Episode 103 of the Irregular Warfare Podcast examines the role that irregular conflicts played during the Cold War to inform today’s era of strategic competition.
Our guests begin by explaining how irregular conflicts and capabilities play a role in strategic competition, despite policy structures in Washington that often silo great power conflict from irregular warfare. They then discuss evidence from the Cold War that suggests small, local wars often become battlegrounds between great powers. Finally, our guests conclude with a discussion of the kinds of irregular warfare interventions policymakers should consider for today’s era of great power competition and make recommendations for removing bureaucratic hurdles that would better integrate policies and practice for IW and strategic competition.
Dr. Jake Shapiro is Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University, where he directs the Empirical Studies of Conflict Project, a multi-university consortium that studies politically motivated violence in countries around the world. Jake has published dozens of articles in a wide range of academic journals and is author of The Terrorist’s Dilemma: Managing Violent Covert Organizations and co-author of Small Wars, Big Data: The Information Revolution in Modern Conflict. Jake is a Navy veteran and recently served as Special Advisor for Foreign Malign Influence at ODNI.
Dr. Frances Z. Brown is a vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Before joining Carnegie in 2017, Brown served as director for democracy and fragile states on the White House National Security Council (NSC) staff, where she helped manage policy processes on democracy support and conflict stabilization efforts, serving under both the Obama and Trump administrations. Prior to the NSC, Brown served at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Transition Initiatives, managing political transition programs in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Africa from the field and Washington.
Alisa Laufer and Matt Moellering are the hosts for Episode 103. Please reach out to Alisa and Matt with any questions about this episode or the Irregular Warfare Podcast.
The Irregular Warfare Podcast is a production of the Irregular Warfare Initiative (IWI). We are a team of volunteers dedicated to bridging the gap between scholars and practitioners in the field of irregular warfare. IWI generates written and audio content, coordinates events for the IW community, and hosts critical thinkers in the field of irregular warfare as IWI fellows. You can follow and engage with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or LinkedIn.
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