Strategic Implications of U.S. Military Action in Libya

On 19 March 2011 President Barack Obama ordered the U.S. military to reinforce the Libyan opposition in the civil war against the 42 year old regime of Muammar al Qadhafi. Seven months later, the Qadhafi regime was a thing of the past. The President launched a successful unconventional war with NATO allies and Arab partners in support of an insurgency in an Arab country without the loss of a single U.S. life. It was a vindication of Obama#65533;s approach to the application of military power and a nice gain in political capital on the eve of election season. However, this war produced consequences that do not work in favor of U.S. interests. This paper analyzes the positive and negative implications of U.S. participation in the war in Libya, and measures them against the four pillars of the 2010 National Security Strategy. The author concludes that the long term negative aspects outweigh the short term positive results. In the end, the war in Libya brought greater harm than good to U.S. national security.