ABSTRACT
The no fly zone imposed over Libya in 2011, like its predecessors in Iraq and Bosnia, was aimed against a dictator who had created a humanitarian crisis. The outcome of the debate was the initiation of an 8-month aerial intervention classified as a no fly zone that would accelerate Libya's transition to a post-Qaddafi state but would not produce a country that was more stable or free of violence. Content to operate from the air, the coalition quickly escalated from a no fly zone to an air campaign. It might be said that the no fly zone actually lasted only 24 hours, after which it was superseded by a full air campaign. One of the lessons learnt was that the no fly zone began as a hasty coalition, became a North Atlantic Treaty Organization operation 13 days after it began and changed its title from Operation Odyssey Dawn to Operation Unified Protector.
