Unconventional Classroom: Critical Work with Special Operations Forces Officers

Abstract

As part of a discussion on geography and militarism, this article describes my work with midlevel officers in the Army Special Operations Forces who enroll in a graduate-level course I teach on environmental geopolitics. The theoretical framework for the course is critical geopolitics, a highly relevant subfield for these students but one to which most of them have never been exposed. Here, I draw from critical security studies and discuss what I teach to these students before providing examples of how they demonstrate what they learn in the class. Throughout the article, I consider how this work in some ways destabilizes an academic–military binary and how, at other times, the dividing line is clear. I suggest that critical scholarship might usefully continue to engage with groups beyond the academy.

作为探讨地理学与军事主义的一部分, 本文描绘我和修习我所教授的博硕士课程“环境地缘政治学”的陆军特种作战部队中阶军官们所进行的工作。该课程的理论架构是批判地缘政治, 虽然对这些学生而言是个高度相关的次领域, 但他们之中却没有人曾经接触过。在提供有关这些学生如何展现课堂所学的案例之前, 我将运用批判安全研究, 探讨我教授这些学生的内容。我于全文中, 考量此一工作如何在某些方面动摇了学术—军事的二元对立, 以及有时该界线是相当清楚的。我主张, 批判学术研究或可有效地持续涉入学术之外的社群。

Como parte de una discusión sobre geografía y militarismo, este artículo describe mi trabajo con oficiales de nivel medio de las Fuerzas de Operaciones Especiales del Ejército que se matriculan en un curso de nivel posgraduado que enseño sobre geopolítica ambiental. El marco teórico del curso es geopolítica crítica, un campo subordinado altamente relevante para estos estudiantes, pero uno al que la mayoría de ellos nunca han estado expuestos. Aquí, me baso en estudios de seguridad crítica y discuto lo que enseño a estos estudiantes antes de dar ejemplos sobre la manera como ellos pueden demostrar lo que aprendieron en clase. A través de todo el artículo, considero cómo de alguna forma este trabajo desestabiliza un binario académico-militar y cómo, otras veces, la línea divisoria es clara. Sugiero que la erudición crítica podría útilmente continuar comprometiéndose con grupos más allá de la academia.

Key Words:

• critical scholarship
• critical security studies
• environmental geopolitics
• Special Operations Forces (SOF) officers

关键词：:

• 批判学术研究
• 批判安全研究
• 环境地缘政治
• 特种作战部队 (SOF) 军官。

Palabras clave:

• erudición crítica
• estudios críticos de seguridad
• geopolítica ambiental
• oficiales de las Fuerzas de Operaciones Especiales (SOF)

Notes

1 Names for attribution were provided by the students.

2 Multiple books have been written about the evolution of U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine, but just within the last ten years, three versions of the manual have been produced, the most of recent of which was rereleased in May 2014: Insurgencies and Countering Insurgencies.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shannon O'Lear

SHANNON O'LEAR is a Professor at the University of Kansas with a joint appointment in the Geography and Atmospheric Science Department and the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045–7613. E-mail: [email protected]. She is a political geographer who has done work on energy and identity issues in the South Caucasus, dynamics of power and violence, and critical work related to environmental and climate security.