Joint Special Operations University
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JOINT SPECIAL OPERATIONS UNIVERSITY
Framed by more than three decades of anthropological research
experience working in Syria and surrounding Middle Eastern coun-
tries, and experience working with both U.S. development and
military entities, Dr. O’Leary and Mr. Heras oer a sociocultural and
political analysis valuable for deployed SOF. They contend that the
political strategy necessary for sustainable strategic eect in the
unconventional warfare (UW) component of the counterterrorism
operation against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was sub-
ordinated to the operational level imperative to cultivate a viable
proxy force. The authors oer SOF a way to conceptualize strategic
political analysis for UW eorts using Syria as a recent case study,
but also provide a glimmer of hope for consolidating the gains
made there in support of national policy.
ISBN 978-1-941715-38-3
Political Strategy in
Unconventional Warfare:
Opportunities Lost in Eastern Syria
and Preparing for the Future
Carole A. O’Leary and Nicholas A. Heras
JSOU Report 19-1
JSOU Report 19-1 Political Strategy in Unconventional Warfare O’Leary and Heras
U.S. Soldiers surveil the area during a combined joint patrol in Manbij, Syria,
on November . U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY SPC. ZOE GARBARINO/DVIDS
