ABSTRACT
Special Operations Forces (SOF) described as warrior-diplomats and the ungoverned spaces in which terrorists potentially operate make a neat pairing in the American national security discourse. American special operations forces work in a whole of government context. American SOF trace their institutional history to the World War II Office of Strategic Services. An additional hallmark of SOF tradecraft is the ability to operate effectively as a forward-deployed small military team, requiring a very small logistics tail. In 2005, the Department of Defense issued Directive 3000.5, which made what it called 'stability operations' a core military mission, and began to develop doctrine. By shifting into the shadows of local social space, working in dangerous areas but only requiring a small military footprint, SOF can move ungoverned spaces back into the sphere of influence of the state system. The diplomacy and counterterrorism in the strategic discourse that creates an operating space for SOF in what that discourse defines as ungoverned spaces.
