Resolving Libya s agony will take more than military action.

Military intervention in Iran could go either way.

Russia s military intervention in Syria and Europe s refugee crisis underscore this point.

What if the North Korean regime collapses, and China does intervene militarily?

Here too, however, actual military intervention should only be a last resort. In the case of Zimbabwe, for example, it is possible that sending in unarmed observers from other African countries would be sufficient.

Military intervention has no visible end point and would only increase chaos.

But military intervention in Darfur without the Sudanese government s consent is not an option today.

CAMBRIDGE When should states intervene militarily to stop atrocities in other countries?

Military intervention led or backed by the US in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya has produced similar debacles.

(A more extensive military commitment is scarcely possible, given how overstretched US ground forces already are.)

At the very least, we should be clear that military intervention is the third best (that is, worst) option.

In Germany s view, European military intervention should be limited to the continent, and should not include combat operations.

America probably lacks the capacity and the will to intervene militarily wherever the threat of genocide arises.

This led some to support the Algerian government's military crackdown after Islamists won the first round of 1991 legislative elections.

Military interventions in Sierra Leone, Liberia, East Timor, and Bosnia did not solve all problems, but they did improve the lives of the people there.

There is little appetite on either side for large scale military intervention in Iraq and Syria to counter the Islamic State.

Hollande supported the military intervention in Libya in 2011, and has joined the condemnation of Syrian President Bashar al Assad s regime.

It was believed that a military strike would create even more problems in terms of regional stability and security.

His careful language prompted China to warn Japan not to push the issue or to count on U.S. military intervention.

Following the AKP s parliamentary election victory in July, and now with the election of Gül, many observers predicted military intervention.

They see going nuclear as a way of limiting US military and geopolitical involvement in the Middle East.

In Syria, a Libyan style military intervention is not warranted, but diplomatic intervention is needed to allow the country's people to determine its future.

Military intervention would merely further complicate the issue, while creating new layers of conflict in our region and beyond.

Military intervention may help to hold the line against Iraq s further disintegration and the spread of the Islamic State cancer into countries like Jordan.

Foreign Interference

Political Interference?

Great as they are, the costs are trivial in comparison to the expense of humanitarian aid, international military intervention, and reconstruction assistance.

But widespread European opposition to the war removed the possibility of Turkish military intervention, forcing the government to develop another vision of Turkey's interests.

It's a war crime.

The world must make clear that Russian military involvement in Abkhazia is unacceptable, while also restraining Georgia s government from reacting militarily to any provocation.

Citing the British mission to Sierra Leone, Collier argues for military intervention, when feasible, to secure peace.

Unlike the US led invasion of Iraq in 2003, it cannot be argued that external military intervention will be likely to cause more harm than good.

Surgery was required.

And by no means do all those who work to protect the rights of others invoke the horrors of the Third Reich to justify Anglo American armed intervention.

If the main justification for an attack is humanitarian to end the senseless slaughter of Syrian civilians US military intervention would do more harm than good.

Before starting down that road, the US should be convinced that military action would not require US ground forces in Syria.

If the choice for Islamists is still bullets or ballots, bullets may now look more promising. More generally, military interference with civilian politics, for any reason, weakens the processes, institutions, and checks on state power that make liberal democracy work.

Not only is it occurring in the south of the Arabian Peninsula, directly on Saudi Arabia s borders the kingdom s direct military intervention has brought its strategic rivalry with Iran into the open.

More generally, military interference with civilian politics, for any reason, weakens the processes, institutions, and checks on state power that make liberal democracy work.

Likewise, when it comes to civil wars in the Middle East, Western restraint is usually a better strategy than hasty military intervention driven by domestic fear.

Intervention is even less plausible.

Well, acts of God.

And how multilateral?

One of his close political allies recently declared that should the United Nations Security Council approve military intervention in Syria, France could envision participating in that effort.

There are many more enthusiasts for a more calibrated military intervention, designed to establish one or more no fly zones, and maybe safe havens and humanitarian corridors on the ground.