The origins of small wars: from special operations to ideological insurgencies

This edited volume explores the origins of the term small wars and traces it to special operations. In the 17th century, such "guerrilla/petite guerre" special operations grew out of training and winter operations of the regular forces as practiced in the 16th century. In the 18th century, they fused with a tradition going back to Antiquity, of employing special ethnic groups (such as the Hungarian Hussars) for special operations. Side by side with these special operations, however, there was the even older genealogy of uprisings and insurgencies, which since the Spanish Guerrilla of 1808-1812 has been associated with this term. All three traditions have influenced each other.

Why Belgium Needs a Special Operations Command. Security Policy Brief No. 70, April 2016

The setting up of a Special Operations Command (SOCOM) constitutes a key element of the ongoing Belgian defence reforms. This Policy Brief aims to put the present demand for special operations forces in its historical context and engage in the discussion on how to structure and employ this special instrument of policy. Building on the legacy of the paracommando regiment, the future Belgian SOCOM constitutes a critical capability within an adaptive force structure. This new entity must be able to deliver results in a variety of unconventional missions that require high readiness, intellectual flexibility and maximum discretion or surprise. At the same time, special operations forces do not constitute a substitute for having a comprehensive security policy. They function best when used as force multipliers alongside other instruments of power towards joint effect. As the proverbial tip of the spear, they must lead the way for Belgian defence regeneration in general.

Inter-American Development Bank act amendment : hearings before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Eighty-ninth Congress, first session on S.805, to amend the Inter-American Development Bank act to authorize the United States to participate in an increase in the resources of the fund for special operations of the Inter-American Development Bank. February 5 and 8, 1965.

Mode of access: Internet.

Providing the technology edge for special operations forces.

Mode of access: Internet.

Special operations forces and unmanned aerial vehicles : sooner or later? /

"February 1996."

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices affecting health behaviors in the U.S. Army Special Operations Command population of Rangers

Malaria is a threat to United States military personnel operating in endemic areas, from which there have been hundreds of cases reported over the past decade. Each of these cases might have been avoided with proper adherence to malaria chemoprophylaxis medications. Military operations may detract from the strict 100% adherence required of these preventive medications. However, the reasons for non-adherence in military populations are not well understood. This behavior was investigated using a cross sectional study design on a convenience sample of U.S. Army Ranger volunteers (n=150) located at three military instillations. Theoretical support was based on components of the Health Belief Model, the Theory of Reasoned Action/Theory of Planned Behavior, and the Social Cognitive Theory. ^ Data on knowledge, attitudes, and practices, as well as multiple environmental domains was collected using an original yet unvalidated questionnaire. The data was analyzed using bivariate Pearson correlations, binary logistic regression, and moderated logistic regressions employing a 0.05 criterion of statistical significance. Power analyses predicted 96-98% power for this analysis. ^ Multiple significant medium strength Pearson correlation coefficients were identified relative to the two dependent variables Take medications as directed and Intend to take the medications as directed the next time. Binary logistic regression analyses identified multiple variables that may predict behavioral intentions to adhere to these preventive medications, as a proxy for behavioral change. Moderated logistic regression analyses identified Command Support for adherence to these medications as a potential significant moderator that interacts with independent variables within three domains of the survey questionnaire. ^ The findings indicate that there may be potential significant beneficial effects, which may improve this behavior in this population of Rangers through 1) promoting affirmative interpersonal communications that emphasize adherence to these medications, 2) including malaria chemoprophylaxis medications in the mission planning process, and 3) military command support, in the form of including the importance of proper adherence to these medications in the unit safety briefings.^

MI(R,)G(R) and British Covert Operations, 1939-42

The Military Intelligence (Research) Department of the British War Office was tasked in 1940 with encouraging and supporting armed resistance in occupied Europe and the Axis-controlled Middle East. The major contention of this paper is that, in doing so, MI(R) performed a key role in British strategy in 1940-42 and in the development of what are now known as covert operations. MI(R) developed an organic, but coherent doctrine for such activity which was influential upon the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and its own sub-branch, G(R), which applied this doctrine in practice in East Africa and the Middle East in 1940-41. It was also here that a number of key figures in the development of covert operations and special forces first cut their teeth, the most notable being Major Generals Colin Gubbins and Orde Wingate.

Special warfare : the professional bulletin of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.

Latest issue consulted: Vol. 19, issue 4 (July/Aug. 2006).

Análisis comparado de la política exterior de seguridad humana de Canadá y Japón en Kosovo. Década de los noventa.

Los debates en torno al concepto de seguridad han aumentado debido al fortalecimiento de la Democracia Liberal, el Estado de Derecho y la protección de los Derechos Humanos. En este contexto, se han establecido nuevos enfoques de seguridad que responden a los desafíos actuales que enfrenta el ser humano como alimentación, trabajo, salud, educación y vivienda. De esta manera, el enfoque restringido del concepto de seguridad entendido como la protección del Estado ha sido complementado, y no reemplazado, por la seguridad humana. Entre una gran variedad de posturas, Canadá y Japón se destacan en el marco de los estudios de seguridad, especialmente, en el estudio y aplicación de la seguridad humana. Kosovo, por su parte, se vio beneficiado por la participación de Canadá y Japón a la luz de los principios de Freedom from Fear y Freedom from Want durante su proceso de reconstrucción.

Small wars in the age of Clausewitz: the watershed between partisan war and people's war

Around the time of Clausewitz’s writing, a new element was introduced into partisan warfare: ideology. Previously, under the ancien régime, partisans were what today we would call special forces, light infantry or cavalry, almost always mercenaries, carrying out special operations, while the main action in war took place between regular armies. Clausewitz lectured his students on such ‘small wars’. In the American War of Independence and the resistance against Napoleon and his allies, operations carried out by such partisans merged with counter-revolutionary, nationalist insurgencies, but these Clausewitz analysed in a distinct category, ‘people's war’. Small wars, people's war, etc. should thus not be thought of as monopoly of either the political Right or the Left.

Small wars and insurgencies in theory and practice, 1500-1850

In early modern times, warfare in Europe took on many diverse and overlapping forms. Our modern notions of ‘regular’ and ‘irregular’ warfare, of ‘major war’ and ‘small war’, have their roots in much greater diversity than such binary notions allow for. While insurgencies go back to time immemorial, they have become conceptually fused with ‘small wars’. This is a term first used to denote special operations, often carried out by military companies formed from special ethnic groups and then recruited into larger armies. In its Spanish form, guerrilla, the term ‘small war’ came to stand for an ideologically-motivated insurgency against the state authorities or occupying forces of another power. There is much overlap between the phenomena of irregular warfare in the sense of special operations alongside regular operations, and irregular warfare of insurgents against the regular forces of a state. This book demonstrates how long the two phenomena were in flux and fed on each other, from the raiding operations of the 16th century to the ‘small wars’ or special operations conducted by special units in the 19th century, which existed alongside and could merge with a popular insurgency. This book is based on a special issue of the journal Small Wars & Insurgencies.