Wybrane aspekty użycia sił powietrznych w sojuszniczych operacjach humanitarnych

In the last decade of the 20th century and in the beginning of the 21st century the air forces were frequently used in humanitarian operations, which were aimed at bringing help to the civil population being oppressed. Even though the air forces-like the other services-are theoretically only a supporting element in comparison to the activities of civil international organisations. This is consistent with NATO’s doctrinal assumptions on one hand, but on the hand air forces frequently play a more important role. Lessons learned from various operations confirm that the missions of airforces can be adjusted to the situation in the crisis area while the aim is always set by political decision makers. Thanks to researches linked to the recent operations it became possible to specify general assumptions concerning future operations. Expected results will be connected with efficient help to persecuted civilians. Having in mind such situation, it is possible to specify two kinds of operations - humanitarian operations and humanitarian interventions. According to the author the considerations presented in the article do not exhaust the whole spectrum of the problem, but on the other hand the intention of the author is to encourage the reader to familiarise with the results of the study entitled Air Force Missions in Humanitarian Operations at the Beginning of the 21st Century. The necessity of continuing the scientific penetration of this complicated issue is connected with the need to achieve a common attitude to the problem as far as the main participants of this operations are concerned. In such case civil components, governmental and non-governmental organisations are being discussed on the hand, and on the other - the military component with the air force being included.