The role of the United States Special Operations Forces from its various military branches throughout the last 2 decades has been immense, especially when their role in Africa and the Middle East is analyzed in depth. They have been heavy players in gathering intelligence vital to many grander missions, and also to capturing and eliminating targets that many consider to be amongst the evilest people on the planet.

According to the Pulitzer Center, US Special Operations Forces were deployed in 22 African countries in 2019, and according to The Intercept, 62 percent of all elite forces serving abroad were in the Middle East in 2019 as well (Inside the World Of US Special Operations in Africa). These pieces of data illustrate the sheer gratitude of numbers where these immensely trained warriors are present, and these number enable to have the tremendous impact they have had thus far. This is just testament to how significant these operators are to our nation’s and ally’s defense.

Their essential role can also be observed in many of the operations they took part in that either eventually or immediately led to the completion of grand objectives. For example, in 2020, Army special operations brought to justice Al-Baghdadi, which was considered to be the number one terrorist in the world being the head of ISIS at the time (Al-Baghdadi eliminated by US Special Operations Forces). They eliminated him in Syria in what was a very dangerous yet ultimately incredibly successful mission with no American casualties. Throughout the rest of the Middle East and Africa, special operations forces have conducted many similar missions to take out other leaders, organizers, and members of other terrorist networks, further establishing the significance of these extraordinary people in filling very large shoes in these regions of the world.

Works Cited

News, BBC. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: IS leader ‘dead after US raid’ in Syria. 28 October 2019. Website. 11 December 2021.

Turse, Nick. More U.S. Commandos are Fighting Invisible Wars in the MIddle East. September 25 2019. Website. 11 December 2021.

Turse, Nick, Sam Mednick and Amanda Sperber. Exclusive: Inside the Secret World of US Commandos in Africa. 11 August 2020. Website. 11 December 2021.

Kim Jong-Un and the North Korean regime present one of the most grave and deadly threats on the face of the earth today. Their fervent attitude of ensuring authoritarian rule and maintaining a strong hold over their economically deprived nation has plunged the country into ruin, as their people are forced to live in abject poverty.

It is this phenomenon that illustrates just how dangerous the North Korean government truly is. The fact that they are willing to have the people living in atrocious conditions all towards the aim of maintaining power is indicative of the dangerous acts they are willing to undertake in order to continue their reign. At the front of all of this, of course, is Kim Jong-Un, a sadistic dictator with access to weapons of mass destruction.

This is what makes the country such an existential threat; the country has the ability to cause enormous amounts of damage all under the complete control of perhaps the most estranged world leader in the world. The combination of these elements presents a real threat to all the countries of the world, and in particular, to the democracies of the world which the North Korean regime opposes.

According to the Arms Control Association, as of January of 2020, North Korea has approximately 30 to 40 nuclear warheads (North Korea and their Nuclear Arsenal). In addition, according to the BBC, the North Koreans have missiles that could potentially put all of the continental United States within striking distance of a nuclear warhead (Nuclear Program of the North Korean Government). Thus, it is clear that regardless of the fact that North Korea is one of the poorest countries in the world with a crippled economy and virtually no human rights, the North Korean government is still developing military technologies and capabilities to potentially wage wars on countries much more militarily superior; this further testifies to the fact that the North Korean regime are a deranged coalition with their ideologies being brought down from their even more deranged leader.

Works Cited

Check, Reality. North Korea: What we know about its missile and nuclear programme. 4 October 2021. Website. 11 December 2021.

Sang-Hun, Choe. North Korea’s Arsenal Has Grown Rapidly. Here’s What’s in It. 18 October 2021. Website. 11 December 2021.

The effect of American public opinion on Foreign Policy has grown tremendously throughout the past 85 years. It really all began on the precipice of the second world war, where the entrance of the United States into the war was in question. As the war in Europe and Asia marched on, the American public began more and more to push for the United States to enter the fray and fight. After the attacks on Pearl Harbor, it was clear what the American people wanted, as it is what had to be done (How did Public Opinion About Entering World War II Change Between 1939 and 1941? | Americans and the Holocaust (ushmm.org)).

This would not be an indicator of the effect public opinion would have on foreign policy in the years to come, especially when it came to major campaigns. There are many instances of unpopular wars that were despised by the American public at large.

The most notable of these unpopular wars, during the twentieth century specifically, are both the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The impact the prevailing sentiment amongst the American citizenry had on these wars was immense; it made formulating adequate policy for American statesman and formulating adequate military plans for senior military leaders very difficult, as they had to do all of this with the American public pressing on their necks.

Another example of these sorts of phenomena are the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, although the effect the public had had in these instances is quite distinct. Here, the citizenry despises these wars, as they did the others mentioned prior, but that didn’t stop the wars from going on regardless, and it also didn’t affect the actual execution of the wars, as shown by the immense amounts of funds poured into these campaigns.

An effect on Afghanistan can be seen recently, however, as the American public’s desire for the war to not go on any longer forced an unorganized and poorly executed pull-out that hurt and killed many innocent lives.

All in all, throughout history and in contemporary times, there are many examples of public opinion having varying effects on foreign policy; that is why it is important the American public be informed and educated as to what is happening both at home and abroad; their thoughts matter.

Vietnam War: Humanitarian Assistance

Works Cited

Musuem, United States Holocaust Memorial. How did Public Opinion About Entering World War II Change Between 1939 and 1941? n.d. Website. 7 November 2021.