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Book

Special Operations Forces in the 21st Century

Book

Special Operations Forces in the 21st Century

DOI link for Special Operations Forces in the 21st Century

Special Operations Forces in the 21st Century book

Perspectives from the Social Sciences

Special Operations Forces in the 21st Century

DOI link for Special Operations Forces in the 21st Century

Special Operations Forces in the 21st Century book

Perspectives from the Social Sciences
Edited ByJessica Glicken Turnley, Kobi Michael, Eyal Ben-Ari
Edition 1st Edition
First Published 2017
eBook Published 24 August 2017
Pub. Location London
Imprint Routledge
DOI https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315208114
Pages 326
eBook ISBN 9781315208114
Subjects Politics & International Relations
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Turnley, J.G., Michael, K., & Ben-Ari, E. (Eds.). (2017). Special Operations Forces in the 21st Century: Perspectives from the Social Sciences (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315208114

ABSTRACT

This book sets out the major social scientific approaches to the study of Special Operations Forces.

Despite consistent downsizing, over the past two decades the armed forces of the industrial democracies have seen a huge growth in Special Operations Forces (SOF). Through increasing numbers of personnel and more frequent deployments, SOF units have wielded considerable influence in conflicts around the world, with senior SOF officers having led major strategic operations. This increased presence and unprecedented expansion for SOF is largely a result of the ‘new’ kinds of conflicts that have emerged in the 21st century. At the same time, even with this high profile in the military, policy and media and popular cultural arenas, there is relatively little social scientific research on SOF. This volume aims to fill this gap by providing a series of studies and analyses of SOF across the globe, since the end of World War II. Analysing SOF at the micro, mezzo and macro levels provides broad and diverse insights. Moreover, the volume deals with new issues raised by the use of such forces that include emerging modes of civilian control, innovative organizational forms and the special psychological characteristics necessitated by SOF operatives. It concludes with a discussion of a question which continues to be debated in today’s militaries: what makes SOF ‘special’?

Filling a clear gap in the literature, this book will be of much interest to students of strategic studies, civil-military relations, irregular warfare, security studies, and international relations.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

chapter 1|12 pages

Special operations forces (SOF) and social science

An introductory essay
ByJessica Glicken Turnley, Eyal Ben-Ari, Kobi Michael

part I|43 pages

The emergence of special operations forces

chapter 2|13 pages

The evolution of SOF and the rise of SOF Power 1

ByBernd Horn

chapter 3|13 pages

The special operations forces mosaic

A portrait for discussion
ByEmily Spencer

chapter 4|15 pages

Warrior-diplomats and ungoverned spaces

Narratives of possibilities
ByJessica Glicken Turnley

part II|31 pages

Civilian control and public imagery

chapter 5|15 pages

Special operations forces (SOF) as the “silver bullet”

Strategic helplessness and weakened institutional and extra-institutional civilian control
ByKobi Michael

chapter 6|14 pages

‘Unintended acceleration’ 1

The problematique of civil–military relations of special operations forces in the American context
ByJames D. Kiras

part III|94 pages

Social dynamics, organizational processes and challenges

chapter 7|15 pages

The ‘Seamen’s Council’

A SOFish way of making decisions
ByTone Danielsen

chapter 8|14 pages

Service cultures and collective military action

Successful joint operations by the Israeli Air Force and Special Operations Forces
ByUzi Ben-Shalom, Yuval Tsur

chapter 9|17 pages

Dutch forward air controllers in Uruzgan

Aspects of cooperation, courage, responsibility, legitimacy and... people getting killed
ByWout Jansen, Joseph Soeters

chapter 10|15 pages

In search of intelligence

The Dutch Special Forces in Mali
BySebastiaan Rietjens, Jelle Zomer

chapter 11|12 pages

Aiming to punch above their weight

The Belgian Special Forces
ByDelphine Resteigne

chapter 12|19 pages

Integrating men and women within Naval Special Warfare combat teams

ByDeborah E. Gibbons, Alan Nelson, Jim Suchan

part IV|58 pages

Innovation, entrepreneurship and the military institution

chapter 13|16 pages

The self and the mirror

Institutional tensions and Canadian Special Operations Forces
ByEric Ouellet

chapter 14|11 pages

Special forces, ethos and technology

The case of Israel’s Haruv Reconnaissance Unit
ByZeev Drory, Eyal Lewin, Eyal Ben-Ari

chapter 15|14 pages

Organizational entrepreneurship and special forces

The First Israeli Helicopter Squadron and the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (Sayeret Matkal)
ByLior Brichta, Eyal Ben-Ari

chapter 16|15 pages

The diffusion of innovation

SOF in Iraq
ByRebecca Jensen

part V|30 pages

Psychological perspectives

chapter 17|15 pages

Profiling the Swedish Ranger

Perceptions of motivation, profession and risk and safety issues
ByJohan Osterberg, Marcus Borjesson, Ann Enander

chapter 18|13 pages

The resilience of SOF personnel

ByIrina Goldenberg, Mathieu Saindon

part VI|31 pages

Setting (special) agendas

chapter 19|12 pages

What is special about special operations forces?

ByAnthony King

chapter 20|17 pages

A social scientific agenda for the study of special operations forces

ByEyal Ben-Ari, Jessica Glicken Turnley, Kobi Michael
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