Armed Peacekeepers in Bosnia
Abstract
With the aid of a generous grant from the U.S. Institute of Peace, the authors were able to access and examine relevant documents, interview numerous participants, and visit U.S. and NATO forces in Bosnia. As a result of their labors, they have provided the reader with an analytical narrative that covers the background to the crisis in Bosnia, the largely ineffectual efforts of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) to stop the civil war there between 1992 and 1995, the Dayton Peace Accords of 1995 that produced a framework for ending the civil war and consolidating the peace, the frenetic planning that led to the deployment of U.S. forces as part of the NATO-led multinational force (Operation Joint Endeavor), and the transition of that Implementation Force (IFOR) to the Stabilization Force (SFOR) a year later. The authors shed light on several of the critical military lessons that have emerged from the U.S. experience in Bosnia -- an involvement that continues as of this writing. In general, these lessons cover the cooperation and contention present in virtually any coalition undertaking; the complexity of the local situation and the ways in which strictly military tasks have political, social, economic, and cultural ramifications that the military cannot ignore or avoid; the inevitable adjustments peacekeepers have to make to dynamic and precarious situations; and the often unaccommodating role history plays when confronted with concerns about force protection, mission creep, end states, and early exits. In Bosnia, a U.S. military force trained and equipped to fight a highly technological, conventional war found itself making adjustments that resulted in performing tasks that many officers considered unconventional and unorthodox.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA483393
Entities
People
- George W. Gawrych
- Robert F. Baumann
- Walter E. Kretchik
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College