Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Non-state Special Operations: Capabilities and Effects

Non-state Special Operations: Capabilities and Effects

Rice, Ian
Whiteside, Craig

Hardcover

Series: Cass Military Studies

Armed ForcesGeneral Political ScienceMilitary Strategy

ISBN10: 1032594519
ISBN13: 9781032594514
Publisher: Routledge
Published: Jul 25 2025
Pages: 174
Weight: 0.99
Height: 0.50 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English

This book examines how violent non-state actors (VNSAs) emulate and develop military special operation capabilities.

Building on previous research on Islamic State special operations, the book develops a theoretical framework surrounding a typology of VNSA (militants, proxies, criminal/cults, and mercenaries) to explore variations of non-state special operations, with multiple cases for each category of actor. Understanding when and why VNSAs use special operations provides insights into the inner workings of such groups and how they campaign and also has implications for the proliferation of special operation forces around the globe and its influence on non-state behavior. This volume contributes to research on the recent trend of non-state actors surprising, and in some cases humiliating, their state opponents.

Also in

Armed Forces

View All