Special Operations Forces in an Era of Great-Power Competition
In the past years, the focus of special operations forces (SOF) has been a key security tool for nations. Especially in the United States, the SOF has been of significant help since the bombing of the World Trade Center. In other words, the unit’s employment focus is on countering the influence of terrorist activities worldwide. For instance, the SOF has been deployed to fight the growing aspect of radicalism in the Middle East countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Iran. However, the failure of the SOF to formulate an effective strategy to end the engagement in Syria prompted the emergence of adversarial conflict.
The Russian president opted to send Russian troops into Syria to help bring peace. This approach made it challenging for the US soldiers to operate efficiently, causing some aspects of cooperation between the forces. Since the emergence of great-power competition, the roles of SOF have shifted significantly from counterinsurgency to managing irregular warfare, making foreign policy face some critical challenges.
The US is facing a new era as the focus of its foreign policy, which revolved around counterterrorism since the bombing of the World Trade Center, is becoming outdated. The national security system faces a contemporary challenge imposed by China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The rivalry between the US and authoritarian countries such as China and Russia is termed the major-power competition. China and Russia are determined to increase their global influence by undermining the interests of the US in various ways.
Generally, US adversaries are fully aware and acknowledge that they cannot compete effectively against America in direct and predictable warfare. To enhance their abilities, they adopt tactics such as gray zone operations to increase American costs. Their approaches do not call for armed conflict but add pressure to the US defense system. The techniques being used by the opponents are new and require proper adjustments in the operations of SOF to facilitate their involvement in the great power competition.
Following the new developments in the security field, the intelligence unit in Washington and other associated departments, such as defense, are compelled to formulate new approaches to maintain their influence in the growing geopolitical struggle. The rediscovery will be essential for the State Department to maintain and guide its influence despite the rapid and aggressive challenges from Russia and China’s activities.
Based on the context of great-power rivalry, the nations are assumed to have strategic goals that conflict with those of the US. It is difficult to indicate whether Russia, China, and the US are at war or if there is peace between them. The rivalry is maintained at a point where the threshold of direct military confrontation cannot be crossed.
For instance, the objective of the Russian president in the Syrian war was to ensure that Syrian President Assad continued to be president. This strategy did not match those of the US government, and on the other hand, it created Russian influence in the country to the point of bringing Russian Special Forces to operate in the region. The approach sparked interstate competition between the US and Russia.
Similarly, Russia and Ukraine, where the former has sent its military forces to the latter to conduct special operations, citing the influence of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), prompted its actions. Such approaches indicate clear competition between the US and Russia. The West wanted to extend its dominance in Eastern Europe by assimilating some former Soviet Union states into NATO.
However, the Russian government, following its nuclear capabilities, chose to counter such a move by issuing a chilling threat of attacks, supposing any state intervening in its invasion of Ukraine. The engagement is more akin to a great-power competition, where the US is interested in having Ukraine as part of NATO, while Russia needs the country to remain part of its sphere of influence.
Through the military assault, Russia is showcasing its prowess and thus gaining possible influence from other countries, especially those with a poor relationship with the US. Since the attack does not involve the US, the SOF must formulate different approaches to managing the situation without engaging in conventional warfare with Russia.
Taking into consideration the situation in the South China Sea, where the Chinese forces, especially the naval forces, have dominated and taken control by harassing possible vessels that use that international water body. The army has continuously grown its influence in the region by developing military camps on various islands in the sea. Moreover, China’s naval forces have become more aggressive with aircraft that pass over the area.
In addition, the Chinese government has adopted various economic policies that enable the nation to provide economic aid to several countries that require financial and military assistance to boost their economies. The approaches are strategic and have a significant impact on the US influence across the world. The US lost its navigational norms, especially in waters occupied by the Chinese military. The growing Chinese diplomacy technique is slowly eroding the connection America used to have with its partners.
The rising great-power competition with China and Russia specifically requires the SOF to enhance its capabilities to counter the potential moves and tactics that state adversaries can deploy. This will be costly for the government since more resources will be needed to facilitate training and equip the units with proper and reliable intelligence to operate in the emerging, versatile environment. Changes in foreign policy and aspects of SOF deployment will have to be made to create an effective system that counters the growing influence of opponents.
Preparation for Change by SOF
Even though the US government must counter stiff great-power competition, the SOF’s focus should not be diverted completely from other essential operations, such as counterinsurgency. Instead, well-calculated strategic approaches should be considered to enhance the SOF’s competency in handling emerging trends in the world’s power influence.
First, the SOF leadership should cultivate a culture of competition amongst the team because the operation is not an attack-and-win situation. The major-power struggle involves identifying opportunities to exploit, undermine, or change the status quo of the given country. Once the SOF masters the game and the techniques of its opponents, it will be easier to remain effective in contemporary conflicts of interest.
Unlike the counterterrorism approach, the great-power competition does not require a strategic design to counter the pressure from challengers. In other words, the roles and responsibilities should shift to formulate effective techniques for gaining global influence. For instance, leaders should be able to evaluate and determine methods such as soft power, enhancing economic security, and building alliances with other nations to protect the member during an invasion.
Moreover, engaging in issues such as global posturing and discouraging the nuclear forces will add an advantage. Since these are some of the key challenges, several opportunities require the contribution of the SOF, which will enhance their influence on the environment. Since the great-power competition is determined by the level of technology, diplomatic and economic influences, the contribution of other agencies, such as the intelligence and state departments, is vital in assisting the US. A sensitive political competitive relationship might require the American government to employ non-SOF approaches, including covert missions and planned communication, to take advantage of its competitors.
