Since the end of the Cold War, the international community, and the USA in particular, has intervened in a series of civil conflicts around the world. In a number of cases, where actions such as economic sanctions or diplomatic pressures have failed, military interventions have been undertaken. This 1999 book examines four US-sponsored interventions (Panama, Somalia, Haiti and Bosnia), focusing on efforts to reconstruct the state which have followed military action. Such nation-building is vital if conflict is not to recur. In each of the four cases, Karin von Hippel considers the factors which led the USA to intervene, the path of military intervention, and the nation-building efforts which followed. The book seeks to provide a greater understanding of the successes and failures of US policy, to improve strategies for reconstruction, and to provide some insight into the conditions under which intervention and nation-building are likely to succeed.

‘The interventions of the 1990s were greeted first with optimism, quickly followed by wide-spread disillusionment. The great merit of this book is that it provides a sober and detailed analysis of both the problems of using force in support of democracy and the achievements.’

James Mayall - University of Cambridge

‘… a really great job both in the case studies and the surrounding policy analysis. A good, lucid, interesting read…obviously destined to be a standard reference.’

Hon. Gareth Evans AO QC - President, International Crisis Group