The ‘enemy’ at the gates? Assessing the European military contribution to the Libyan war

According to the ‘Defense Strategic Guidance’ (2012), the growing military capabilities of US allies will create new opportunities for sharing responsibilities in world affairs. The US strategic document considers the recent military operation in Libya a successful example in terms of burden sharing. The paper aims to assess the validity of such perspective, analyzing the concrete military contribution provided by the most relevant European counties involved in the intervention: UK, France and Italy.
The NATO military mission has triggered a controversial debate in International Security Studies (ISS).  Three months after the end of operations, it is possible to provide a strategic and military overview of the intervention. What are the key results and lessons learnt of the mission? What have been the shortfalls? What has been the role played by European armed forces (and by the EU defense policy)? Can ‘Unified Protector’ be considered a success in terms of burden sharing?
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