Is Cognitive Warfare Dead on Arrival?
Cognitive warfare is everywhere, but it may already be doomed. It is hard to read national security literature and social media posts without coming across the term cognitive warfare. The conflict with Iran. China’s current operations. Russia’s way of war. North Korea’s nuclear strategy. Reports from NATO’
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Good Change Brings New Leadership, Ideas, and Opportunities to IWI’s Air and Space Power Team
Editor’s Note: As the Air and Space Power Team enters its next chapter, Dr. Kerry Chávez and Dr. Rick Newton will be stepping aside from their leadership roles and passing responsibilities to Dr. Michael Kreuzer. While this marks a leadership transition, the team’s commitment to advancing air and
Operationally Detached: Why Decentralization, Not Consolidation, Is the Future of U.S. Army Special Forces
“The country must turn to, and not away from, the American way of irregular war.” —Lieutenant General Charles T. Cleveland, The American Way of Irregular War (2020) Editor’s Note: This article is a response to “The Last A-Team: Special Forces Aren’t Special Anymore,” and “A New Vision for
We’ll Go No More Enriching
The United States and Israel have struck Iran’s nuclear infrastructure twice in less than a year and have killed dozens of nuclear weapons scientists in what is the most comprehensive and deadly counterproliferation campaign in history. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Director General says the program has
Operations in the Amazon: The Peruvian Military’s Riverine Operations
This article is a Focus Area self-published piece, and the content has not undergone standard editorial review. IWI hosts these pieces to facilitate rapid dialogue among practitioners, but the analysis, research, and original thought within the article remain the sole responsibility of the author. The United States military is in
A New Vision for Special Forces
Editor’s Note: This is part two of a two-part article assessing the past, present, and future of U.S. Army Special Forces. See part one here. The Green Beret's greatest legacy was never the beret. It was the audacity to imagine something that did not exist. That
Hellscape Taiwan: Drones, Deterrence, and the Future of Asymmetric Defense
This week’s episode of the Irregular Warfare Podcast examines how Taiwan could deter—or potentially defeat—a Chinese invasion by transforming the Taiwan Strait into an “unmanned hellscape.” Anchored in the recent CNAS report Hellscape for Taiwan: Rethinking Asymmetric Defense, the conversation explores how drones, autonomous systems, and mobile
The Last A-Team: Special Forces Aren't Special Anymore
Editor’s Note: This is part one of a two-part article assessing the past, present, and future of U.S. Army Special Forces. The operating environment has evolved faster than the United States Army Special Forces. Green Berets did not fail at their assigned missions; they failed to sufficiently adapt
Stop Calling It the “Gray Zone”: How China Exploits the Language of Ambiguity
"The problem is not that China operates in a gray zone. The problem is that the free world continues describing warfare in terms China itself does not recognize." For more than a decade strategists, journalists, and policy makers have relied on the phrase “gray zone” to describe China’
From Coal to Code to Reactors: How Wyoming’s State and Local Decisions Shape Irregular Warfare
For much of the twentieth century, Wyoming powered the United States by extracting coal and sending it elsewhere. From the postwar boom through the early 2000s, trains left the Powder River Basin loaded with fuel that kept distant lights on, factories running, and bases operational. Wyoming’s contribution to national
Disaster Diplomacy: A Backdoor to Improved Inter-Korean Relations Amid Great Power Realism?
It has been stated many times that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Such a description aptly describes the enduring geopolitical reality on the Korean Peninsula. Currently, North Korea and South Korea, (officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea,
Mercenaries, Private Security, and the Civilian Cost of Outsourced Coercion
While states still use military force in pursuit of national interests, private military and security companies (PMSCs) have become an increasingly common instrument, enabling states to apply pressure, manage escalation, and maintain deniability in ways that conventional deployments cannot. As resistance to foreign troop deployments grows and strategic competition shifts
The Counterinsurgency Dilemma: Foreign Fighter Influence on Insurgencies
Episode 154 of the Irregular Warfare Podcast examines a core puzzle in intrastate conflict: how a small number of foreign fighters can exert outsized influence on insurgencies. Anchored in Professor Tricia Bacon’s The Counterinsurgency Dilemma, this episode explores when foreign fighters strengthen insurgent groups—and when they undermine them.
Digital Finance as a Geopolitical Arena: China, Web3, and the Competition Over Africa’s Digital Payments Landscape
A young Nigerian man uses cryptocurrency for peer-to-peer transactions to avoid the challenges of Naira inflation, while thousands of miles away, a farmer in rural Kenya uses her smartphone to access a mobile credit platform for a microloan. These two examples represent just a small sample of how the payments
IWI Europe Leads Featured in Euromaidan Press: The "Accidental" Hardening of Ukraine
In a recent article for Euromaidan Press, authors Dr. Olga Chiriac (Director, Europe Focus Area) and Nicholas Krohley (Resistance Hub Lead) examine how two decades of Russian hybrid warfare unintentionally transformed Ukraine into a uniquely resilient state. While Moscow's long-term campaign of political interference, economic pressure, and sub-threshold
Strategic Resources in Competition: Critical Minerals & Rare Earth Elements
21–22 July 2026 · 0830–1600 Carahsoft HQ · 11493 Sunset Hills Road, Reston, VA The Irregular Warfare Initiative (IWI) and the Special Operations Association of America (SOAA) will host a two-day conference at Carahsoft Headquarters in Reston, Virginia, focused on the role of critical minerals and rare earth elements in
Neutrality as Vulnerability: Russia’s Hybrid Playbook in Moldova
Moldova’s September elections reaffirmed its pro-EU course, but continued and increased Russian hybrid and military pressure make constitutional neutrality untenable. Russia’s continued “peacekeeping” presence within the internationally recognized Moldovan territory of Transnistria is a daily direct violation of its constitutional neutrality clause. Expressly stated in Article 11, this
Credibility vs. Speed: Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Information War
Editor’s Note: this article is being republished with the permission of Small Wars Journal as part of a republishing arrangement between IWI and SWJ. The original article was published on 03.20.2026 and is available here. The Gaza conflict underscores a central fact of modern war. The Decisive
Q&A with Robert D. Kaplan
Editor’s Note: This article is presented in a question-and-answer format, with the Irregular Warfare Initiative’s Maritime Program (facilitated by Christopher Booth) interviewing Robert D. Kaplan. This piece has been edited for clarity and readability, as spoken language differs from how text is read on the page. “Robert D.
