Overview

The past four decades have seen a number of United States military interventions in the Middle East, but only one of them is retrospectively seen as a success: Operation Earnest Will, the escort of Kuwaiti tankers through the Persian Gulf in 1987 and 1988. As an officer who participated in this operation who then served in the region as a diplomat, Tom Duffy offers a unique perspective on Earnest Will. He argues that the fact that Earnest Will was a limited war and that it was fought with navies was key to its success. Forty years later, this operation remains relevant to security policy, especially with regard to a potential conflict with China. This new and comprehensive account discusses every aspect of the operation, including the role of other navies in the Gulf at the time. Relevant strategic and political elements are covered, such as parallel activities in the United Nations Security Council and the role of United Nations Security Council Resolutions in ending the war. Considering the short-, medium-, and long-term impacts of Operation Earnest Will, Duffy explains how this maritime, limited war option illustrates key concepts from classical strategic thinkers, and why it is a demonstrably effective way to advance political goals and an example to keep in mind when facing future challenges in the Middle East and East Asia.

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Tom Duffy is a retired American diplomat and naval officer. His interests are naval history and maritime strategy. Tom's assignments over his 38-year overall career with the United States Government included service aboard USS Cochrane (DDG-21) during the Tanker War and as a maritime strategist in the Pentagon with the United States Navy's Strategic Concepts Group (OP-603). He retired from the United States Navy Reserve as a commander. After joining the United States Foreign Service, he served primarily in the Middle East, including as the first State Department Foreign Policy Advisor (POLAD) with the United States Fifth Fleet in Manama, Bahrain and as United States Consul General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Tom spent ten years working on United Nations affairs: four in the Security Council in New York; three running the office overseeing Security Council affairs at the State Department, and three as the United States representative to the United Nations Food Security Agencies in Rome. He also spent two tours teaching national security strategy at the United States National War College. Tom holds a bachelor's in government from Notre Dame and an master's in war studies from King's College, London. He is a graduate of the United States Naval War College and was elected an associate of King's College, London. Jim Denison is an AudioFile Earphones Award winner and a Society of Voice Arts and Sciences (SOVAS) Voice Arts Award nominee. He has experience as an actor on a variety of television shows and movies, appearing on Netflix, HBO, the National Geographic Channel, Investigation Discovery, and other networks, as well as appearances and voice-overs in regional and national television and radio ads. A Florida native, he has worked and traveled in many locations within the United States and abroad. For five years he hosted religious programs broadcast from several Caribbean radio stations. He changed careers to voice-over and audiobook narration after forty years of working with Christian churches in Florida, Texas, Trinidad and Tobago, Alabama, South Carolina, Maryland, and Kentucky. Jim and his wife of over thirty-five years, Renee, currently reside in southern Indiana near Louisville, Kentucky. They have two grown daughters. He holds two master's degrees and a doctorate.

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