Are US Security Partnerships Poisoned Chalices? Implications for US Strategy
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. Recent US and Saudi airstrikes against Iranian proxies in Iraq raise the prospect that another US security partner may soon be enmeshed in a proxy war. What was common during the Cold War,
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Podcasts
The Airpower We Need for Irregular Warfare
Why does providing aircraft to partner forces so often fall short of building an effective air force? Retired Lieutenant General Anthony Rock, Michael Horowitz, and Tobias Switzer join Kyle Atwell to examine the gap between acquiring technology and turning it into military power.
War at Arm’s Length: Can Military Assistance Work?
U.S. military assistance often has a bad reputation, but it isn’t doomed to failure. This episode examines why assistance succeeds with some partners and falls short with others. LTG (Ret.) Charles Hooper, Dr. Richard Bennet, and Dr. Alexander Noyes are the guests.
Hidden Costs of Precision
How do drone strikes shape civilian behavior? Episode 164 of the Irregular Warfare Podcast explores research using 12 billion cell phone records from Yemen, revealing civilian displacement on par with natural disasters, and discusses what this means for the strategic logic of precision airpower.
Events & Virtual Sessions
Confronting Hybrid Threats in the Age of AI
A Conversation with Martha Turnbull of the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats Hybrid Threats in the Age of AI0:00/2659.5526531× In this IWI Emerging Technology conversation, Jeff Szuchman and Aidan Harte speak with Martha Turnbull of the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats
Strategic Culture & Irregular Warfare
How was it possible that one of the most battle-tested, technologically advanced, intelligence-capable nations in the world was taken by surprise?
Q&A with Charlie Winter and Stephanie Rotolo, ExTrac
Charlie Winter and Stephanie Rotolo of ExTrac join IWI's Kristina Kempkey and Curry Wright to discuss using reliable public data to strengthen joint force readiness.
Articles
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Defense Industrial Mobilization Needs More Than Startups and Drones
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. The wars of the 2020s have generated a powerful narrative about the future of defense industrial policy. Cheap drones, agile startups, venture-backed innovation, and commercial technology adapted for military use now dominate
To Disrupt Russia’s Shadow War, Follow the Money
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. Just before eight o’clock on a September evening in 2021, two men opened a conversation on Telegram about how to kidnap a Russian fugitive. One, Orlin Roussev, was a Bulgarian information technology
Ukraine’s Drone Diplomacy: Turning Battlefield Expertise into Strategic Leverage
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, much of the international narrative centered around the extensive aid flowing towards Kyiv from Europe and the United States: the air defense systems, artillery, financial
25th Anniversary of 9/11 Attacks
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, the central question is deceptively simple: Is al-Qaeda—and the Salafi-Jihadi terrorist movement it spawned—still a threat we need to worry about? Every
Before Rogers' Rangers: Legitimacy, Partnership, and the Limits of External Sponsorship
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. In June 1752, a war party of roughly two hundred and fifty Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribal warriors led by the French-Canadian Charles de Langlade descended on the town of Pickawillany. This
Mind the Gap: Asymmetric Maritime Warfare in Southeast Asian Chokepoints
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. Armed men jumped off a helicopter to capture the Galaxy Leader. The Houthis took control of the ship in November 2023 as part of their campaign against Israel that eventually evolved to sinking
Cornered, Not Conquered: Turkish Intelligence and the End of the PKK Insurgency
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. In May 2025, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced it would dissolve and lay down its arms, closing an insurgency that had cost Türkiye on the order of forty thousand lives. The timing
Russian Psychological Operations and Informational Warfare in the Middle East and North Africa
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. The speed of Ukrainian counter-messaging and will to fight has rendered Russian psychological operations in Ukraine ineffective. However, throughout the Middle East, Russia has successfully used information operations to frame the Israel-
Bridging the gap between irregular warfare scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.
