'Scalpel' or 'easy button'? Neither - and some further considerations
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Authors
Simons, Anna
Subjects
Advisors
Date of Issue
2017
Date
Publisher
Royal Danish Defence College
Language
Abstract
When examining the political risk implications of using SOF, it is important
to acknowledge that political risks may be impossible to accurately calculate, since whether an
operation or mission proves worthwhile will depend on who is doing the assessing, at what moment in
time, and for what ends. Indeed, some missions may yield results whose value degrade rather than
increase over time. This seems truer of expeditionary Direct Action (DA) missions than is commonly
recognized. Expeditionary Military Assistance (MA) missions, on the other hand, can have a
long-lasting strategic impact, but only if careful thought is given to how to employ MA and SOF
strategically.
Type
Book Chapter
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Defense Analysis (DA)
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
22 p.
Citation
A. Simons, "'Scalpel' or 'easy button'? Neither - and some further considerations," Conference Proceedings no.4(a), Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Special Operations Forces, Chapter 9, (2017) pp.168-188.
Distribution Statement
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.