Applegate, Melissa A. Military Power in Operations Other Than War. Army Command And General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth KS, Jun 1994.
In a post-cold war environment, U.S. military deployments to promote stability, foster democratic reform, and encourage peace in an increasingly volatile world have risen dramatically. This thesis proposes that during protracted intervention, the U.S. reaches a strategic point of diminishing returns where the costs of intervention begin to surpass the strategic gains to be made; and how a myriad of variables contribute to the decreasing effectiveness of the military over time. Further, failure to recognize this point can significantly affect goal attainment, and protracted intervention can negatively affect readiness. The study examines U.S. intervention and the dilemmas that inevitably arise during protracted U.S. involvement overseas; it identifies problems associated with intervention and reviews current strategic thinking by noted authors and area experts. The study then examines two recent interventions, Somalia and Panama, applying a research model to determine if the U.S. was successful in achieving its strategic goals. A feasibility, acceptability and suitability assessment determines if military forces was the appropriate instrument to use and if not, why. The conclusions drawn tend to support the hypothesis, but they make even more evident the need for further study.