A Perilous Future: High-Intensity Conflict and the Implications for SOF
Published on 7/22/2022
Digital Only
Up until the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the idea of a quickly manifesting high-intensity war was unfathomable to most. Awareness of how such a conflict would severely impact the stability and prosperity of the interconnected world, as well as the accessibility, proliferation, and lethality of modern technology, seemed to make the prospect of conflict so devastating that no rational state would risk engaging in all out war. However, the Russian assault on Ukraine underlines the point “never say never.” Through design or miscalculation, the occurrence of a major conflict between peer, near-peer, and / or regional powers can never be discounted. As such, this volume examines the challenges and potential roles that SOF will face in the event of high-intensity, conventional warfare.