Publications by Author: Michael W. Alvis

1999

The United States entered the 1990s on a roll, emerging from the Cold War as the globe?s single remaining superpower. America led its allies to a decisive victory in the Gulf War, less than fourteen months into the decade, demonstrating competence and confidence in this new role. Vetoes of multilateral initiatives by permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, commonplace during the Cold War, became rare.1 Once–adversarial Council members, such as China and Russia, responded favorably to U.S. leadership while engaging with America economically. Also, the reputation of the United Nations improved following peacekeeping successes in Namibia, Cambodia and El Salvador. With U.S. leadership and a cooperative Security Council, there appeared no limit to what could be achieved – in the interest of peace – as the world closed out the bloodiest century in its history. Multilateral peace operations became more feasible, in the absence of the bipolar superpower stalemate, but regrettably, the United States did not have sufficient time to develop a peace operations doctrine before it was compelled into action.