Ad Hoc in Albania: Did Europe Fail? A Rejoinder

Operation Alba made a contribution - arguably material, undeniably psychological - in accelerating Albania's return towards civil order. In retrospect, this operation is generally seen as a European success, but had the mission somehow drifted into disaster, it would have been shrugged off as an Italian-led failure. Many now regret that the opportunity to make use of the WEU was passed up, but as long as NATO retains its leading role as the chief security manager in Europe, the WEU will be condemned to wrestle with the low-risk problems that fail to unnerve either the USA or, indeed, most of the influential EU states.