Member Login Become a Member

Special Operations

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Small Wars Journal analysis of special operations forces: doctrine, employment, and the practitioner experience behind direct action, civil affairs, psychological operations, unconventional warfare, and counterterrorism.

Browse all articles ￫
230+Articles
2007Coverage since

Featured Reading

Featured

The Third Option: How the CIA’s Paramilitary Arm Shapes the Battlefield

04.20.2026
Featured

US House Armed Services Committee Hearing: Special Operations Forces and Command Posture for FY27

03.19.2026
Featured

The Last A-Team: Special Forces Aren’t Special Anymore

06.03.2026

Recent Articles

Maintaining Freedom of Action: Civil Affairs and Consequence Management in Afghanistan

By
|
10.21.2026 at 06:00am

Special Forces in China’s Nuclear and Missile Operations

By
|
10.15.2026 at 06:00am

The Perfect Storm: El Niño, Food Insecurity, and the Risk of Political Instability: Getting Left of the Crisis Through Food-Security Early Warning

By
|
10.14.2026 at 06:00am

Beyond Relative Superiority: Updating McRaven’s Principles of Special Operations for the Age of Drones, AI, and Persistent Surveillance

By
|
10.09.2026 at 06:00am

Beyond the Admiralty Code: Rethinking Information Evaluation in Civil Affairs

By
|
10.02.2026 at 06:00am

Al-Qaeda Twenty-Five Years After 9/11: A Changing Network, a Changing Security Challenge

By
|
09.29.2026 at 06:00am
Cognitive Warfare Studies

Naming is Not Knowing: Why Cognitive Warfare Studies Need a Methodological Reset

By
|
09.15.2026 at 06:00am

The End of Uncontested ISR: Why US Special Operations must rediscover Special Reconnaissance

By
|
09.10.2026 at 06:00am

Sovereign Shield, Alliance Sword: Evolving NATO’s Strategic Communications Doctrine for Cognitive Warfare

By and
|
09.07.2026 at 06:00am

Train, Advise, Assist: Mapping a Crowded Conceptual Field

By and
|
09.04.2026 at 06:10pm

Designing Strategic Effects: Special Operations in Contemporary Warfare

By
|
09.02.2026 at 06:00am

Victory’s Shadow: The Strategic Imperative of SOF Sustainment in Irregular Warfare

By
|
09.01.2026 at 06:00am
1 2 3 … 20

From the Archive

Archive · 2026

CIA Special Activities Center and Global Response Staff

Archive · 2025

Ukraine Special Operations Forces

Archive · 2025

Semper Paratus and Special Forces

Archive · 2026

Robin Sage: Unconventional Warfare and Special Forces

Explore by Domain & Region

Information Warfare Cognitive Warfare Human Domain Middle East Security Africa Security Indo-Pacific Security