Insider: Short of War

This episode explores how cognitive coherence dictates the success of irregular warfare campaigns by aligning military actions with local cultural expectations. Listeners will learn why tactical dominance falls short without strategic cultural alignment, drawing on historical examples from Afghanistan and Colombia.

This episode examines why defense industrial mobilization requires robust state acquisition institutions rather than relying solely on startups and drone tech. It explores procurement challenges facing middle powers and how states can effectively translate defense budgets into lasting military capability.

This episode examines how Russia leverages illicit financial infrastructure, cryptocurrency rails, and criminal networks to power covert operations across Europe. It highlights actionable strategies for Western intelligence to track, target, and disrupt these state-linked financial pipelines.

This episode examines how Ukraine translates its frontline counter-drone innovations into critical strategic leverage across Western and Gulf defense partnerships. It highlights the growing military and economic value of Kyiv’s operational expertise in countering low-cost unmanned aerial systems.

Twenty-five years after 9/11, al-Qaeda remains an expanding global threat despite the deaths of key leadership. This episode explores the group’s persistent ideology, active franchises, and enduring political impact across the West.

This episode explores how 18th-century French-Canadian partisans built effective irregular warfare partner forces through local legitimacy and aligned interests rather than central military command. It contrasts this historic model with modern Special Operations Forces dilemmas to explain why tactical success fails without durable strategic political commitments.

This episode examines how the U.S. and regional partners can utilize low-cost, asymmetric maritime warfare in Southeast Asian chokepoints to disrupt adversary supply lines. It evaluates partner-led, U.S.-led, and militia-based execution pathways designed to impose high financial and operational costs during a protracted conflict.

This deep dive analyzes how Turkish intelligence leveraged persistent drone surveillance alongside political negotiations to bring an end to the PKK insurgency. It demonstrates why raising the cost of armed struggle must be paired with political off-ramps to achieve lasting resolution

This episode analyzes how Moscow utilizes state-backed media and digital disinformation to weaponize regional grievances across the Middle East and North Africa. It details Russian psychological operations designed to undermine Western influence and reframe regional conflicts to serve strategic interests.

Contemporary terrorism is increasingly defined by fluid, transactional proxy networks rather than rigid ideological movements. This episode examines how state-backed hybrid warfare operates under terrorist branding and why modern security architectures must urgently adapt.

This episode examines the institutional evolution of U.S. Army Special Forces, balancing Cold War origins against post-9/11 policy demand. It outlines how strategic utility reshaped organizational identity and what capabilities a modern irregular warfare force requires today.

This episode explores how authorizing private cyber actors could deter state-sponsored cyber exploitation and recover trillions in stolen digital assets. It details a modern constitutional and regulatory framework for issuing letters of marque in cyberspace.

This episode analyzes Iran’s Bitcoin-denominated ”Hormuz Safe” proposal and its broad implications for irregular warfare, maritime security, and financial compliance. It outlines how this digital toll creates an operational dilemma for commercial shipping while setting a precedent for other strategic chokepoints like the Strait of Malacca.

This episode examines how regional instability and militant pressure are eroding the long-standing barriers protecting Pakistan’s nuclear weapons enterprise. Listen to discover why insider threats and tactical mobility pose an urgent challenge to global nonproliferation.

This episode examines how state actors leverage Lego animations, dark internet humor, and cognitive warfare techniques to shape public perception. We break down why these viral formats bypass critical evaluation and what this shift means for the future of digital influence operations.

While cartel decapitation strategies fail to break organized crime ecosystems, Mexico can transform its security by engaging friendly and neutral civil networks. This deep dive explores how a whole-of-society network strategy can fundamentally alter the conflict’s trajectory.

This episode explores how AI in cyber conflict shifts the balance of power, offering brief offensive windows before ultimately favoring long-term defensive stability. Discover why AI’s strengths in pattern recognition often outshine its unpredictable offensive capabilities.

This episode explores how rapid technological shifts, persistent gray-zone competition, and accelerating innovation are dissolving traditional military advantages. It argues that Special Operations Forces (SOF) must shed legacy habits to serve as vital "coherence agents" and "adaptation engines" capable of navigating the critical seams between emerging systems, strategy, and human judgment.

This episode argues that "irregular warfare" is an artificial construct rather than a cohesive concept, which has led to muddled doctrinal definitions that create strategic and policy confusion. To resolve this, author JP Clark proposes breaking the term down into four distinct, practical conversations centered on real-world problems: managing irregular adversaries, forces, situations, and methods.

