Concept for the Strategic Use of Special Operations Forces in the 1990's and Beyond
Abstract
In the geopolitical future, Special Operations Forces (SOF) can play an essential role in achieving U.S. national strategic objectives. The world situation today, which is characterized by instability, the roll back of communism, and the growth of pluralitic governments, is propitious for the United States to shape the future the way it would like to see it. President Bush has advocated a strategy called Peacetime Engagement to seize this opportunity. Peacetime Engagement means the United States government should use all its instruments of power (political, economic, informational, and military) during peacetime to ensure stability and promote U.S. interests and objectives. The SOF are an excellent military instrument to 'provide for eventualities that cannot be foreseen with clarity, and for threats whose nature we may only guess.' By employing SOF during peacetime they can: deter or counter threats to U.S. and allied security interests; permit access to and influence with foreign governments in a manner that would be mutually advantageous; detect and provide early assessments of forces inimical to U.S. interests thus permitting rational decision making; control instability to avoid the direct and costly involvement of conventional U.S. military forces; stabilize situations to redress local unrest and advance U.S. revolutionary ideals which support pluralistic political institutions and free market economies; promote and support democratic movements; contain instability while preparing the operational area for the introduction of conventional military forces; and support the actions of those forces if necessary.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 22, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA237245
Entities
People
- William J. Flavin
Organizations
- United States Army War College