Influence and Counter-Influence
The aspect of influence and counter-influence is an emerging operational mission that involves no need for military engagement between competitors; instead, the key focus is to divert the perception of the challenger’s target group. The approach interferes with the capabilities of adversaries, thereby diminishing the impact and support they had from their allies. It is mainly directed to the population that is valuable to the challengers. The technique is useful in enabling a nation to influence the behavior of its opponent to more desirable conduct. In most cases, adversaries will adjust their options once the target group has shifted its perspective.
For instance, Russia and China have been utilizing the concept to exert influence in the Middle East and certain African countries. China is known for employing military approaches to promote its interests in countries such as Cambodia, where it supported the prime minister in maintaining power. After accepting China’s aid, the country demolished the American military bases and other resources it previously received from the US. The tactic allowed China to gain a geopolitical advantage over the US in the region.
In such a situation, witnessed in Cambodia, the role of the SOF community is undermined because the approach did not involve the use of force. Therefore, it implies that, following the changes used by adversaries, SOF leaders should be at the forefront of formulating effective countermeasures to counter these influences. To remain effective in the major-power competition, the SOF should have an array of units specialized in dealing with scenarios that do not encompass conventional warfare.
Collaboration between the military and government departments is fundamental in ensuring a country’s influence. SOF training should encompass ways the professionals can blend with government officials to enhance the procedure. The SOF’s ability to utilize the mission set to shape the operational environment reduces the likelihood of conflict in the region, thereby increasing the respective player’s influence.
Supporting and Countering Resistance
Since the emergence of interstate power competition, there has been a rapid growth in offering support to vulnerable countries in the case of an invasion threat. The SOF has offered support to enable resistance by ensuring the nation is well prepared to fight against the attacker. In most cases, aid is given before the assault. The SOF offers the country the necessary gear during the pre-conflict stage.
For instance, in the case of Taiwan and China, Taiwan has a support plan with the US to facilitate its resistance to China’s invasion. Supporting resistance as a strategy is a common practice that the SOF community embraces. Another scenario is Poland and the Baltic States that use NATO help together with SOF to offer sophisticated military training to their security forces, following the fear of a possible attack by Russia. The approach creates a different perspective of the nations as well as the behavior of the aggressor.
The rapid advancement in technological development has created a new and complex environment that requires special operations. The SOF is currently facing a challenge in addressing potential conflicts related to space and the internet. Following the movement of people into space, the likelihood of war is high; however, the nature of the conflict is unclear. The SOF will need to perform some unique special operations to understand the nature of such involvement. Therefore, formulating a foreign policy guiding the deployment of SOF in the new environment will be challenging. To counter aggressive actions in cyberspace, the SOF will need to formulate special operations that depict the space domain to prepare for such occurrences.
Cyberspace is complicated, which makes it different from other environments. Its creation and development have increased countries’ vulnerability. The internet system encompasses various aspects, ranging from communication and finance to industry and the military. Currently, the possible ways to undertake operations in cyberspace include attack and exploitation. Internet exploitation involves accessing computer systems to acquire information without altering normal functions.
Cyberspace attacks, on the other hand, entail corrupting computer and network systems to erase the available data. Given the uncertainty surrounding the space environment, the SOF may need to undergo additional training to be competent in influencing the great-power competition in cyberspace. Therefore, the governments will need to understand the operational norms of the internet domain to establish a competitive SOF.
Roles of SOF in Major-Power Competition
Generally, the SOF plays a significant role in the emerging great-power competition. When foreign policy and organizational challenges arise, the SOF can contribute effectively to interstate competition. Some crucial areas where the SOF can have a significant impact include responding to crises.
Responding to unexpected situations that require the government’s attention is an essential area of involvement. For instance, the US foreign policy on matters encompassing developing threats receives high priority because they entail the country’s interests. In the current regime of great-power competition, several crises might occur that challenge the US, for instance, China capturing a US submarine vessel in disputed seas.
In other circumstances, the US might be forced to counter a crisis that affects its interests but does not directly involve China or Russia. Even though some of the situations might be more engaging with the challengers, the culture of SOF embraces features useful in managing crises, such as proper decision-making abilities and tactical skills. However, not all should be allowed to participate when engaging in SOF, except for the excellent group that facilitates the resourcing of new and relevant competencies.
Similarly, the SOF should work closely with their allies, as this provides a strong foundation for the country. Great-power competition is facilitated by having stable ties with different nations. For instance, the US has several formal agreements with many countries and irregular forces. Having such a connection, SOF has the potential to achieve the best outcomes with these allies. In most cases, SOF, together with the professional forces of their allies, train and share emerging innovations. During an invasion by one of the partners, SOF from the alliance can form a more effective operational platform for military activities, thereby expanding the geopolitical network.
Moreover, in the cases of non-allied members, the SOF can establish a strong US influence to enhance the potential of such a nation to resist pressure from challengers. The inability of adversaries, such as Russia, to work effectively with their foreign partners makes it difficult for them to create the political influence necessary for great-power competition. By developing relevant policies and providing adequate training, SOF can effectively retain relationships.
To remain competitive, reliable information is necessary. Gathering essential details plays a critical role in the great-power competition. Since the fight encompasses the gray zone strategy, information is needed from one challenger to another. By incorporating SOF into the process, policymakers better understand the struggle through the insights provided by SOF intelligence. The approach will enable the US government to develop accurate and effective policies based on the trends.
The emerging issue of major-power competition has brought a significant challenge to the deployment of SOF. The current environment is shifting away from conventional warfare and toward irregular conflict. Adversaries of the US, such as China and Russia, have adopted new techniques, including diplomatic and economic approaches, to increase their influence while undermining that of America. Despite the challenges facing the SOF in foreign policy, the group has a significant role in inter-state competition.
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