The collapse of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces was not a conventional military defeat, but the inevitable culmination of two decades of systemic institutional failure and deep-seated corruption. This internal rot—characterized by pervasive patronage, diverted supplies, and "ghost soldiers"—was masked by superficial readiness metrics, leaving the military structurally dependent on U.S. support and unable to survive its withdrawal.

Public support for military force is heavily driven by the legitimacy of the weapon type and the prevention of civilian harm, rather than tactical effectiveness alone. Because of this, individuals consistently favor precise options like cyber and conventional strikes over indiscriminate systems like WMDs and cluster munitions, even when those precise options carry a much higher risk of operational failure.

This podcast explores how aircraft carriers have transitioned into highly vulnerable, conditional instruments of power, as demonstrated by mid-tier adversaries using low-cost drones and advanced precision missiles to force these multi-billion-dollar assets out of combat range during the 2025–2026 Middle East conflict. To counter these strategic and financial liabilities, it highlights critical naval adaptations, including a shift toward long-range unmanned systems, restructured escort economics, and a highly distributed strike architecture.

This episode explores how adversaries like Russia and China can exploit Alaska’s highly concentrated, commercially dependent logistics systems through below-threshold irregular warfare, and why building civil-military resilience across the state is the ultimate foundation for Arctic deterrence.

This episode examines how Iranian Kurdish resistance networks bypassed state internet blackouts using Starlink and offline sleeper cells to sustain civil disobedience. It provides an objective look into opposition tactics and the complex geopolitics shaping Iranian Kurdistan’s future.

This episode analyzes the risk of North Korean gray zone operations altering maritime boundaries in the West Sea. It outlines how the US-ROK alliance can prepare counter-measures to prevent unilateral revision of the status quo.

This episode provides an analytical, deep-dive discussion on how information disorder reshapes modern irregular warfare. We examine how algorithmic amplification and digital fabrication empower authoritarian regimes, fracture international alliances, and accelerate geopolitical conflicts.

A deep dive into the shifting security dynamics of the Arabian Gulf as weakening U.S. deterrence forces regional states to develop indigenous irregular defense capabilities against a changing Iranian threat.

This episode delivers a deep dive into how modern conflict has shifted from securing physical terrain to controlling digital protocols and data standards. It explores strategic tools like Tech-FID and protocol insurgency to counter adversary influence and maintain a systemic advantage.

A deep dive exploration into how precision drone strikes cause massive, non-lethal civilian displacement and communication surges. This episode reveals the overlooked strategic and humanitarian costs of drone warfare that occur far beyond the blast radius.

This episode breaks down the framework for a standardized Total Defense manual to counter gray-zone aggression by building structured, peacetime civilian-military resilience. It draws operational insights from historical Finnish defense strategies and contemporary technological applications to establish a proactive blueprint for modern societal deterrence.

This episode explores why the highly hyped concept of cognitive warfare is set up to fail within the U.S. military unless four structural flaws are addressed. We break down the challenges of measurement, public norms, political backing, and organizational dysfunction that keep information operations at a standstill.

This episode explores the critical shift the U.S. Army must make from traditional warfighting functions to integrated warfighting systems to counter peer adversaries. It breaks down China’s systems warfare strategy and highlights a structural blueprint to achieve decision advantage.

This episode explores the strategic debate between high-tech consolidation and partner-centric Special Forces decentralization. It highlights how persistent forward presence and human networks provide the ultimate comparative advantage in gray-zone conflicts.

This episode analyzes the critical strategic shift from destroying physical atomic infrastructure to targeting the unique human capital inside Iran’s nuclear program. It highlights why a comprehensive irregular warfare strategy must follow kinetic operations to permanently prevent the reconstruction of weaponization expertise.

This episode outlines a revolutionary vision for Special Forces restructuring to counter high-tech adversary surveillance. It details a specific blueprint to reallocate assets under JSOC and convert remaining units into experimental labs for modern, denied-area operations.

This episode explores why U.S. Army Special Forces must undergo a radical structural transformation to remain relevant against modern, high-tech adversaries. It examines how institutional growth and an emphasis on continuous global presence have compromised their core strategic value.

This episode examines how Wyoming’s local energy and infrastructure decisions serve as a quiet front line for national security. Learn why subnational governance is the new terrain for global strategic competition.

This episode examines the strategic shift toward private military force and how marketized coercion exploits legal gaps to manage escalation below the threshold of war. It argues for a new regulatory approach focused on functions rather than actor labels to ensure true accountability.

