The conflict in Ukraine will end at some point, and when it does, sweeping changes to the entire Ukrainian military and state security apparatus are likely to result. Are there lessons that can be drawn from history about what the transition from wartime to peacetime looks like for both the broader conventional military and specifically for Special Operations Forces (SOF), especially in a state that may need to dramatically reduce the overall size of its armed forces?
As the nation restructures, what conventional and SOF capabilities are most critical to maintain, and should there be a larger role for reserve forces across the entire military? Furthermore, how does Ukraine’s potential accession to NATO affect the country's broader defense architecture and the specific role(s) that Ukrainian SOF will play within the alliance? Finally, in what ways can the U.S. military—and U.S. SOF in particular—in conjunction with allies and partners, best support the overall Ukrainian armed forces and Ukrainian SOF through their organizational and individual transitions to a peacetime footing?