Publication

This PRISM issue features articles that focus on the role of special operations forces (SOF) in what remains a chaotic world. The text’s contributors specifically focus on 1) the virtues of special operations doctrine; 2) the authority to act in gray zone operations; 3) the limits of SOF; 4) the need for regional understanding and unity of effort in special operations; 5) the role of context in SOF; 6) the relationship between special operations forces and conventional forces; 7) the role of SOF against the Islamic State; 8) imagining the responsibilities of SOCOM in a post-counterterrorism world; 9) the parts played by resistance dynamics and social movement theory in special operations; and 10) the SOF experience in the Philippines. The text also includes three book reviews and an interview with Stanley McChrystal.