This episode examines how Moldova is navigating its constitutional neutrality amidst escalating Russian hybrid threats and military pressure. Listen to discover why integrating with Western allies is becoming vital for the nation’s security.

This deep dive examines the integration of parametric insurance into the U.S. irregular warfare toolkit. It outlines how paying insurance premiums for vulnerable nations can provide immediate capital during crises like natural disasters , bypassing the slower nature of traditional foreign aid. The discussion covers the strategic advantages over competitors like China and Russia , the implementation role of civil affairs operators on the ground , and the inherent resistance of parametric insurance to market manipulation.

This episode examines why some local conflicts are brief, some recur, and others become deeply entrenched. By analyzing regional patterns, we reveal how a trajectory-aware approach helps policymakers calibrate interventions.

This audio article examines the collapse of Al-Hol and the broader Syria detention crisis. It outlines how the dispersal of roughly 20,000 unaccounted individuals and shifting custody arrangements empower Islamic State networks to adapt, persist, and mobilize support beneath the threshold of direct military intervention.

This audio article explores the strategic limits of leadership decapitation. It argues that relying on military force to remove individual leaders often fails because the underlying networks of coercion and patronage remain intact, leading to regime adaptation rather than structural collapse.

A deep dive into the commercial mechanisms empowering proxy forces. We examine the shift from state-to-state arms transfers to commercial networks, detailing how joint ventures and software unbundling allow non-state actors to deploy sophisticated capabilities like Wing Loong II drones. The discussion covers the failure of traditional arms control and offers policy interventions to create friction in these supply chains.

This article analyzes the 2026 Hormuz crisis as the clearest case of weaponized maritime insurance. It details the ”Anatomy of the Weapon System”—including the gating function of insurance and the institutional triggers of the Lloyd’s Joint War Committee—that can effectively block global chokepoints through market logic rather than physical force.

This episode analyzes the economic impact of the NotPetya cyberattack on Russia, estimating that self-inflicted damages were relatively limited compared to global losses. It challenges assumptions about cyber warfare’s risks and highlights the strategic implications of spillover effects.

This discussion explores the strategic pivot from manned airpower to deniable, unmanned force along the Line of Control. Our hosts compare the two divergent trajectories in the region: Pakistan’s ”improvisational” ecosystem utilizing Chinese and Turkish tech versus India’s pursuit of high-end, network-centric dominance through Israeli and U.S. platforms.

This episode explores the strategic logic behind Kurdish resistance drones in Iran and how unmanned systems could empower an insurgent movement against the Iranian regime. The article examines the tactical advantages drones offer—ranging from aerial strikes and reconnaissance to logistics and psychological warfare. It also discusses how lessons from Ukraine’s drone warfare could be adapted to support Kurdish resistance forces, potentially with assistance from the United States, Israel, and Gulf states. The analysis highlights the growing role of low-cost drone technology in irregular warfare and its ability to level the battlefield between state militaries and resistance movements.

This audio article examines the intelligence risk in prediction markets. It highlights how decentralized betting platforms act as high-fidelity sensors that threaten national security by incentivizing the leakage of classified information.

This audio article examines the strategic expansion of China’s digital yuan (e-CNY) into Southeast Asia, positioning it as a potential ”operating system” for national economies that offers efficiency at the cost of surveillance and sovereignty. The discussion contrasts this centralized CBDC model—which grants Beijing a potential ”kill switch” over foreign assets—against the decentralized stablecoin initiatives led by Japan and South Korea. Key developments covered include the People’s Bank of China’s 2025 decision to pay interest on the e-CNY and the broader implications of digital currency in irregular competition.

Benjamin Stumpf discusses his experience as a planner for SAG-U, highlighting how traditional processes like MDMP and JPP must evolve for advisory missions. Key topics include the necessity of understanding partner motivations, doubling down on mission analysis to avoid ”mirror imaging,” and using breadth-over-depth scenario planning to maintain flexibility in advisory military planning.

Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO, prompted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has significantly bolstered the Alliance's capabilities, adding 15 million people and doubling the NATO-Russia land border to 1,584 miles. This development enhances irregular warfare (IW) opportunities, both defensively and offensively, by leveraging the Nordics' strong militaries, societal resilience, and geographic proximity to Russia. Defensively, Finland contributes a massive reservist force of up to 870,000 trained citizens, the Hybrid Center of Excellence for countering hybrid threats, and winter warfare expertise from its special operations forces. Sweden adds its Total Defence model, which prepares civilians through informational brochures, a specialized submarine fleet for Baltic Sea operations, and a robust defense industrial base producing advanced systems like the Gripen fighter jet. Offensively, the Nordics' location creates dilemmas for Moscow, enabling NATO to threaten key Russian assets in areas like the Kola Peninsula and St. Petersburg while facilitating reinforcements and deterrence through flexible options involving special operations. This shift forces Russia to reallocate resources, stretching its military posture across a longer border and reducing focus on other fronts like Ukraine. While risking security dilemmas, these IW enhancements strengthen NATO's northern flank without necessitating large-scale escalations, turning what was once neutral territory into a strategic advantage for the Alliance.

This podcast examines why American Samoa is a strategic hub in the South Pacific and how its future will shape U.S. security interests in the region. It explains the island’s historical role, growing pressure from Chinese fishing fleets and influence operations, and the risks posed by under-policed maritime spaces. The episode outlines why developing the port of Pago Pago, expanding maritime patrol capacity, and strengthening law enforcement are essential not only for local economic resilience, but also for countering Chinese irregular warfare and safeguarding critical logistics routes ahead of a potential Pacific conflict.

U.S. security force assistance is trapped in a “Schrödinger’s Cat” paradox: the very metrics used to measure partner military success distort reality and create the illusion of effectiveness. By relying on easily quantifiable indicators—troop numbers trained, equipment delivered, units certified—the U.S. incentivizes performative behavior by both advisors and partner forces, producing polished reports rather than durable institutions. Drawing on examples from Afghanistan, Iraq, the Sahel, and even Ukraine, the authors show how tactical proficiency metrics routinely mask corruption, weak political legitimacy, and institutional fragility, leading to strategic failure despite apparent progress. They contend this problem has worsened under post-2017 assessment frameworks that treat security assistance as a linear, engineering problem rather than a complex adaptive system. The solution, they argue, is not abandoning assessment but redesigning it: shifting from proof-seeking to hypothesis-testing, elevating qualitative advisor judgment, measuring outcomes that partners cannot fake, and aligning evaluation with strategic competition rather than counterterrorism-era outputs—so that when a crisis finally “opens the box,” policymakers aren’t shocked to find a force that only ever looked alive on paper.

NATO has updated its Security Force Assistance doctrine for a new era shaped by Afghanistan, Ukraine, and strategic competition. This episode explains key doctrinal changes, new assessment tools, the competitive SFA landscape, and why human security and international law now matter for partner-force development.

The episode reviews Eamonn O’Kane’s analysis of the Northern Ireland peace process, arguing that peace did not end in 1998 but continues decades later. It discusses the Good Friday Agreement, the shift from armed struggle to politics, the rise of Sinn Fein and the DUP, unionist grievances, and the unresolved question of Northern Ireland’s constitutional future. The summary emphasizes that while violence has largely ended, sustaining peace requires constant political negotiation, especially in the shadow of Brexit and renewed debates over Irish unity.

The episode unpacks the concept of cognitive warfare in the Indo-Pacific and outlines how small and large partners alike can use information operations, digital tools, and local networks to push back against PRC influence campaigns. By emphasizing alliance-driven narrative signaling and technology-enabled transparency, the discussion highlights a strategy of deterrence that operates in the human domain—where perception shapes power and norms determine outcomes.

Karl Marlantes joins the Irregular Warfare Initiative to discuss Vietnam’s lasting imprint on American strategy, leadership, and culture. From junior-officer leadership failures to the dangers of careerism, from exporting democracy to misunderstanding civil wars, Marlantes explains why the United States continues to repeat strategic errors. He also reflects on warrior identity, post-traumatic stress, reintegration, and lessons from Ukraine’s battlefield innovation. A candid, deeply human conversation about war, responsibility, and what it truly means to lead.

This podcast examines the future of the AH-64 Apache and U.S. Army attack aviation amid growing emphasis on unmanned aerial systems. It traces the evolution of the Apache, compares manned and unmanned capabilities, and analyzes how manned-unmanned teaming may preserve combat effectiveness. The episode argues that adaptation—not divestment—is key to maintaining relevance in future warfare.

This podcast examines how critical mineral processing—not mining—has become a decisive battleground in irregular warfare. Drawing on defense, trade, and industrial policy, the episode explains how China engineered global dependency through midstream control, how export licensing functions as lawfare, and why Western defense readiness now hinges on refinery capacity. The episode concludes with a framework for “industrial deterrence” aimed at restoring sovereignty over the chemistry that underpins modern military power.

