Download or read book From Troy to Entebbe written by John Arquilla and published by University Press of America. This book was released on 1996 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Special operations have played a key role throughout the history of conflict from the Trojan War to the great arms struggles of the 20th century. This volume introduces the reader to the broad sweep of the history of special operations.
Download or read book Special Operations from a Small State Perspective written by Gunilla Eriksson and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-05-25 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Over the past dozen years special operations forces (SOF) have been one of the few areas of growth and expansion in a number of militaries. This growth and expansion, however, has not been mirrored by a comparable one in academic inquiries into the subject. Special Operations from a Small State Perspective - Future Security Challenges, which contains a wide range of perspectives from both practitioners and academics, makes a unique contribution to the literature and offers fascinating insights into the opportunities provided by and challenges confronting small states such as Swedenin their evolutionary development and use of SOF.” Dr James Kiras, Associate Professor, School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, The Air University, Alabama, USA.
Download or read book Special Operations and Strategy written by James D. Kiras and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-07-29 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues that the root of effective special operations lies in understanding the relationship between moral and material attrition - this is achieved by examining both strategic theory and real-life case studies.
Download or read book The Three Circles of War written by Heather S. Gregg and published by Potomac Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2010 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The conflict in Iraq is characterized by three faces of war: interstate conflict, civil war, and insurgency. The Coalition's invasion of Iraq in March 2003 began as an interstate war. No sooner had Saddam Hussein been successfully deposed, however, than U.S.-led forces faced a lethal insurgency. After Sunni al Qaeda in Iraq bombed the Shia al-Askari Shrine in 2006, the burgeoning conflict took on the additional element of civil war with sectarian violence between the Sunni and the Shia. The most effective strategies in a war as complicated as the three-level conflict in Iraq are intertwined and complementary, according to the editors of this volume. For example, the "surge" in U.S. troops in 2007 went beyond an increase in manpower; the mission had changed, giving priority to public security. This new direction also simultaneously addressed the insurgency as well as the civil war by forging new, trusting relationships between Americans and Iraqis and between Sunni and Shia. This book has broad implications for future decisions about war and peace in the twenty-first century.
Download or read book Military Strategy Joint Operations and Airpower written by Ryan Burke and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2022 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This second edition of Military Strategy, Joint Operations, and Airpower introduces contemporary strategy at the operational level of war. Developed as foundational reading for all US Air Force Academy cadets, this textbook is designed to close the gap between military theory and practice.
Download or read book War Peace and Progress in the 21st Century written by Mark Berger and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-13 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of development is one marked by insecurities, violence, and persistent conflict. It is not surprising, therefore, that development is now thought of as one of the central challenges of world politics. However, its complexities are often overlooked in scholarly analysis and among policy practitioners, who tend to adopt a technocratic approach to the crisis of development and violence. This book brings together a wide range of contributions aimed at investigating different aspects of the history of development and violence, and its implications for contemporary efforts to consolidate the development-security nexus. From environmental concerns, through vigilante citizenship, to the legacies of armed conflicts during and after decolonization, the different chapters reconstruct the contradictory history of development and critically engage contemporary responses and their implications for social and political analyses. In examining violence and insecurity in relation to core organising principles of world politics the contributors engage the problems associated with the nation state and the inter-state system and underlying assumptions of the promises of progress. The book offers a range of perspectives on the contradictions of development, and on how domination, violence and resistance have been conceived. At the same time it exemplifies the relevance of alternative methodological and conceptual approaches to contemporary challenges of development. This book was published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.
Download or read book Special Operations and National Security written by Ben Gans and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-11-08 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on strategic special operations and how these have led to the achievement of major foreign policy goals, which is illustrated by six case studies. The study specifically focuses on the alignment of the policies, strategies, and tactics that dominated these operations, providing a fresh perspective. Theoretically, the work underscores the continued relevance of relative superiority as the dominant theory in the field. Importantly, it aligns the potential ways of achieving and sustaining relative superiority with the ability to conduct contemporary special operations across multiple domains, thereby generating cross-dimensional effects. In terms of methodology, the book includes a description and analysis of six distinct case studies in special operations, ranging from short-term surgical strikes to sustained special warfare campaigns and spanning multiple geographic regions – including in Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Ukraine, and the South China Sea. From that perspective, relative superiority theory is extrapolated to explain how this critical condition can be achieved and sustained during protracted special operations. The unique value of this research is underscored by the author's collection of exclusive primary source data on the operations in the respective countries. The book’s conclusions explain how the personnel involved fulfill the strategic promise of special operations, given their position within the larger framework of foreign policy. This book will be of much interest to students of special operations, military and strategic studies, defense studies, and security studies in general.
Download or read book Countering the New Terrorism written by Ian Lesser and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 1999-04-20 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces the recent evolution of international terrorism against civilian and U.S. military targets, looks ahead to where terrorism is going, and assesses how it might be contained. The authors consider the threat of information-based terrorism and of weapons of mass destruction, with an emphasis on how changes in the sources and nature of terrorism may affect the use of unconventional terror. The authors propose counterterrorism strategies that address the growing problem of homeland defense.
Download or read book Into the Void written by James D Kiras and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2024-09-15 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A critical analysis of how global special forces can and should evolve into a future-ready capability, responding to today's post-War on Terror challenges.
