Pros And Cons Of Multilateralist

What are the Pros & the cons of executing bilateral & multilateral covert opeNarrative

September 11, 2001 had fashioned a substitute doctrine to the cold war when President George Bush declared “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.”1 Ever since that declaration was made 9 days after Al-Qaeda attacked New York, the United States acted unilaterally on many occasions2. It flew tens of armed drones into Afghanistan, Pakistan & Yemen. The U.S. Special Forces killed and captured scores of terrorist inside sovereign countries. American agents snatched suspects off the streets of harboring capitals and brought them to face justice in the U.S. The most spectacular of these operations was operation Neptune Spear, conducted by the

The covert component is evident in all those operations. That would illuminate a relevant question: Could those operations be as successful if the U.S. adhered to multilateralism and asked others to join in the effort? Consequently, Assuming we observed the traditional norms pertaining to bilateral protocols of intelligence exchange with friends, will Bin Laden be dead today had we informed the Pakistanis before hand? On the other hand; How could we convince other nations to join the campaign against terrorism , under our leadership , but yet dismiss bilateralism and multilateralism as options ? If unilateralism is our choice to conduct covert operations, how could we get other nations to share and reciprocate in exchange of nothing? If we opt to share some of our hard-collected sensitive information, can we grantee secrecy & zero leaks ?If we ascertain ,from past experiences , that some leaks are inevitable to happen ( Berlin Tunnel ) , how can we guard against serious fallout that could spoil clandestine operations and

Soon after, the world acknowledged the Bush doctrine and Counter Terrorism was embraced by majority of nations. That left the U.S. with a genuine need to enhance national security on three relevant levels; unilateral, bilateral and multilatera3. A sizable majority of the UN General Assembly were concerned, suspicious or fearful to be a part of the endeavor if it meant risking their own sovereignty. Indeed, that issue was, and still remains to many third world nations as a source of suspicious interpretations of the U.S. intentions. Covert Operations could be confronted with situations that could make trivial gestures, such as getting someone phone number, a vital part of the operation success. Example of that is illustrated in a July 1996 CIA report which complained about efforts to get Bin Laden phone number, “We have no unilateral sources close to bin Laden, or any reliable way of intercepting his communications. We must rely on foreign intelligence services to confirm his movements and activities.”4.

Today, war on terrorism relies heavily on covert operations conducted electronically or through HUMINT. Assessment of the concepts of this paper will have to address specific situations when unilateralism , bilateralism or multilateralism have impacted covert operations in areas such as ; The Use Of Drones, Hot pursuit , Attacking Terrorist Sanctuaries , Attacking Rouge States