In the fall of 1983, arguably the coldest year of the decades-long Cold War, the world's greatest superpower invaded Grenada, a Marxist-led Caribbean nation the size of Atlanta. Why and how this unlikely one-week war was waged was shrouded in secrecy at the time--and has remained so ever since. This book is an overdue reconsideration of Operation Urgent Fury, based on historical evidence that only recently has been revealed in declassified documents, oral history interviews and memoir accounts. This chronological narrative emphasizes the human dimension of a sudden crisis now regarded as the greatest foreign policy challenge of President Ronald Reagan's first term. Because the American intervention was hastily drafted, many snafus and accidents marked the chaotic initial days of the operation. Inevitably it fell to individual soldiers, aviators and sailors to perform heroic acts to make up for faulty intelligence, inadequate communication or poor coordination. This work recounts their inspiring, underreported stories in filling out a more complete portrait of Operation Urgent Fury. The final chapter recounts the invasion's aftereffects, especially the unexpected role it played in Congressional reform of the military for future combat in the Middle East.

Robert Beck's study focuses principally on two related questions. First, how did the Reagan administration decide to launch the invasion of Grenada? And second, what role did international law play in that decision? The Grenada Invasion draws on extensive interviews and correspondence with key participants—and on the recently published memoirs of those who participated in or witnessed the administration's deliberations—in order to render a new and more complete picture of Operation "Urgent Fury" decisionmaking. Beck concludes that international law did not determine policy, but that it acted briefly as a restraint and then as a justification for action.

Why did the United States invade the sovereign state of Grenada in October 1983, risking world condemnation and the possible escalation of violence outside the borders of the tiny Caribbean island? According to the contributors to this book, the invasion-code-named "Urgent Fury"--was a product of the increasing concern with political instability in

This book, first published in 1984, analyses the background to the revolution in Grenada and details the course of its progress, examining the reasons why it faltered and failed. International factors played no small part in these events, setting the agenda for the internal processes of the revolution and bringing it to an end. The book also examines closely the US-led invasion of this tiny island and its aftermath.

Robert Beck's study focuses principally on two related questions. First, how did the Reagan administration decide to launch the invasion of Grenada? And second, what role did international law play in that decision? The Grenada Invasion draws on extensive interviews and correspondence with key participants--and on the recently published memoirs of those who participated in or witnessed the administration's deliberations--in order to render a new and more complete picture of Operation "Urgent Fury" decisionmaking. Beck concludes that international law did not determine policy, but that it acted briefly as a restraint and then as a justification for action.

Describes role of the U.S. Army operations on Grenada in October 1983.