Cornered, Not Conquered: Turkish Intelligence and the End of the PKK Insurgency
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. In May 2025, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced it would dissolve and lay down its arms, closing an insurgency that had cost Türkiye on the order of forty thousand lives. The timing
Russian Psychological Operations and Informational Warfare in the Middle East and North Africa
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. The speed of Ukrainian counter-messaging and will to fight has rendered Russian psychological operations in Ukraine ineffective. However, throughout the Middle East, Russia has successfully used information operations to frame the Israel-
Terrorism After Ideology
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. On April 29, two Jewish men were stabbed in north London in what British police declared a terrorist incident. Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI), an "Islamic resistance" group that
Meaning, Myth, and Force Design in U.S. Special Operations
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. The debate over the future of U.S. Army Special Forces (SF) has increasingly become a debate about its past. Critics argue that decades of counterterrorism, security force assistance, and persistent global engagement
A Case for Cyber Privateering
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. The United States should employ cyber corsairs to deter exploitation and attacks in the cyber domain. Malicious activity such as economic espionage, ransomware attacks, and fraud results in trillions of dollars’ worth of
What Iran's Crypto Insurance Proposal Means for Irregular Warfare and Shipping in Asia
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. On May 17, 2026, Iran proposed a “Hormuz Safe” platform for ships seeking to cross the Strait of Hormuz. This Bitcoin-denominated platform would enable cargo owners to purchase cryptographically-backed insurance instead
Pakistan’s Nuclear Arsenal is Becoming More Vulnerable
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. “We call on the Pakistani army and security services not to obey Pakistan’s corrupt political and military leadership and urge them to overthrow it,” al-Qaeda declared in an April appeal to
Why Iranian Propaganda Is Getting Uncomfortably Good
Editor's note: The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. How did Iran’s regime not just master social media but come to dominate the information space? Their propaganda rarely traveled far outside sympathetic political audiences until recently. Viewers recognized the visuals quickly.
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.
IWI Editorial’s Year in Review: Looking Back at 2025
Where else would you find pirates, space special forces, sharp debates over Operation Spider’s Web, cultural heritage protection as a means of outcompeting China, and even an AI chatbot designed to anticipate Beijing’s next grand-strategic move …all under one roof? In 2025, that place was the Irregular
Bridging the gap between irregular warfare scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.
