104 International Relations Theory of War
- UNSCOM I, between the United States and Iraq from November 13,
1997, to February 23, 1998. The crisis stemmed from the repeat obsta-
cles that Iraq set before the operations of the United Nations forces
(UNSCOM). The force operated in accordance with Resolution 687,
which called Iraq to waive its weapons of mass destruction. The United
States’ response was decisive and included deploying many forces to
the region.^124 - UNSCOM II Operation Desert Fox, held between the United States and
Iraq from October 31 to December 20, 1998. The crisis resulted from
Iraq violating the agreement that was achieved after the previous crisis
concerning UN inspectors (UNSCOM I, ICB #422). During it, British
and American forces attacked more than 90 Iraqi targets over a course
of 72 hours.^125
Thus, the United States’ involvement in the Persian Gulf in the 1990s
was comprehensive. On the one hand, in accordance with the anarchy prin-
ciple, the unipolar system spurred the players in the system, in this case,
Iraq, to apply positive feedback models (i.e. contest the supremacy of the
sole hyperpower, the United States). On the other hand, according to the
homeostasis principle, the system dictated to the United States to apply neg-
ative feedback models for restoring the system to a balance.
East Asia Region. The status of the United States as the sole hyperpow-
er in a unipolar system forced it to intervene in the 1990s in crises that
occurred in East Asia too. North Korea Nuclear I, which involved North
Korea, South Korea, and the United States (from March 1993 to October 21,
1994), threatened the United States’ supremacy in the world order follow-
ing the Cold War.^126
Military Involvements of the United StatesIn the 1990s, the United States “disavowed” its many duties as the
leader of the international system. It abstained from employing its power
around the world and behaved in contravention of the expectation for the
leading power of the system.
This pattern of behavior of the United States led the system to spur the
other players in it to challenge its leadership and apply positive feed-
back models. Terrorist acts against the United States by Islamic organiza-
tions, such as Al Qaeda, are feedback models that the system spurred the
players to take in order to contest the leadership of the sole hyperpower,
the United States. Examples include attacks against the American forces
in Somalia in 1993;^127 the attacks against the U.S. embassies in Nairobi,
Kenya, and Dar es Salam in Tanzania on August 7, 1998;^128 the bombing
of the destroyer USS Cole off Yemen on October 12, 2000, and an attempt
to carry out a similar attack against the destroyer USS The Sullivans, which