A recently published book entitled Strategic Latency Unleased: The Role of Technology in a Revisionist Global Order and the Implications for Special Operations Forces is a ‘must read’ for SOF professionals. The book, published by the Center for Global Security Research of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, covers a full range of topics about technological advances that is causing sweeping global change – transforming the face of warfare.
Special Operations Forces must adapt to these changes. This book examines the technological changes affecting SOF and offers recommendations on how to meet these challenges in a complex future. “The good news is that US SOF are also built for rapid adaptation.”
The authors are a mix of leading experts from many diverse fields that were partnered with experienced special operators in their writings. The writing project took 2 years to complete – beginning in 2018. There are close to 40 chapters by almost 60 writers who provide a diverse variety of technical, geopolitical, and operational information. The book “. . . contemplates the changing conditions under which SOF must operate and the role technology plays in making their jobs harder in some ways and easier in others.”
The book’s numerous chapters are grouped in six sections:
- Geopolitics of Strategic Latency for SOF: Context is Everything
- Biology and the Body Politic: Messing with Mother Nature
- The Materials World: Possible SOF Applications
- Global Business and the Role of the Private Sector in National Security: Implications for SOF
- Digital Domains: The SOF Role
- Operational Considerations for Multidomain Warfare
SOF professionals who are interested in the future operational environment of irregular warfare and special operations will learn much from this publication. With its many diverse chapters packaged in 581 pages this book is not a quick read. The content within these pages are well worth the effort. The good news is that it is easily digestible chapter by chapter, section by section. Enjoy and learn!
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Strategic Latency Unleased: The Role of Technology in a Revisionist Global Order and the Implications for Special Operations Forces
Center for Global Security Research
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
January 2021, PDF, 581 pages, free online
https://cgsr.llnl.gov/content/assets/docs/StratLatUnONLINE.pdf