This podcast examines the expanding role of CFIUS in safeguarding U.S. national security against foreign investment risks. It traces the committee’s evolution from a little-known review body into a central instrument of economic warfare following FIRRMA, COVID-era reforms, and rising tensions with China. Through case studies involving energy infrastructure, agriculture, real estate, and digital platforms, the episode highlights how national security now manifests through data access, geographic proximity, and control of critical industries. The discussion concludes by assessing the strategic benefits and trade-offs of CFIUS’s secrecy, enforcement power, and growing influence in global competition.

This podcast analyzes offensive cyber operations in modern warfare through three recent conflicts: Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Hamas, and Israel-Iran. Despite early fears of cyber-driven disruption, the evidence shows cyberattacks produced limited strategic impact compared to kinetic operations. The episode explores timing, escalation risks, hacktivist participation, and why cyber is better understood as a supporting or sabotage-style capability rather than a decisive weapon. The discussion concludes with lessons for policymakers, military planners, and cyber practitioners preparing for future conflicts.

A deep dive into the evolution of Russian maritime sabotage—from elite special operations to a widespread tool of irregular warfare. This episode explains emerging technologies, organizational shifts, and the growing risks to undersea infrastructure across Europe and NATO waters.

This episode explores Japan and irregular warfare through a historical and strategic lens. It traces how World War II, postwar pacifism, and academic taboos shaped Japan’s understanding of war, leaving it vulnerable in today’s hybrid conflict environment. The episode concludes with reforms to strengthen Japan’s strategic thinking and resilience.

A deep-dive into the Uskoks of Senj and their role as an early modern proxy force. This episode traces their transformation from displaced communities to maritime guerrillas, their tactical value to the Habsburgs, and the strategic risks that ultimately led to the Uskok War. Through historical narrative and comparison with contemporary irregular warfare doctrine, this summary highlights enduring insights into proxy dynamics, deniability, and the limits of sponsor control.

This podcast episode explains how space-based capabilities for irregular warfare are reshaping strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific. It highlights the role of commercial satellite imagery, AI-driven analysis, resilient communications, and shared data architectures in exposing gray-zone aggression and empowering regional partners. The summary emphasizes how orbital tools enable early warning, strengthen narratives, and sustain long-term irregular warfare campaigns.

A concise breakdown of how civilian-linked maritime intelligence can expose gray zone coercion by accelerating clarity, attribution, and partner coordination. This summary highlights the role of community alerts, tactical analysis cells, and regional partnerships in compressing decision timelines and strengthening deterrence across the Indo-Pacific.

USSOF faces a strategic inflection point as cyber operations become essential for modern warfare. This discussion explores integrating cyber capabilities, commercial technology, and interagency partnerships to strengthen national security, support allies, and maintain the effectiveness of Special Operations Forces in future conflicts.

A concise overview of Taiwan’s 2025 National Defense Report, highlighting its focus on resisting PRC gray zone harassment and cognitive warfare while strengthening societal resilience and defense readiness. This episode explains how Taiwan integrates national resistance, psychological preparedness, and irregular deterrence to counter China’s growing pressure.

A detailed look at the rise of Russian sabotage in Europe, its strategic purpose, and why it is becoming a persistent threat. The summary highlights key trends, recruitment methods, infrastructure vulnerabilities, and emerging policy challenges for NATO and European governments.

This podcast summarizes key findings from the PfP Consortium’s 2025 workshop on proxies in hybrid operations. It unpacks Russia’s proxy tactics, regional case studies from Europe and the South Caucasus, and a proposed framework for countering hybrid threats. Listeners gain a deeper understanding of how proxies influence modern conflict and what strategies democracies can use to respond.

A clear, accessible walkthrough of the Pentagon’s new irregular warfare instruction. This summary explains the updated IW definition, the shift in DOD policy, and what the changes signal for U.S. military strategy and force development.

A deep dive into Colin Freeman’s The Mad and the Brave, examining Ukraine’s Foreign Legion, the motivations of foreign fighters, and the broader lessons for strategy and resilience in modern conflict.

This episode examines how Cultural Property Protection enhances Indo-Pacific resilience and U.S. partnerships. By preserving heritage, countering trafficking, and building trust, CPP becomes a strategic tool of influence and stability before conflict begins.

This episode examines how the Kosovo Liberation Army’s propaganda strategy transformed a local insurgency into an international cause. Through media manipulation, martyrdom, and emotional appeal, the KLA guided Western perception, prompting intervention and highlighting the power of narrative in modern conflict.

