The patterns and implications of American military interventions in the post-September 11 era

ABSTRACT

Since 2001, the United States has made major military interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, as leader of the anti-Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) coalition. Now, it is possible to compare the full scope of the Bush and Obama presidencies. Accordingly, this article will address patterns of continuity and change in approaches to American military intervention between 2001 and 2016. It asks two questions: What are the patterns of continuity and discontinuity in military intervention since September 11? And what do these patterns suggest about the future of American military interventions? In general, there is far more continuity than not in post-September 11 military interventions with regard to patterns of presidential commitments to domestic law, international institutions and multilateralism. The article then addresses major implications of American interventionism and what it portends in the age of Donald Trump.

RÉSUMÉ

Depuis 2001, les États-Unis ont conduit des opérations militaires majeures en Afghanistan, en Irak et en Lybie, en tant que leaders de la coalition anti-État Islamique, en Irak et en Syrie. Aujourd’hui, il nous est possible de comparer toute la portée des présidences Bush et Obama. En conséquence, cet article traite des modèles de continuité et de changement dans les approches utilisées lors des interventions militaires américaines entre 2001 et 2016. Il pose deux questions : Quels sont les modèles de continuité et de discontinuité utilisés dans les interventions militaires depuis le 11 septembre ? Et que suggèrent ces modèles, en ce qui concerne le futur des interventions militaires américaines ? D’une manière générale, par rapport aux modèles d’engagements présidentiels vis-à-vis de la législation nationale, les institutions internationales et le multilatéralisme, la continuité est beaucoup plus importante que la discontinuité dans les interventions américaines ayant suivi le 11 septembre. L’article s’intéresse ensuite aux implications majeures de l’interventionnisme américain et à ce qu’il augure à l’ère de Donald Trump.

KEYWORDS:

• United States
• military intervention
• George W. Bush
• Barack Obama
• Donald Trump

Acknowledgements

This article was first presented at the workshop Problems Abroad? Revisiting the Intervention Trap in an Era of Global Uncertainty, 6–7 October 2016. The author thanks the workshop organizers, and two anonymous reviewers, Jeffrey Rice and Jamie Vinken for their comments on earlier drafts.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Aaron Ettinger, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Waterloo and a research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Security and Development. His research appears in Security Dialogue, Millennium, Politics and International Journal.