Short of War: Major United States Air Force Contingency Operations, 1947-1997

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, a series of geographically localized crises caused by political, religious, or ethnic unrest; outright military aggression; and natural disasters has replaced the relative stability that characterized international relations for more than fifty years of the Cold War. For the United States Air Force, this has meant short-notice deployments, airlifts, and other operational missions conducted in reaction to local crises.