ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the behaviour of States in recent international armed conflicts determined the choice of conflicts. It examines the issues potentially affecting how the concept of military objective is applied in the identification of targets in Coalition operations. The chapter focuses on identifying any disagreements regarding particular targets between the Coalition members in the several conflicts, together with the basis for them. The Coalition members that had ratified Additional Protocol I (API) when the conflict started included Italy, Bahrain, Canada, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. A number of targets associated with the political leadership, TV stations and Iraqi economic industrial installations were attacked during the 1990-1 Gulf War. The chapter traces some of the interoperability issues that have arisen in four Coalition conflicts since 1977. The Coalition of 'willing' States started forming after the UN Security Council's decision to impose economic sanctions and a trade embargo on Iraq.
