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

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