ABSTRACT
In the extreme context of working to counter the spread of terrorist insurgent organizations in ungoverned spaces outside the control of state governments, mediation is complicated. Special Operations Forces (SOF) teams are the central weapons of advanced skill-craft used to combat the roots of terrorism, insurgency, and the nihilist ideology of chaotic and disintegrating social structures. SOF Mediation is the concept of exposing core grievances between parties entrenched in violent conflict through engagement and dialogue that fosters opportunities capable of unraveling seemingly intractable conflict stories from non-negotiable historical narratives. Mediators operate in the shadow of the law, SOF mediates in the shadow of conflict. Sociological and cultural competence of the historical narrative and its inner conflict stories is the enabling basis of mediation for SOF field teams. The SOF mediator's successful efforts at externalizing the conflict story lead him/her to guide the conflict party through deconstructing that story and separating its elements out from the non-negotiable historical narrative.
