Smith 's decision to write '' The Utility of Force '' was prompted by his experience in the Balkans . In late January 1995 , Smith was appointed to command the United Nations Protection Force ( UNPROFOR ) , sent to intervene in the Bosnian War . Smith was based in the Bosnian capital , Sarajevo , where he devised a strategy for the multi-national UN force that had been deployed effectively to carry out mainly humanitarian tasks but without a plan to bring the war to a successful conclusion . At the time of Smith 's deployment , Sarajevo was in the middle of a siege , which Smith was instrumental in lifting after arranging for NATO air strikes and an artillery barrage against Serb forces commanded by Ratko Mladic . A ground campaign by Bosnian and Croatian forces eventually led to the Dayton Agreement , which brought the war to an end . It was also during Smith 's command of UNPROFOR that the Srebrenica massacre — recognised by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia as an act of genocide — took place . Historian Niall Ferguson was adamant that Smith bore no responsibility for the events at Srebrenica and was indeed one of the few British officials " to emerge with distinction " from the intervention in Bosnia ; nonetheless , Ferguson believed that the experience illuminates Smith 's theoretical writings
Srebrenica massacre
Srebrenica massacre
The Utility of Force