NATO means the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; it is an Intergovernmental military alliance based on North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on April 4th 1948. It comprises of 28 nations, and its headquarter is in Brussels in Belgium (Marco, 2009).
It is the world largest military alliance, and its member states agreed to offer a joint defense in reaction to any external attack by any external enemy. Example of interventions, where NATO has been involved include: Kosovo Intervention 1999, Afghanistan war, Iraq training Mission on August 2004, Gulf of Aden anti-piracy on August 2009 and Libyan Conflict 2011 (Peter, 2000).
Libyan conflict started on 12th and 13th 2011 where violence broke out between protesters and the government under Colonel Muamar Gadaffi who came into power in 1969.The Libyan revolt quickly developed into an insurgency and then into civil war (Itamar, 2012). On 17th March 2011, United Nations Security Resolution of 1973 was enacted, and it authorized a cease fire and military action to protect civilians. Consequently NATO forces enforced no fly-zone and enforced an arms embargo against Libya.
A leader of a member country of NATO would consider the following before participating in the Libyan conflict. There are some risks involved, since it is vital for the leader to evaluate the risks that would affect his nation negatively before deciding to participate or not in the Libyan conflict. For example, loss of a significant relationship with other countries and the cost involved (Peter, 2000).
Revenge is also a factor to be considered. Here, a nation would consider past damages caused by Libya against its interests. In addition, an evaluation would be carried out to determine the need of the revenge (Marco, 2009).
Trade relations between Libya and the nation would also be a weighty factor to deliberate on before deciding whether or not to participate in the conflict. For example, if the country is dependent on Libyan products such as oil, hydrocarbon which is of high quality and extraction is easy and profitable the leader could decide to participate in the war to safeguard the imports and exports (Itamar, 2012).
Another factor is the vulnerability to terrorism. The conflict would lead to a fallen state and terrorist would take advantage of the conflict to spread terrorism propaganda and recruit more people to join their group. This would in turn be a threat to the international peace (Itamar, 2012).
The stability of the government is also a crucial factor. Here, a leader would consider the stability of government back home, for example, threats from opposition parties as it would be better to solve internal problems first (Peter, 2000).
A leader is that person who inspires people to achieve a particular objective. A leader in addition must have a dream, obligation and energy to ensure that the dream is achieved. Leadership skills are tools, capabilities and conducts that a person requires to be successful in motivating and directing others (John, 2010).
The following leadership skills would be significant and relevant for a leader while deciding on whether to join the Libyan conflict or not. Leaders need to communicate effectively and efficiently. Thus, a leader should communicate to other decision makers effectively in order to move them toward achieving the chosen goal (Terry, 2002).
A leader must have a will to take the risk. The leader must be willing to take calculative risks since the decision to participate in the conflict is risky as the outcomes are uncertain (John, 2010).
A leader should be a problem solver. It is crucial that a leader knows how to handle various problems since the decision to participate in the conflicts should be thought of carefully. Therefore, a leader should identify the problem tactfully, and in this case the problem is the Libyan conflict and makes the final decision on whether to participate in the conflict (John, 2010).
Ability to achieve a tangible result is a must. To portray this, the leader must be committed to achieving results and have a drive to move toward achieving a common goal. This will ensure that the citizens agree with the decision made by their leader (Terry, 2002).
A leader must have the capacity to motivate people to achieve the common goal. A leader therefore should motivate other decision makers in the government to come up with thoughts that would aid in deciding whether or not to participate in the Libya conflict (Terry, 2002).
A leader should be a proven planner. Planning is very crucial as the interests of the country would be endangered in case of poor planning. Thus, a leader should come up with various achievable strategies that would keep everyone moving together toward achieving the common goal (John, 2010).
In conclusion, a leader should consider various factors before participating in the Libya conflict and to do so, the leader must have the above leadership skills. This is important since a leader is a representation of the country’s interests. Therefore, uncalculated move would be a catastrophic.
Reference List
Itamar, R. (2012).The Lingering Conflict: Israel, the Arabs, and the Middle East 1948– 2012. U.S.A: Brookings Institution Press.
John, A. (2010). Develop your Leadership Skills. U.K: Kogan Page Publishers.
Marco, R. (2009). The A to Z of NATO and Other International Security Organizations. U.S.A: Scarecrow Press.
Peter, D. (2000). NATO: Its Past, Present, and Future. U.S.A: Hoover Press.
Terry, G. (2002). Leadership Skills for Boosting Performance. U.K: CIPD Publishing.