Assessing Special Operations Forces (SOF) 2040 (Part 1): The Operator Is the Platform
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 July 13, 2026 and is available here. Series Introduction This is the first installment in a four-part series examining
IWI is a public 501(c)3 charity and not part of a government agency. The views expressed are those of the authors.
Podcasts
View all
Five Years After the Withdrawal: Insights from the Afghanistan War Commission
Ahead of the fifth anniversary of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, Dr. Colin Jackson and Colonel (Ret.) E.J. Degen join us to discuss initial insights from the Afghanistan War Commission’s work. In particular, the episode examines insights from Afghanistan for building partner armies.
Innovation Under Fire: What WWII’s Commandos Teach Us About War and the Future of Special Operations
Description Episode 160 examines the origins of Britain’s World War II commandos and the enduring role of special operations forces from Churchill’s era to today. Summary This episode explores the creation of Britain’s legendary commando force following the military disasters of 1940. Author Monty Halls and retired
From NATO to the Gulf: Allies, Access, and the Hidden Architecture of American Power
Description Episode 159 examines the relationship between alliances, military access, and U.S. global power projection. Summary This episode explores an often overlooked benefit of alliances: wartime access. Dr. Rachel Metz and Ambassador Douglas Lute explain why public debates about allies often focus narrowly on defense spending, while missing the
Events
View all
Geoeconomics of Irregular Warfare: Iran and the Global Ripple Effects — Part X
In Part Ten of Irregular Warfare Initiative’s special series on the conflict with Iran, presented by the Economic & Legal Warfare Team, Ioannis (Gianni) Koskinas (CEO, Hoplite Group), Matt Flug (Director, Economic & Legal Warfare Focus Area, IWI), and Richard Y. Newton III, Lt General, USAF (Ret), Founding Partner,
Maritime Autonomous Systems Featuring Ukraine's SBU — Center on IW and Armed Groups 2026 Symposium
Co-director of IWI’s Maritime Program, Christopher Booth chaired a panel of guests invited by IWI as part of the Naval War College’s Center on Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups (CIWAG) 2026 Symposium – as supported by the Naval War College Foundation - to discuss autonomous maritime vessels.
Geoeconomics of Irregular Warfare: Iran and the Global Ripple Effects — Part IX
In Part Nine of Irregular Warfare Initiative’s special series on the conflict with Iran, presented by the Economic & Legal Warfare Team, Hamlet Yousef (IWI Economic & Legal Warfare Advisor), Matt Flug (Co-Director, Economic & Legal Warfare Project, IWI), Tom Johansmeyer (Co-Director, Economic & Legal Warfare Project,
Articles
View all
Kurdish Underground Resistance and Civil Disobedience Against the Iranian Security State
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. When the Iranian security state unleashed its typical playbook of repressive policing and internet blackouts in early 2026, the Islamic Republic aimed to asphyxiate the uprising. To the contrary, IWI interviews from Iraqi
Gray Zone Contestation Between North and South Korea in the Yellow Sea
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. While global chaos mounts with lingering conflict in the Middle East, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and shifting U.S. strategic priorities, the risk is not only escalation in active theaters but opportunism
Information Disorder and Irregular Warfare: Three Things to Know
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. When U.S. and Israeli forces launched Operation Epic Fury on February 28, 2026, a parallel war began online. This battle is being fought not with bombs or drones, but with deepfakes and
Ordinary Crime, Hybrid Threat, or Irregular Warfare?
Adversaries target PEMSII domains through coordinated hybrid campaigns, yet the UK legal system risks fragmenting this conduct into isolated offenses. This analysis shows why coherent framing is a vital strategic capability for national resilience.
Between Scylla and Charybdis: The Gulf’s Irregular Tomorrow
As U.S. security guarantees in the Arabian Gulf face unprecedented strain, regional states must confront a resilient or fragmented Iran alone. This analysis outlines the strategic shift toward an indigenous, "Arabia-First" framework to counter persistent, below-threshold irregular threats.
IWI’s Summer 2026 Reading List
The Irregular Warfare Initiative (IWI) provides a reading list curated by its leadership and editors. It features a diverse mix of fiction and nonfiction spanning irregular warfare, history, memoirs, and sci-fi, tailored for leisure reading, long travel, or upcoming academic preparation.
Protocol Insurgency: Winning the War of Conditions in the Digital Age
Modern irregular warfare is shifting from physical terrain to digital protocols. This analysis explores how adversaries leverage infrastructure to build systemic dependence, introducing Technical Foreign Internal Defense (Tech-FID) and protocol insurgency to maintain strategic advantage.
Q&A with Vib Altekar, Co-Founder and CTO of Saronic Technologies
On June 8, a Saronic Corsair autonomous surface vessel located and recovered the crew of an Apache helicopter after it went down off the coast of Oman, the first time an ASV was utilized in an active combat rescue mission. On May 11, Vib Altekar, Co-Founder and CTO of
Bridging the gap between irregular warfare scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.