Irregular Warfare: If We Ever Stop Arguing About IW, Then IW Will Be Dead
"Large-scale combat operations win through maneuver warfare and war of attrition. Irregular, unconventional, and political warfare wins through exhaustion. They target will, cohesion, legitimacy, and endurance. They erode the foundations of power rather than destroying its visible structures." Irregular warfare (IW) refuses to sit still. It shifts with
Where the Lion Can’t Reach: Unconventional Warfare in Major War
Description Episode 153 examines the role of unconventional warfare and special operations forces in conventional major war. Summary This conversation explores how unconventional warfare can support, shape, and sometimes substitute for conventional military operations in large-scale combat. Our guests examine what unconventional warfare is and why it matters beyond the
Chinese Eyes, Iranian Missiles: Intelligence Cooperation in the US/Israel–Iran War 2026
Editor’s Note: this article is being republished with the permission of Small Wars Journal as part of a republishing arrangement between IWI and SWJ. The original article was published on 03.20.2026 and is available here. The 2026 war between the United States, Israel, and Iran represents one
Geoeconomics of Irregular Warfare: Iran and the Global Ripple Effects — Part VII
In Part Seven of Irregular Warfare Initiative’s series on the Iran conflict, produced by IWI’s Economic & Legal Warfare team, the focus turns to how escalation is being applied across economic, legal, and cognitive domains. The discussion features an expert panel including, Gianni Koskinas (CEO, Hoplite Group), Hamlet
What the Hell Is Irregular Warfare Anyway?
Episode 152 of the Irregular Warfare Podcast grapples with the many definitions of irregular warfare used across the community of interest. In this episode, our guests discuss why the concept of irregular warfare has resisted a stable definition across decades of changing doctrine, and what that persistent confusion has cost
Economic Warfare Reimagined: Insurance as a Tool of U.S. Strategic Influence
The U.S. is losing the war on sentiment in the Global South, where the world’s most economically vulnerable countries rely on larger powers for economic support and security. Russia and China have capitalized on this dynamic by seizing the economic initiative in this region, often at the expense
Conflict Has Memory: Why Local Wars Follow Distinct Trajectories
A map can tell you where a conflict is happening today, but it is blind to where that war has been - and where it is stubbornly determined to go. Analysts and planners assess geopolitical fault lines, patterns of violence, human factors, and threat networks to understand the dynamics of
Fireside Chat: Ukraine & the Future of European Security
What lessons has Russia learned from the war against Ukraine, how might this shape their near-term statecraft, and what does this mean for Europe? Overview European security discourse focuses on the threat of Russian "hybrid warfare," and the attendant need to build resilience, enhance preparedness, and reconstitute deterrence.
Capital Controls: The Evolution of Outbound Investment Security Strategy
The United States sits in the middle of an interconnected global financial system, and American investors form a significant segment within the bedrock of global economy. The country’s share of outbound investment is quite staggering, with U.S. multinational enterprises holding a cumulative investment position of more than $6.
Los límites de la decapitación de líderes: consecuencias estratégicas del exceso de confianza en la fuerza militar para la transformación política
Read in: English Nota del editor: Este artículo fue publicado originalmente en inglés. Por favor, consulte la versión original, ya que pueden existir errores de traducción. Durante más de dos décadas, la política de seguridad nacional de EE. UU. ha confiado repetidamente en la decapitación de líderes como un mecanismo
Al-Hol’s Collapse: How Syria’s Detention Crisis is Enabling Islamic State Resilience
At its peak, the Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria was the largest detention site in the post-2019 Islamic State (IS) detention and displacement system, housing approximately 25,000 individuals. In January 2026, a contested transfer of custody from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to the Syrian government triggered a rapid
Hannah Lamb’s “Angle of Attack” Featured on Chief of Staff of the Army’s March 2026 Recommended Articles List
The Irregular Warfare Initiative is proud to highlight that “Angle of Attack: Apache Attack Helicopters in Unmanned Skies,” by Hannah Lamb, has been featured in the March 2026 edition of the Chief of Staff of the Army’s Recommended Articles List, published by Army University Press. Lamb’s article offers
Covert Crypto: a Double-edged Sword for Special Operations
“For covert operations, the misconception that crypto is inherently 'anonymous' is hazardous... Instead, crypto provides the potential for non-attribution or deliberate exposure, depending on the type of operation.” In the current landscape of strategic competition and irregular warfare, the ability to operate covertly in the financial domain is
Bridging the gap between irregular warfare scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.
