Special Forces and Drone Technology

Talk by Dr. Ann L. Phillips, Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, DC

NATO member military forces have been declining for some years. Special Forces and technology are slated to become the hallmark of national security operations in the 21st century. The pros and cons of this approach are hotly contested in the United States and Germany. This presentation will examine the suitability of reliance on Special Forces and technology for countering extremism and supporting fragile states—primary security challenges for the foreseeable future. Common threads and differences in the US and German moral hazard debates will be part of the discussion.

Ann L. Phillips, a foreign assistance analyst and practitioner, provides an overview of U.S. drone policy in the Sahel and elsewhere, and elaborates through analysis two major concerns with this evolving policy: mission effectiveness and moral hazard.

In English.

In cooperation with the Cultural Department of the U.S. Embassy.