Political Rationale and International Consequences of the War in Libya

Political Rationale and International Consequences of the War in Libya focuses on the international intervention in Libya in 2011, and tries to answer two broad questions; (1) What was the political rationale for the various actors to proceed as they did in the lead-up and conduct of the military intervention in Libya?, (2) What are the consequences of the UN-authorized military intervention in Libya?

R2P was the public raison d'etre of the war, and an important legitimizing factor of the intervention. Still, the humanitarian situation was a necessary, but not in and by itself an adequate precondition for intervention. A number of factors coalesced to enable the intervention. While the humanitarian situation triggered the intervention, in reality a variety of national interests governed the approach by the various international actors, and more often than not, these motives were not rooted in the particular circumstances in Libya.

The book offers a combination of unique perspectives. While the perspectives of the US, France, and the UK on the Libyan Crisis/War have been well documented, the Arabic and Scandinavian political and military dynamics have been much less so. While the perspectives of NATO, the UN, and R2P have been debated, the view from the Arab League and African Union (AU) have been less in focus. The volume redresses that imbalance and offers the most broad-ranging analysis yet of a key moment in recent international relations.

Dag Henriksen, Professor of Modern History / Military Studies, and Head of the Airpower Department at the RNoAF Academy.

Professor Henriksen is a Lt Col in the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF), and the Head of the Airpower Department at the RNoAF Academy. He has studied history and political science at the University of Trondheim (NTNU), been a student for four years at the RNoAF Academy, and a one-year student at the Norwegian Defense Command and Staff College. He graduated with a Ph.D. from the University of Glasgow, UK, in 2006, and spent one year as a researcher at the U.S. Air Force Research Institute (AFRI), Maxwell AFB, Alabama (2012). He served in ISAF HQ, Afghanistan, 2007. He became a professor in Modern History / Military Studies in fall 2015. He has written the books NATO's Gamble. Combining diplomacy and airpower in the Kosovo Crisis, 1998-1999 (2007) and Airpower in Afghanistan 2005-2010. The Air Commander's Perspectives (2014).

Ann Karin Larssen is an Assistant Professor at the Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy since 2002 and Lecturer, having specialized in Norwegian and Russian Foreign and Defence Policy. Larssen is Cand. polit. in Comparative Politics from the University in Bergen. She has served in the Norwegian Defence Force (submarine), and graduated from the Norwegian National Defence College, Oslo, in 2006.

Introduction
PART I: The UN Veto Power's Perspectives
1. U.S. Intervention in the Libyan Civil War: Are There Lessons to be Learned?, Tom Farer
2. The War in Libya: The Political Rationale for France, Francois Heisbourg
3. The UK Political Rationale for Intervention and its Consequences, Christina J.M. Goulter
4. Russia: the Principle of Non-intervention and the Libya Case, Ann Karin Larssen
5. The Political Rationale of China's Deliberately Limited Role in the Libyan Civil War, Cheng Ding
Part II: The Arab Perspectives
6. The Role and Impact on the Arab League, Ranj Alaaldin
7. The Rationale and Implications of Qatar's Intervention in Libya, Kristian Coates Ulrichsen
8. The Political Rationale and Implications of the United Arab Emirates' Military Involvement in Libya, Jean-Marc Rickli
Part III: The Scandinavian Perspectives
9. The Political Rationale and Implications of Norway's Military Involvement in Libya, Dag Henriksen
10. The Swedish Decision to Participate in Operation Unified Protector, Robert C. Egnell
11. The Danish Libya campaign: out in Front in Pursuit of Pride, praise and Position, Peter Viggo Jakobsen
Part IV: NATO, International Law, and Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
12. The Role and Impact on NATO, Ryan C. Hendrickson
13. Libya, R2P, and the United Nations, Thomas G. Weiss
14. The Role and Impact on R2P and International Law, Sigmund Simonsen
Part V: The African Perspectives
15. The Role and Impact on the African Union, Linnea Gelot
16. The Impact of the War On Libya, By George Joffe