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Curated news, analysis, and commentary about special operations, national security, and conflicts around the world. SOF’s armed overwatch program, CA teams and RAA, Palantir contract, JADC2, MARSOC’s backpack SIGINT system, ST airman remembered, The Fat Ladies Arms, NK’s commandos, joining UK’s SAS, OSS influence on SF, ST Idaho – missing in Laos, Russians in Africa, upcoming SOF events, books, videos, and podcasts.

Infographic: The Narco Hybrid-Threat – An Analysis of Case Studies

This infographic expands upon the discussion of hybrid threats found in Paulina Rios Maya's paper "The Narco Hybrid-Threat" at Small Wars Journal. That paper posited that the rapid development of tactics used by Mexican narco-cartels has allowed these organisations to build a solid structure of influence. Those  entities have amplified their efforts to coerce the state while increasing their capacity to dislocate social life and erode state institutions. Her paper concluded that criminal cartel's posed hybrid threats. 

The infographic can be viewed at Paulina Rios Maya and Laurence Raine. "Infographic: The Narco Hybrid-Threat – An Analysis of Case Studies" at Academia.edu.  The original source is Paulina Rios Maya, "The Narco Hybrid-Threat." Small Wars Journal. 18 March 2021.

An interview with Admiral (Retired) James Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman

"What would a conflict with China look like? How will irregular warfare fit into a conflict before and during large-scale combat operations? Retired Admiral James Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman join this episode of the Irregular Warfare Podcast to discuss the theme of escalation to large-scale conflict, which they explore in their New York Times best seller 2034: A Novel of the Next World War. In answering those questions, they emphasize the nature of human behavior in conflict and how escalation can get out of control.

The novel follows the escalation of the next world war, beginning in the South China Sea. In the episode, the authors explain several key contributions that special operations forces would make in the type of conflict their novel imagines. They argue that a crucial advantage the United States has is its close relationships with partners and allies in the region—relationships that special operations forces foster before conflict—and that these forces’ direct-action capabilities will be invaluable during conflict. While both guests make clear that the book is a work of fiction, it is a cautionary tale for policymakers on how escalation could lead to a nuclear conflict."

https://mwi.usma.edu/irregular-warfare-in-the-next-world-war/

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Curated news, analysis, and commentary about special operations, national security, and conflicts around the world. Future of SOF, new training parachute, UK Ranger Regiment to Somalia, SOCNorth, Israeli SOF, NATO to train Afghan SOF, Navy’s Sealion, Army’s ‘woke’ recruiting video, and more.

You can access the video HERE.

"Oh So Social" Conversation: The Osama bin Laden Raid