by Joey Middleton | Apr 22, 2026 | SOF and Strategic Competition
By Jerae Perez Introduction Western military thought often assumes that faster sensors and better data lead to faster action. In gray-zone competition, however, ambiguity over escalation thresholds creates a gap between recognition and authorization, allowing...
by Joey Middleton | Apr 22, 2026 | SOF and Strategic Competition
By Erika Lafrennie Introduction SOF does not administer governance. It operates where governance determines what is possible. That distinction matters. Operators encounter this terrain long before doctrine has language to describe it. In modern irregular...
by Joey Middleton | Apr 13, 2026 | SOF and Strategic Competition, SOF Operations
By Dr. Joseph Long “Every intervention begins as a story of liberation. Without adaptation, it ends as a story of occupation.” Why do militarily superior forces consistently win the fight—but lose the peace? This is not a new question. It is the defining paradox of...
by Joey Middleton | Apr 13, 2026 | SOF and Strategic Competition
By Andrew Rolander Intro The convergence of rapid technological proliferation, economic globalization, and liquidity in democratic institutions has disaggregated key coercive capabilities of the state to subnational political agents and non-state actors. These...
by Joey Middleton | Apr 13, 2026 | SOF and Strategic Competition
By Ron MacCammon Rapoport’s Waves and the Question of Agency In 2004, terrorism scholar David C. Rapoport introduced his influential “Four Waves of Modern Terrorism” framework. He argued that modern political violence unfolds in roughly forty-year cycles, each...
by Joey Middleton | Apr 6, 2026 | SOF and Strategic Competition
By Elizabeth Boyett Counter-narratives are strategic stories that reframe meaning—and thus behavior—against an adversary’s frame. They work only when the audience is matched, credibly carried, and enacted in deeds. Used as messaging alone, they backfire by amplifying...
