OPERATIONS “ODYSSEY. DAWN” AND “UNIFIED PROTECTOR”: CAUSES, PROCESS, CONSEQUENCES

Abstract

International military intervention in Libya in 2011 was caused, first of all, by the threat to the civilian population from the regime of M. Gaddafi. During the massive popular protests the dictator used police and army forces leading to numerous casualties. The UN Security Council authorized the implementation of a military operation to protect the Libyan civilian population. The conceptual framework for international intervention was the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine. The aim of the article is to analyze the causes, course and outcomes of the international military operation in Libya in the context of the doctrine “Responsibility to Protect” and its enforcement tools - preventive humanitarian intervention. The grounds for application, eligibility and especially the outcome of large-scale military intervention in the event in Libya need serious analysis. After all, the current situation in this country where the civil war is in full swing is far from stable. The main issues that have arisen as a result of preventive humanitarian intervention in Libya, part of which was a multinational military operation, are the following: what criteria should determine the degree of success of international intervention? Was the answer of the international community proportional to the threat posed by the regime of Gaddafi? Can we separate the strategy involved in the activities concerning the protection of Libyan civilians from acts of own interests’ defence from the side of external actors? How viable is the R2P doctrine in general? The results of international intervention cannot be assessed unambiguously. On the one hand, the authoritarian regime of M. Gaddafi was destroyed; on the other hand, the creation of a democratic state did not take place. Libya today is in a state of civil war and Libya is a source of tension in the region. As a result of the analysis, it can be concluded that the Libyan operation raised the question of the advisability of using humanitarian intervention in the future. The cornerstone test of any humanitarian initiative must be proportionality between potential threats and actual losses. The invasion of Libya has not passed the test of humanitarian intervention.