Addresses the major sources & types of conflict for which various kinds of military forces, & especially Special Operations Forces (SOF), will be useful instruments of policy in the years ahead. The central concern is the relationship between SOF & U.S. military capabilities in the transformed global security system. Chapters covered: the strategic landscape; new threats & challenges (ethnonational violence, religious extremism, & state disintegration); regional security: the role of SOF (Latin America, Europe, the Middle East & Africa); SOF policy & doctrine; SOF roles & missions; & SOF capabilities & acquisitions (submarines, Mark V Craft).