The Politics of Special Forces

In our ninth episode, we speak with the deputy commander of the Polish Territorial Defence Forces (TDF), Brigadier General Maciej Klisz. Our conversation examines what constitutes the TDF and draws connections between territorial defence and unconventional warfare, suggesting that territorial defence – especially in militaries that have focused on expeditionary operations, is in many ways a form of special operation.

This episode serves a primer of sorts for the role of special operations forces within the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). While the episode begins with a reflection and updated of the analytic framework that the guests first introduced in 2016, it turned into an incredibly valuable discussion on the origins of IDF SOF as well as the challenges facing this organization in the future. Indeed, this episode – for those who are not familiar with the IDF – provides a unique perspective to the way in which SOF is generated and employed today.

In this episode, our first for 2022, we had a fascinating discussion about the concept of narrative and how it relates to SOF employment concepts. Over the course of the conversation, Dave presents a working definition of narrative as a collection of ideas and concepts that codify meaning to events and behaviours. The conversation then directly connects narrative to the concept of special operations, making a cogent argument for a reconceptualization of what constitutes a special operation and even a special operation force.

In this episode, Kevin and I sit down with Erin Yantzi, a graduate student from the University of Waterloo who is conducting a unique sociological and anthropological examination of SOF culture. In this conversation, we discuss both the shaping effect of culture upon SOF organizations as well as how the concept of culture can be operationalized by leaders to improve unit – and indeed individual – performance.