{"title":"Vanguard of the Imam: religion, politics, and Iran’s revolutionary guards","authors":"Anthony Akrami","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2018.1528052","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2018.1528052","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123423516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The US Special Forces—What Everyone Needs to Know","authors":"T. Bukkvoll","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2018.1517524","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2018.1517524","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130729978","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"ISIS and the Collapse of the “Caliphal Syllogism”","authors":"J. M. Long","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2018.1510706","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2018.1510706","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines the way in which ISIS established the caliphate, justifying doing so by way of a kind of syllogism. “Were the caliphate to exist,” ISIS argued, “it would possess certain characteristics (the major premise). We possess those characteristics (minor premise). Ergo, we are that caliphate and it would be a sin not to announce ourselves as such.” At the same time, ISIS averred that setting up the caliphate constituted a clear sign of the end times. But this very physical caliphate constituted both ISIS’s appeal and its greatest vulnerability. What would happen if coalition forces successfully crippled the “minor premise” and delayed ISIS’s expected end time? This paper explores what did happen and specifically how coalition battlefield victories compelled ISIS to alter its appeals and its very narrative structure. It closes with a brief comment on what may come next.","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131569077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"New Concepts of Security Affecting Stabilization and Reconstruction","authors":"J. Czarnecki","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2018.1511080","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2018.1511080","url":null,"abstract":"The United States military Civil Affairs community desires to increase its relevance to future operations and missions of the U.S. Army as part of the joint force. To do so, it must adapt to the changes and challenges of the dynamic and uncertain operational environments in which the joint force operates. One key component of these environments concerns the ability of the joint force to reestablish and maintain security in the wake of crises and catastrophes. This paper demonstrates that the concept of security itself has evolved and continues to do so in ways that require fundamental changes in the ways and means that the Civil Affairs community goes about its security tasks. Prominent among these changes is the fracturing of the concept of security into specialized forms, especially Human, Environmental and Informational Security. This paper provides some possible adaptations that the Civil Affairs community can make to accommodate these changes in the security environment.","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116806226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Pushing the easy button: special operations forces, international security, and the use of force","authors":"Russell A. Burgos","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2018.1522754","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2018.1522754","url":null,"abstract":"In the “golden age of special operations,” elite forces have become a “go-to” form of military power. While special operations security practitioners have paid considerable attention to the increasing significance of elite forces in policy and practice, international relations scholars have generally overlooked this evolution in military affairs. In this essay, I argue that special forces, like drones, have become an attractive, “remote” option for decision-makers because of their clandestine nature, lethality, and comparatively small footprint. Because these qualities make it easier for decision-makers to privilege military instruments of power in statecraft, pushing the special forces “easy button” risks lowering the threshold for the use of force and, therefore, risks destabilizing regional and international security orders.","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"45 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115654432","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations","authors":"R. Tomlinson","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2018.1522573","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2018.1522573","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"51 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124876918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Factors Affecting Willingness to Fight for One’s Own Country: The Case of Baltic States","authors":"V. Rutkauskas","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2018.1456286","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2018.1456286","url":null,"abstract":"It is critical for special operation forces practitioners and military planners to understand the willingness of the Baltic population to defend their homeland. The author shows that people who share strong national pride, confidence in government and the armed forces, and financial satisfaction are more likely to sacrifice their lives for their country. Moreover, such socio-economic factors like gender, age, employment, education, marital status, living place also allow researchers to predict an individual’s attitude towards will to fight. This article provides a framework for understanding and recommends methods of increasing willingness to fight among the population of the Baltic region.","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"378 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115476495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Role of U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) to Combat Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) as an Evolving Threat to International Security","authors":"S. Johnson","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2018.1465765","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2018.1465765","url":null,"abstract":"Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) is evolving and diversifying activities globally presenting persistent threats to security and governance. TOC growth parallels globalization trends including technology, communications, and transportation advances that facilitate geographically dispersed connected networks. Combating TOC (CTOC) requires integrated approaches that incorporate diverse resources, authorities, and permissions across elements of national power. Constraints related to political will, interoperability, and capacity continue to limit multilateral cooperative activities. The U.S. government should take a leadership role, forging international cooperation through efforts to build capacity and integrate diverse capabilities toward common objectives while integrating U.S. Special Operations Forces’ capabilities into CTOC efforts globally.","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134107604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Twelve Books Every Green Beret Should Read: An Annotated Bibliography","authors":"Jason Heeg, Harrison B. Gilliam, W. J. Dickinson","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2018.1459138","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2018.1459138","url":null,"abstract":"Three senior Special Forces personnel developed this annotated bibliography to provide new team members with a resource to develop upon the doctrinal foundation they gained during the Qualification Course. They formulated it for NCOs and captains serving their first year on an operational detachment alpha. The military art and science pillars of history, theory, and doctrine drove the selection of the books. If one were to read one of these books per month, in no particular order, during their first year on a team, they would be much better prepared to overcome the challenges they will face during their career.","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"101 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129878387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From Anarchy to Civil War: The Escalation of Violence in Iraq, 2003-2006","authors":"Jeffrey W. Meiser, Lydia Heye, K. McKee","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2018.1459142","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2018.1459142","url":null,"abstract":"Civil wars are often the product of low-level political violence that escalates, rather than emerging ex nihilo from a peaceful society. Therefore, it is important to focus on what causes the initial pattern of violence and why it escalates. This essay integrates structural and strategic theories of political violence to develop an analytical framework of violence escalation. This framework allows us to identify critical junctures where intervention may limit or halt escalation. The framework is applied to Iraq, 2003–2006 to determine how and why violence escalated, culminating in widespread sectarian civil war in 2006.","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132844728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}