In March, 1994, President Clinton signed a direc-
tive that required that American participation in
peacekeeping operations be contingent on the
threat to international security and on whether such
assistance directly serves American interests. Reluc-
tance to the use of military ground forces in foreign
crises helps explain the U.S. response to subsequent
events during the Clinton presidency, including the
genocide in Rwanda in 1994, Bosnian Serb army op-
erations in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995, and Yu-
goslav army attacks against the province of Kosovo in
1999.
Subsequent Events The third U.N. operation in
Somalia ended in March, 1995. It took another nine
years for Somalia to form a transitional government.
In June, 2006, an Islamist militia took over Mogadi-
shu, though the capital was recaptured by transi-
tional government forces in December, 2006. In
February, 2007, the U.N. Security Council autho-
rized an African Union peacekeeping mission to So-
malia. However, efforts at reconciliation between ri-
val groups have proven futile to date.
Further Reading
Allison, William Thomas, Jeffrey Grey, and Janet G.
Valentine.American Militar y Histor y: A Survey from
Colonial Times to the Present. Upper Saddle River,
N.J.: Pearson-Prentice Hall, 2007. This text con-
tains a section on Somalia as part
of a discussion of peacekeeping
and nation-building.
Bowden, Mark.Black Hawk Down: A
Stor y of Modern War. New York:
Atlantic Monthly Press, 1999. This
detailed narrative of the Mogadi-
shu battle inspired the 2001 film
of the same name.
Doughty, Robert A., et al.American
Militar y Histor y and the Evolution
of Warfare in the Western World.
Lexington, Mass.: D. C. Heath,
- A section on the Somalia
mission is included in a chapter
on post-Cold War interventions.
Stevenson, Jonathan.Losing Mogadi-
shu: Testing U.S. Policy in Somalia.
Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute
Press, 1995. Stevenson, a journal-
ist, covered events in Somalia for
several newspapers and maga-
zines. Two years before the publication of this
book, he published an article inForeign Policythat
traced events in the besieged country until just
before the Mogadishu battle.
Stewart, Richard W.The United States Army in Somalia,
1992-1994.Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army Center
of Military History, 2003. One of several military-
based studies of the Somalia operation.
Samuel B. HoffSee also Africa and the United States; Bush,
George H. W.; Christopher, Warren; Clinton, Bill;
Cohen, William S.; Defense budget cuts; Kosovo
conflict; United Nations. Sontag, Susan
Identification American critic and novelist
Born January 16, 1933; New York, New York
Died December 28, 2004; New York, New York
An essayist who championed avant-garde and contempo-
rar y art, Sontag turned to historical fiction and a feminist
play in the 1990’s.
Susan Sontag made her reputation as a public intel-
lectual with her first essay collection,Against Interpre-
tation, and Other Essays(1966). She maintained herThe Nineties in America Sontag, Susan 789
Susan Sontag.(Library of Congress)