Download or read book Strategy for Chaos written by Colin Gray and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-08-02 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The remit of this study is to encourage further studies that make an honest and successful effort to achieve synergy between social science and history when analysing the impact of revolutions in military affairs (RMAs).
Download or read book Special Operations Success written by James D. Kiras and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2024-10-24 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Special Operations Success establishes a new benchmark in military theory in this deeply analytic and innovative work. It answers several pressing questions: How successful have American special operations been over the past quarter-century? Are special forces fated to cycles of expansion and misuse? Will special forces invariably exceed the authorities granted to them because of they are? Is a general theory of special operations feasible given the range of activities and conditions that fall under the category? Kiras' work is based on two decades of practical, teaching, and consulting experience within different special operations communities, and its analysis and conclusions are designed to inform practitioners, policymakers, educators, and the general public. The book develops a framework, in the form of a theory comprising capabilities and control, for the comprehensively evaluating special operations success, and is divided into three parts: Part I lays the foundation for a general theory of special operations, Part II explores the two component parts of theory, capabilities and control, and Part III uses various aspects of the theory, depending on available information, to assess the success of special operations over a twenty-year period in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and the United States.
Download or read book Special Operations in World War II written by Andrew L. Hargreaves and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2013-10-28 with total page 605 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: British and American commanders first used modern special forces in support of conventional military operations during World War II. Since then, although special ops have featured prominently in popular culture and media coverage of wars, the academic study of irregular warfare has remained as elusive as the practitioners of special operations themselves. This book is the first comprehensive study of the development, application, and value of Anglo-American commando and special forces units during the Second World War. Special forces are intensively trained, specially selected military units performing unconventional and often high-risk missions. In this book, Andrew L. Hargreaves not only describes tactics and operations but also outlines the distinctions between commandos and special forces, traces their evolution during the war, explains how the Anglo-American alliance functioned in the creation and use of these units, looks at their command and control arrangements, evaluates their impact, and assesses their cost-effectiveness. The first real impetus for the creation of British specialist formations came in the desperate summer of 1940 when, having been pushed out of Europe following defeat in France and the Low Countries, Britain began to turn to irregular forces in an effort to wrest back the strategic initiative from the enemy. The development of special forces by the United States was also a direct consequence of defeat. After Pearl Harbor, Hargreaves shows, the Americans found themselves in much the same position as Britain had been in 1940: shocked, outnumbered, and conventionally defeated, they were unable to come to grips with the enemy on a large scale. By the end of the war, a variety of these units had overcome a multitude of evolutionary hurdles and made valuable contributions to practically every theater of operation. In describing how Britain and the United States worked independently and cooperatively to invent and put into practice a fundamentally new way of waging war, this book demonstrates the two nations’ flexibility, adaptability, and ability to innovate during World War II.
Download or read book To Dare and to Conquer written by Derek Leebaert and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2009-05-30 with total page 708 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the tradition of Guns, Germs, and Steel, Leebaert tells the stories of small forces that have triumphed over vastly larger ones and changed the course of history -- from the Trojan Horse to Al Qaeda. Maps and charts.
Download or read book Insurgents Raiders and Bandits written by John Arquilla and published by Ivan R. Dee. This book was released on 2011-07-16 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Insurgent, Raiders and Bandits explores the history of irregular warfare over the past 250 years through the lives and campaigns ofFrom w the greatest masters of this mode of conflict. The book not only tells their stories, but shapes an alternate history of the world as seen through the eyes of those who made up for their small numbers with clever, unorthodox methods that often brought them victory. Their lesson for military affairs in our time must not be ignored.
Download or read book Special Warfare written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Solving the People Puzzle written by Emily Spencer and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2010-05-24 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The twenty-first century has brought the perfect storm of conditions to create substantive global instability. This contemporary operating environment (COE) is characterized by complexity, ambiguity, volatility, and constant danger. It is a human invention that requires a human solution. Special operations forces (SOF), a group comprised of highly trained personnel with the ability to deploy rapidly and apply special skills in a variety of environments and circumstances, is the logical force of choice to achieve success in the COE. Increasing their effectiveness is cultural intelligence (CQ) – the ability to recognize the shared beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviours of a group of people and then apply that knowledge toward a specific goal. Empowered by CQ, SOF are positioned to dominate in the COE. Solving the People Puzzle makes a convincing argument for the powerful union of the "force of choice" with the "tool of choice." This book will inspire and inform.
Download or read book Killing the Enemy written by Adam Leong Kok Wey and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-09-28 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During World War II, the British formed a secret division, the 'SOE' or Special Operations Executive, in order to support resistance organisations in occupied Europe. It also engaged in 'targeted killing' - the assassination of enemy political and military leaders. The unit is famous for equipping its agents with tools for use behind enemy lines, such as folding motorbikes, miniature submarines and suicide pills disguised as coat buttons. But its activities are now also gaining attention as a forerunner to today's 'extra-legal' killings of wartime enemies in foreign territory, for example through the use of unmanned drones. Adam Leong's work evaluates the effectiveness of political assassination in wartime using four examples: Heydrich's assassination in Prague (Operation Anthropoid); the daring kidnap of Major General Kreipe in Crete by Patrick Leigh Fermor; the failed attempt to assassinate Rommel, known as Operation Flipper; and the American assassination of General Yamamoto.
