Foreign internal defense in the context of "British Armed Forces"

The Sahel region (/səˈhɛl/; from Arabic ساحل (sāḥil [ˈsaːħil]) 'coast, shore'), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a biogeographical region in Africa. It is the transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a hot semi-arid climate and stretches across the southernmost latitudes of North Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea. Although geographically located in the tropics, the Sahel does not have a tropical climate.

Especially in the western Sahel, there are frequent shortages of food and water due to its very high government corruption and the semi-arid climate. Nonetheless the region has sustained very high human birthrates, resulting in a rapid increase in population. In recent times, various coups, insurgencies, terrorism and foreign interventions have taken place in many Sahel countries, especially across former Françafrique.

Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment".

Special forces emerged in the early 20th century, with a significant growth in the field during World War II, when "every major army involved in the fighting" created formations devoted to special operations behind enemy lines. Depending on the country, special forces may perform functions including airborne operations, counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, foreign internal defense, covert ops, direct action, hostage rescue, high-value targets/manhunt, intelligence operations, mobility operations, and unconventional warfare.

Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to combat or eliminate terrorism and violent extremism.

If an act of terrorism occurs as part of a broader insurgency (and insurgency is included in the definition of terrorism) then counterterrorism may additionally employ counterinsurgency measures. The United States Armed Forces uses the term "foreign internal defense" for programs that support other countries' attempts to suppress insurgency, lawlessness, or subversion, or to reduce the conditions under which threats to national security may develop.

The Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly known as the Special Operations Forces (abbr. SOF; Russian: Силы специальных операций; ССО, romanized: Sily spetsial’nykh operatsiy; SSO), are strategic-level special forces under the Special Operations Forces Command (Russian: Командование сил специальных операций, KCCO, romanized: Komandovaniye sil spetsial'nykh operatsiy, abbr. KSSO or KSO) of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. They are also a structural branch and an independent unit of the Armed Forces.

The first units of what would become the Special Operations Forces were transferred from the General Staff Directorate (GRU) in 2009 as part of the continuing 2008 Russian military reform. The Special Operations Forces Command, established in 2012, was announced in March 2013 by the Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. According to Gerasimov, Russian authorities designed the SOF as a strategic-level asset: élite special-operations-force units of the KSSO whose primary missions would be foreign interventions including counter-proliferation, foreign internal defense operations and undertaking the most complex special operations and clandestine missions for protecting the interests of the Russian Federation.

The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, is a branch of the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC).

The core missionset of Special Forces contains five doctrinal missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, direct action, counterterrorism, and special reconnaissance. The unit emphasizes language, cultural, and training skills in working with foreign troops; recruits are required to learn a foreign language as part of their training and must maintain knowledge of the political, economic, and cultural complexities of the regions in which they are deployed. Other Special Forces missions, known as secondary missions, include combat search and rescue (CSAR), counter-narcotics, hostage rescue, humanitarian assistance, humanitarian demining, peacekeeping, and manhunts. Other components of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) or other U.S. government activities may also specialize in these secondary missions. The Special Forces conduct these missions via five active duty groups, each with a geographic specialization; and two National Guard groups that share multiple geographic areas of responsibility. Many of their operational techniques are classified, but some nonfiction works and doctrinal manuals are available.