Maritime

Exploring modern challenges at the intersection of irregular warfare and strategic competition in the maritime dimension, from malign activity to domain awareness.

Floating Liabilities: Aircraft Carriers in the Age of Precision Strike and Irregular Warfare
Articles Maritime Tahir Mahmood Azad

Floating Liabilities: Aircraft Carriers in the Age of Precision Strike and Irregular Warfare

Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. In mid-March 2026, satellite imagery confirmed what many defense analysts had long feared: the USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike groups had quietly abandoned their forward offensive positions

Tahir Mahmood Azad
Cole Livieratos
Gray Zone Contestation Between North and South Korea in the Yellow Sea
Michael MacArthur Bosack Articles Maritime

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

Michael MacArthur Bosack
Editorial Board
Maritime Autonomous Systems Featuring Ukraine's SBU — Center on IW and Armed Groups 2026 Symposium
Christopher Booth Maritime Events

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.

Christopher Booth
Peter Burns
Iran, Ukraine, and the Future of Naval Warfare
Podcasts Maritime Special Operations Kyle Atwell Alisa Laufer

Iran, Ukraine, and the Future of Naval Warfare

Episode 156 examines what the U.S.-Iran War and Russia-Ukraine War reveal about how weaker states and irregular actors contest navies, maritime commerce, and global energy flows. Summary This conversation examines naval irregular warfare in an era of drones, shadow fleets, contested chokepoints, and attacks on commercial shipping.

Kyle AtwellAlisa Laufer
Editorial Board
Join Us at the 2026 CIWAG Maritime Symposium
Events Maritime IWI Maritime Program

Join Us at the 2026 CIWAG Maritime Symposium

The maritime domain is entering an era of gathering storms and shifting tides. Join leading practitioners, scholars, and policymakers at the 2026 CIWAG Maritime Symposium, taking place 22–24 June 2026 in Newport, Rhode Island, for discussions on some of the most pressing challenges shaping maritime security today. Topics include

IWI Maritime Program
Editorial Board
Operations in the Amazon: The Peruvian Military’s Riverine Operations
Maritime Wilder Alejandro Sánchez

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

Wilder Alejandro Sánchez
Editorial Board
Q&A with Robert D. Kaplan
Articles Maritime Christopher Booth

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.

Christopher Booth
Editorial Board
Proof Against the Clock: The Two-Hour Rule for Second Thomas Shoal
Articles Maritime Richard Byno

Proof Against the Clock: The Two-Hour Rule for Second Thomas Shoal

Salty air whips across the deck as the Philippine resupply vessel shoulders through turbulent swells, its bow locked onto the skeletal silhouette of the BRP Sierra Madre rusting atop the reef at Second Thomas Shoal. Dawn hasn’t yet fully broken, but the sea gives its warning anyway. Within seconds,

Richard Byno
Editorial Board
Q&A with Former Israeli Shin Bet Director and Command-in-Chief of the Israeli Navy – Ami Ayalon on Iran, Gaza, and Posturing the Israeli Navy for the Future
Articles Maritime Christopher Booth Walker Mills

Q&A with Former Israeli Shin Bet Director and Command-in-Chief of the Israeli Navy – Ami Ayalon on Iran, Gaza, and Posturing the Israeli Navy for the Future

✉️ Email header below is auto-generated from this post’s author tag. It only appears in the newsletter — please don’t edit or delete it. “The essence of victory is not to kill your enemy; it is to change your political reality.” — Ami Ayalon Editor’s Note: This article is

Christopher BoothWalker Mills
Multiple authors
Q & A: Karl Marlantes on Vietnam, Leadership, and the Lessons America Still Hasn’t Learned
Articles Maritime Christopher Booth Walker Mills

Q & A: Karl Marlantes on Vietnam, Leadership, and the Lessons America Still Hasn’t Learned

✉️ Email header below is auto-generated from this post’s author tag. It only appears in the newsletter — please don’t edit or delete it. Editor’s Note: This article is presented in a question-and-answer format, with the Irregular Warfare Initiative interviewing Karl Marlantes. This piece has been

Christopher BoothWalker Mills
Multiple authors
Showing of 37 posts

Bridging the gap between irregular warfare scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.

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Exploring modern challenges and opportunities in the maritime dimension at the intersection of irregular warfare and strategic competition. With a focus on current events and their underlying geographical and historical patterns, recent changes to policy & doctrine, and emerging technologies, we aim to contextualize underlying drivers of conflict in the maritime dimension and inspire dialogue toward integrated statecraft approaches.

Our program is aligned around the following areas:

  • Irregular Warfare in Maritime Environments | Riverine, Littoral, Subsea & Seabed
  • Malign Maritime Activity | Illegal, Dangerous, and Destabilizing, including:
    • Russia’s use of its illicit oil-smuggling Shadow Fleet
    • Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing 
    • 21st Century Piracy
  • Historical Case Studies | Lessons to be learned for modern practitioners from past campaigns, strategies, and novel solutions from military, intelligence, and other irregular warfare actors
  • Maritime Domain Awareness | Emerging technology and novel approaches

Check out our Project Maritime Look Book.

Meet the Team

Christopher D. Booth Christopher D. Booth Co-Director, Maritime
Walker Mills Walker Mills Co-Director, Maritime