Asked by The Universal Human and Civil Rights Union, from Brooklyn, New York
The Obama administration has increasingly relied on drones in its counterterrorist operations. And, as I explain in a recent CFR report, U.S. special operations forces are doing more things in more places than ever before. The heavy reliance on both drones and unilateral commando raids needs to be reassessed.
Speakers: Linda Robinson and Lieutenant General Frank Kearney Presider: Anya Schmemann
Former CFR adjunct senior fellow Linda Robinson and former deputy combatant commander of U.S. special operations forces Frank Kearney discuss Robinson's Council Special Report, "The Future of U.S. Special Operations."
Linda Robinson discusses her recently released Council Special Report, The Future of U.S. Special Operations Forces, which calls for conceptual, institutional, and operational changes to reorient U.S. special operations forces to ensure that they are employed to best effect.
Linda Robinson writes that the upcoming anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death highlights the continued need for a "more comprehensive approach to special operations as part of U.S. national security policy."
In the past ten years, U.S. special operations forces have honed their counterterrorism manhunting ability with great operational success. They now are at a critical inflection point in their development where resources should be realigned to successfully employ the other of their two basic capabilities—working alongside indigenous forces to combat national and transnational threats.
Linda Robinson, Public Policy Scholar with the Wilson Center, discusses her essay in Foreign Affairs, "The Future of Special Operations," with the magazine's managing editor Jonathan Tepperman.
Speaker: Linda Robinson Presider: Jonathan D. Tepperman
With the film Zero Dark Thirty set to premiere this week, Linda Robinson, former CFR adjunct senior fellow and national security expert, discusses the future of U.S. special forces. In Robinson's Foreign Affairs essay, "The Future of Special Operations," she writes that the time has come to change the nature of special operations and go beyond drone strikes and kill-and-capture missions like the one that led to the death of Osama bin Laden. Instead, U.S. special forces should deprioritize this "direct approach" in favor of an "indirect approach."
Rather than focus on dramatic raids and high-tech drone strikes,special operations should refocus its attention on working with and through non-U.S. partners to accomplish security objectives, says Linda Robinson.
While effective, Special Operations Forces (SOF) have little lasting effects, so the increased reliance on SOF to get the job done in the Middle East and South Asia is worrisome, says Max Boot.
In her testimony before the House Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, Linda Robinson details how U.S. Special Operations Forces can be restructured to better confront global challenges.
This Congressional Research Servicereport details the background and issues surrounding Special Operations Forces (SOF), elite military units with special training and equipment that can infiltrate into hostile territory through land, sea, or air to conduct a variety of operations, many of them classified.
This Congressional Research Service report provides an overview of Special Operations Forces, elite military units with special training that can infiltrate into hostile territory to conduct a variety of operations, many of them classified.
Admiral William H. McRaven, U.S. Navy, Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, gave this testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 6, 2012.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff published this document on April 18, 2011, which outlines the functions, organization, employment, and synchronization of Special Operations Forces (SOF).
Linda Robinson discusses new attributes that have characterized Special Operations Forces (SOF) operations since 9/11 and their consequences or implications for the future.
The Council on Foreign Relations' David Rockefeller Studies Program—CFR's "think tank"—is home to more than seventy full-time, adjunct, and visiting scholars and practitioners (called "fellows"). Their expertise covers the world's major regions as well as the critical issues shaping today's global agenda. Download the printable CFR Experts Guide.
Special operations play a critical role in how the United States confronts irregular threats, but to have long-term strategic impact, the author argues, numerous shortfalls must be addressed.
The author analyzes the potentially serious consequences, both at home and abroad, of a lightly overseen drone program and makes recommendations for improving its governance.
An authoritative and accessible look at what countries must do to build durable and prosperous democracies—and what the United States and others can do to help. More
Through an in-depth analysis of modern Mexico, Shannon O'Neil provides a roadmap for the United States' greatest overlooked foreign policy challenge of our time—relations with its southern neighbor. More
