War & Conflict Archive

The ebb and flow of the Libyan civil war has led most American and European commentators to draw two conclusions. First, the conflict will end with a negotiated settlement. Second, international peacekeepers may be required to make any deal work. The case for a negotiated settlement is based on the simple fact that a military solution to the crisis is unlikely: The rebels probably cannot win on the battlefield, and Col. Moammar Gadhafi cannot be allowed to do so. A stalemate is also unappealing, not least because it would require the U.S. and Europeans to continue policing Libya’s airspace, at […]

Fierce fighting has turned Ivory Coast’s main city into a ghost town as a final showdown looms between presidential rivals. Inhabitants of Abidjan are terrified to leave their homes. The first evacuations of foreigners have begun. With peacekeepers in its former colony, France is helping secure the safety of its nationals.

Thousands of people fleeing military rule in Myanmar have settled in refugee camps across the border in Thailand. Some have lived there for over 20 years. But many lack official papers, leaving them vulnerable to abuse.

Six U.S. soldiers of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division were killed March 29 in Afghanistan’s Kunar Province near the Pakistan border. This U.S. Defense Department video includes a statement from Maj. General John Campbell, commander of the 101st Airborne.

The commencement of military operations in Libya has led to some unexpected reactions in Eastern European capitals. It was widely expected that Russia, whose uneasiness with the very principle of humanitarian intervention is well-known, would have used its veto at the U.N. Security Council to block the passage of Resolution 1973. After all, Russia’s firm opposition to the Kosovo intervention in 1999 led the United States to work through NATO rather than bring the matter to the Security Council. And Moscow has had a clear track record over the last decade of resisting Western calls for intervention on humanitarian grounds […]

COMBAT OUTPOST BOWRI THANA, KHOST, Afghanistan – Since taking over this volatile district on the border with Pakistan earlier this year, Charlie Company of the U.S. Army’s 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment has come under a series of attacks from incoming rockets. One round hit just inside the small outpost, its shrapnel slicing off one soldier’s hand and leaving him with a hole in his thigh. Another, on a different day, scored another hit, throwing one lieutenant off his feet and sending him hurling through the air. “We took as many attacks — four — in a month as our […]