Enduring Alliances Matter in Times of Crisis

Sally McNamara / March 22, 2011

The Franco-American-British coalition leading military intervention in Libya has demonstrated the cardinal rule of international security: enduring alliances matter. Ultimately, when the chips were down and the rebel stronghold in Benghazi was under threat, it was a coalition of long-standing allies that rallied behind one another to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya.

British Prime Minister David Cameron quickly emerged as Europe’s unofficial leader on the issue of Libya and was among the first to call for Libya to be suspended from the U.N. Human Rights Council. French President Nicolas Sarkozy also took an early leading role, and, working with Cameron, successfully rallied international support for military intervention at the Paris Summit on Saturday. The coalition now stands at 10 nations—the vast majority of which are already solid allies with one another, and nine of which are working together in Afghanistan. (more…)