Shakespeare’s plays offer a master class in irregular warfare. This episode unpacks how his characters—kings, usurpers, and insurgents—mirror today’s struggles over power, perception, and legitimacy.

A deep dive into Martin Laryš’ analysis of proxy warfare in Eastern Ukraine. Learn how principal–agent problems, fractured militias, and Russian influence shaped the Donbas conflict—and what these dynamics signal for modern warfare.

China is using police cooperation, not just military power, to build influence across the Pacific Islands. This episode unpacks how Beijing leverages policing to erode sovereignty and how the U.S. can respond with smarter partnerships and locally driven initiatives.

This episode examines how the Military Personnel Exchange Program (MPEP) can help the U.S. integrate lessons from Ukraine’s war, enhance training and doctrine, and maintain a competitive edge in future conflicts.

This episode examines the Air Force’s enduring “failure bias” in evaluating air advisory missions. Drawing lessons from Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, and Afghanistan, it argues that investing in sustainable partner-led airpower enhances U.S. security and prevents costly interventions.

Hezbollah’s cyber fighters are racing to adapt to a new era of digital conflict. In this episode, learn how AI, disinformation, and cyber warfare are redefining the struggle between Hezbollah and Israel after October 7.

In this episode, we break down Israel’s irregular warfare paradox—its precision abroad versus its “killing field” next door—and what this means for Israel’s strategy, security, and reputation on the world stage.

Join us as we analyze Operation Spider Web, Ukraine’s unprecedented drone strike operation, and explore how the U.S. could leverage drones to impose costs on China’s strategic and nuclear infrastructure while exploiting asymmetric vulnerabilities.

A deep dive into the indigenous approach and secondment in Special Operations Forces. Discover how time under partnership creates enduring Indo-Pacific alliances and constrains adversaries.

Patrick Latham’s article examines how the Alaska Territorial Guard’s model of irregular defense can be adapted to today’s Indo-Pacific. By leveraging local skills, building networks, and preparing before conflict, U.S. allies can enhance resilience and deterrence against adversaries.

We dive into how Austronesian identity fosters human-centered deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, uniting culture, trust, and unconventional partnerships to resist coercion and enhance security.

We unpack the history of Dutch counterpiracy operations in Indonesia and draw parallels to modern maritime security. From piracy to private security firms, this story shows how irregular solutions remain vital for irregular threats.

A deep dive into the history of U.S.-Iranian irregular warfare, tracing decades of coups, proxy wars, cyberattacks, and strategic competition that continue to define the Middle East.

A deep dive into North Korea’s irregular warfare strategy, its potential to disrupt allied defenses in a dual conflict, and how the U.S., Japan, and South Korea can strengthen resilience before it’s too late.

The fight for control of the electromagnetic spectrum is here. In this episode, we break down why combat electromagnetic warfare is vital for U.S. ground forces, the shortcomings of past approaches, and how CEWI 2.0 offers a flexible, forward-deployed solution to win in modern conflict.

Open-source intelligence has shattered state monopolies on information. This episode unpacks how OSINT empowers non-state actors, transforms irregular warfare, and changes the way states and militaries operate in today’s radically transparent world.

Russia’s Shadow Fleet is more than a sanctions loophole—it’s a weapon of irregular warfare. This episode examines its risks, mechanics, and how to stop it.

Dive into Nigeria’s complex fight against Boko Haram, where local militias protect communities but risk deepening violence, corruption, and instability.

This podcast examines the evolving U.S.-Latin America relationship, highlighting why renewed strategic partnerships are essential for regional security, prosperity, and resilience amid rising global competition.

This podcast discusses the future of Special Operations Forces as they adapt to strategic competition, focusing on space-enabled operations and Arctic readiness.

This podcast examines China’s economic statecraft across Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighting the risks of dependence and the need for a coordinated, sovereign response.

This episode explores Hezbollah’s hybrid model—once a formidable blend of guerrilla tactics, governance, and regional alliances—now faltering under economic, political, and military pressure. We walk through how irregular warfare theory explains Hezbollah’s weakening grip on legitimacy and operations in Lebanon and beyond.

This episode explores how African defense leaders conceptualize irregular warfare. Learn how IW is defined, who the primary threat actors are, and what this means for future U.S.-Africa security cooperation.

In this episode, we examine how Sweden and Latin America prepare their populations for crises—from war and disinformation to natural disasters. Using Sweden’s civil defense handbook and Latin America’s practical community engagement as case studies, we break down the strategies that build societal resilience and reduce reliance on state support in emergencies.