This project will explore the historic characteristics of successes
and failures during international stabilization and conflict resolution in the
Middle East, as a basis for evaluating various forms of military intervention – that
could aid stabilization and facilitate conflict resolution – in the larger Middle
East today.
The project aims to explore
lessons of recent interventions as a foundation for alternative ways ahead. The
relationship between political objectives, on the one hand, and military means
and their deployment, on the other, is considered crucial for short- as well as
long-term success or failure.
A deeper understanding of the characteristics of
military successes and failures related to the larger political aims will help
define what options are available in the larger Middle East today.
The context of international military
intervention in the larger Middle East has profoundly changed since 2014 when
Russia appeared to be unwilling to engage militarily, ISIL was an unknown
phenomenon, Saudi Arabia and Iran were acting with restraint, and the flow of
refugees was limited. These dynamics by themselves underline the value and
relevance to explore and subsequently relate the characteristics of successes
and failures to possible future options.