspectives on federalism , Vol. 3, issue 3 ,  2011 ,  E- 48-70
    According to the ‘Defense Strategic Guidance’ (2012), the growing military capabilities of US allies will create new opportunities for sharing responsibilities in world affairs. The US strategic document considers the recent military operation in Libya a successful example in terms of burden sharing. The paper aims to assess the validity of such perspective, analyzing the concrete military contribution provided by the most relevant European counties involved in the intervention: UK, France and Italy. The NATO military mission has triggered a controversial debate in International Security Studies (ISS). Three months after the end of operations, it is possible to provide a strategic and military overview of the intervention. What are the key results and lessons learnt of the mission? What have been the shortfalls? What has been the role played by European armed forces (and by the EU defense policy)? Can ‘Unified Protector’ be considered a success in terms of burden sharing? Through the analysis of primary (official documents) and secondary sources (especially ISS literature), the article aims at answering these questions. After illustrating the current debate over the operation and how Libyan campaign represents the most recent evolution of contemporary military operations, the paper critically examines the crucial features of ‘Unified Protector’. The preliminary results of the analysis reject the Strategic Guidance’s optimism on European military capabilities, emphasize shortages, problems and a massive dependence on US assets. Full text available at: http://www.on-federalism.eu/index.php/fabrizio-coticchia/81-essay/106-the-enemy-at-the-gates-assessing-the-european-military-contribution-to-the-libyan-war-
    ©2001 - 2020 - Centro Studi sul Federalismo - P. IVA 94067130016