This book examines how and why the United States, Britain, France, and Germany failed to cope with the collapse of Yugoslavia and its descent into a savage civil war. This failure also shattered long-cherished notions about how the UN, NATO, and the European Community would deal with such a crisis and prompted a drastic reassessment of their roles. Gow demonstrates that the lack of timing, bad judgment, poor cohesion, and absence of political will over the use of force were the fundamental reasons for this failure.

What is the West? Why does it need to be defended? From what, by whom, and how? These are thorny questions that international society must grapple with in order to meet the security challenges of the 21st Century. This little book provides answers to these questions. In it, James Gow sends out a clarion call for a radical re-interpretation of the right of self-defence within the terms of international law and international politics.

The world is a wonderful, but dangerous place. There are any number of threats to peace and security, ranging from new forms of terrorism and the...

What is the West? Why does it need to be defended? From what, by whom, and how? These are thorny questions that international society must grapple with in order to meet the security challenges of the 21st Century. This little book provides answers to these questions. In it, James Gow sends out a clarion call for a radical re-interpretation of the right of self-defence within the terms of international law and international politics.

The world is a wonderful, but dangerous place. There are any number of threats to peace and security, ranging from new forms of terrorism and the...