Participation in the Libyan Conflict Libya is one of the Arab countries that experienced an uprising against autocratic leaders as citizens and residents went to the street to demand change. The autocratic leadership of Muammar Gaddafi responded to the growing dissent by vowing to deal with citizens from house to house. This created a crisis that involved the battle between citizens and the government, which was keen to maintain its leadership in the country. In response to the government's threats, an international coalition led by NATO embarked on an initiative to protect Libyan civilians from Gaddafi's violent threats. As NATO was mandated with the responsibility of overseeing military conflicts in the Libyan conflict, the participation of other countries in this conflict required critical evaluation. Actually, the situation is an example of a conflict that requires situational leadership approach to determine a country's participation and effectiveness.

Determining Participation in the Libyan Conflict

As NATO oversees military operations in the Libyan conflict, a country's participation in the conflict requires consideration of several factors or aspects by the leader of a member country of the international coalition. Generally, members of the international coalition are involved in international efforts to stop violence and protect civilians in case of a military conflict. The situation in Libya is an example of a conflict that requires concerted efforts by international players to help protect civilians and end violence....

However, the participation of a member country in such a conflict is voluntary despite their status as a member of the coalition.
One of the factors that would influence decision of participation in the Libyan conflict despite NATO's responsibility in overseeing military operations is national or international protection of human rights. International intervention in military conflicts is a concept that emerged after the Cold War to challenge strict adherence to the doctrine of state sovereignty and the principle of non-intervention (Conteh-Morgan, n.d.). The national or international protection of human rights has been utilized as the reason to justify international intervention in conflicts. To this extent, the member country's role in safeguarding the fundamental human rights of Libyan civilians against autocratic leadership will influence decision on participation. Secondly, a clear mission for participation will influence such decision because involvement in military conflicts should be based on a specific mission or goal. In this case, NATO's mission for involvement in the Libyan conflict will be critically examined to determine whether it's important to participate in the conflict. The third factor is identifying whether the country has necessary capacity i.e. financial and human resources to participate in the Libyan conflict. This will involve assessing NATO's capacity to achieve its objectives as well as the country's capacity to help NATO in the process. If NATO does not have sufficient capacity to protect Libyan civilians and the…