This Joint Special Operations University book, The Fourth Age: The Future of Special Operations, helps us visualize a future era of special operations. Through their creative talents and subject matter knowledge, the authors realistically portray what is within the realm of possible. They draw upon lessons of the past while imagining the future. Their stories incorporate the full array of joint, interagency, intergovernmental, multinational and commercial elements leveraged by various state and non-state actors in this era of strategic competition. Their characters also operate across warfighting domains and employ multiple technologies-all in support of our Nation's Integrated Deterrence approach. Our hope is that through the art of storytelling, we will think deeply about what the future may hold. Of equal importance, we aim to convey the enduring value of our Nation's special operations forces to our own special operations community, senior leaders, elected officials, partners and allies, and the broader American public. We believe these authors have made an important contribution to doing just that.