Cover: Toppling Qaddafi

Toppling Qaddafi

Libya and the Limits of Liberal Intervention

by Christopher S. Chivvis

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Toppling Qaddafi is a carefully researched, highly readable look at the role of the United States and NATO in Libya's war of liberation and its lessons for future military interventions. Based on extensive interviews within the U.S. government, this book recounts the story of how the United States and its European allies went to war against Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, why they won the war, and what the implications for NATO, Europe, and Libya will be. This was a war that few saw coming, and many worried would go badly awry, but in the end the Qaddafi regime fell and a new era in Libya's history dawned. Whether this is the kind of intervention that can be repeated, however, remains an open question — as does Libya's future and that of its neighbors.
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"Christopher Chivvis brilliantly dissects the 2011 intervention in Libya, providing a detailed account of Allied diplomacy and NATO military operations. Anyone thinking about future interventions should read this book."

- James Goldgeier, Dean, School of International Service, American University

"Christopher Chivvis provides a highly readable, insightful account of the Libyan intervention-its successes and limitations. As someone who participated in these events, I recognized much of the story told-and learned more new things than I'd imagined."

- Ivo Daalder, former United States Ambassador to NATO

"Christopher Chivvis makes an interesting case in Toppling Qaddafi that NATO's intervention in Libya had a 'positive' outcome and that it should provide an 'antidote to the sense of helplessness and cynicism about American power.' Some readers may disagree with his conclusions, but not with the argument that this is an important and clarifying debate."

- David Ignatius, columnist, The Washington Post

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