Abstract
As the US shifts from counterterrorism to strategic competition against state rivals, the role of its special operations forces is also changing. David H Ucko explores the promise and limitations of special operations in this new era, identifying their contribution but also the need for a broader response. Indeed, because strategic competition is primarily non-violent, with instruments of state weaponised to offset military inferiority, an effective response will similarly require a diversification of statecraft away from the military. This requirement poses challenges to an American strategic culture still reliant on armed superiority and, for two decades, direct action by elite forces.◼
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