By considering the operational factors involved in all types of intervention, and by examining some of the historical precedents for these operations, Richard Connaughton provides a timely interpretation of international affairs.

The greatest `projection of power' in history, dwarfing in scale and speed even the D Day landings of 1944 was enacted in the Gulf in the spring of 1991. It marked dramatically the revolution in military affairs which has followed the ending of confrontation in Europe. But the war and its aftermath showed the vast complexities of `power projection', even in the favorable conditions of the Gulf. Richard Connaughton has written the first comprehensive professional study of the problems of future interventions, in terms of a complex of political and military issues at the operational level.