Please see the new, second edition "Where Is the Lone Ranger?"A penetrating study of U.S. policy on peace operations, "Where Is the Lone Ranger When We Need Him?" examines the challenges of establishing sustainable security in postconflict environments in places like the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq.Robert Perito chronicles the history of American conceptions and misconceptions regarding peacekeeping forces. Though the United States has played the primary role in organizing and leading postconflict stability operations, Perito s extensive research and interviews with Washington policy-makers, European diplomats, and civilian police and soldiers in the field raise serious questions about how well prepared the United States is for these nonmilitary tasks.In the book s concluding chapters, Perito calls for the creation of a civilian U.S. Stability Force composed of constabulary, police, and judicial teams of lawyers, judges, and corrections officers. Such a force, he argues, could provide an effective postconflict partner for U.S. military forces. It could also ensure the likely success of political reconciliation and economic reconstruction by establishing the rule of law quickly and effectively.