Winter 2005/06
"Who 'Won' Libya? The Force-Diplomacy Debate and Its Implications for Theory and Policy"
Journal Article, International Security, issue 3, volume 30
By Bruce Jentleson and Christopher Whytock
When Libya announced in December 2003 that it was abandoning its nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons programs and settling the Pan Am flight 103 terrorism case, the United States government was quick to claim credit for bringing a "rogue state" to heel. President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney argued that Libya was influenced by the U.S. use of force to topple regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. Others claimed that diplomacy and economic incentives were more important than the threat of force. Who and what actually "won" Libya? Bruce Jentleson and Christopher Whytock offer a comprehensive analysis that reveals that deft diplomacy played a major role in changing Libyan policies.
