Military Intervention And The War On Terror - Yugoslavia + Sierra Leone

Question 1

Why did Blair firmly believe in

Answer 1

-liberal interventionism (belief country intervention in another country for ‘liberal aims’) to prevent recurrence of massacres + ethnic cleansing e.g, Yugoslavian civil war

Question 2

What is a timeline of the military interventions from 1997 to 2007

Answer 2

-March 1999 NATO bombing Yugoslavia led by Br
-may 2000 intervention in Sierra Leone to resolve civil war
-Oct 2001 invasion Afghan to overthrow taliban
-March 2003 invasion Iraq by US-led invasion
-dec 2007 br withdrawal from Iraq announced by brown

Question 3

When did Blair announce his support of liberal interventionism

Answer 3

-Blair speech Chicago 1999 set out the ‘Blair doctrine of liberal interventionism’ when he stated ‘we cannot turn our backs on conflicts…if we want still to be secure’ ‘we need new rules for international cooperation’

Question 4

What did Blair do in the final phase of the Balkan wars

Answer 4

-in the final phase of the Balkan wars due to Serbian attacks on Kosovo Blair devoted main diplomatic efforts to persuading reluctant pres Clinton back military action against Serbia

Question 5

What did this convincing of Clinton leading to

Answer 5

-1999 prolonged NATO bombing campaign against Serbia forced Milosevic into pulling his forces out of Kosovo
-this early success in the balkans moulded Blair’s thinking + shaped his later policies

Question 6

What did Blair do in 2000

Answer 6

-2000 when rebel forces in the civil war in Sierra Leone threatened take over capital city br gov sent forces

Question 7

What was thus action initially designed to do

Answer 7

-initially designed to evacuate foreigners but once there br forces supported UN peacekeepers in securing the capital
-br forces helped bring end of civil war a year later