No-fly zone

[3] During the Cold War, the risk of local conflict escalating into nuclear showdown made military intervention as a tool of United States statecraft unappealing.

However, the demise of the Soviet Union and technological advances in aerospace capabilities made no-fly zones viable in both political and military contexts.

[7] The Secretary-General of the United Nations at the time the resolution was passed, Boutros Boutros-Ghali called the no-fly zones "illegal" in a February 2003 interview with John Pilger for ZNet.

[22][23][24] Shortly thereafter, several NATO members proceeded to mount an aerial offensive campaign, in which numerous Libyan government positions would be intentionally bombed.

[28] The NATO no fly zone was terminated on 27 October after a unanimous vote by the UNSC,[29] despite requests made by the Libyan National Transitional Council for its mission to be extended to the end of the year.

[35][36] There were also questions over the effectiveness of implementing such a zone for the purpose of protecting the Ukrainian settlements, which have been subject to heavy and indiscriminate attacks from Russian artillery and other largely ground-based forces.

[37][38] On 18 March, the Russian-backed separatist government of the Donetsk People's Republic claimed that Russia would establish a no-fly zone over the Donbas region of Ukraine.

[39] A 2004 Stanford University paper published in the Journal of Strategic Studies, "Lessons from Iraq and Bosnia on the Theory and Practice of No-fly Zones", reviewed the effectiveness of the air-based campaigns in achieving military objectives.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, during Operation Deny Flight, a confusing dual-key coordination structure provided inadequate authority and resulted in air forces not being given authority to assist in key situations; Second, to avoid a "perpetual patrol problem", states must know in advance their policy objectives and the exit strategy for no-fly zones; Third, that the effectiveness of no-fly zones is highly dependent on regional support.