The (Arrested) Development of UK Special Forces and the Global War on Terror

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

E-ISSN: 1469-9044|35|4|971-982

ISSN: 0260-2105

Source: Review of International Studies, Vol.35, Iss.4, 2009-10, pp. : 971-982

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Abstract

The use of force in international relations by the West is increasingly witnessing a greater reliance on Special Forces. This trend has profound implications for state action because Special Forces represent a very different kind of soldier and they possess the inherent ability to transgress traditional boundaries in peace and war. The development and participation of UK Special Forces in the Global War on Terror provides a microcosm of the positive and negative dimensions of using secret military units as the force of choice against insurgents and terrorists in Afghanistan, Iraq and indeed on the streets of London.