IW Weekly - 21 June 2026

Autonomous systems reshaping tactical reality, criminal and militant networks expanding their governance reach, and China's steady accumulation of influence across multiple theaters.

Ukraine's battlefield continues to drive the autonomy debate — AI-powered "Terminator" drones executing kills without human control, the Army's own jamming experiments, and drone tactics bleeding into Colombia's cartel wars and Kurdish guerrilla doctrine. The question is no longer whether autonomous systems change warfare but how fast institutional adaptation can keep pace with proliferation. China's footprint runs as the quieter through-line: from El Salvador to Zambia to the South China Sea to Arctic spy-ship concerns near Alaska, Beijing's instruments of influence — economic, informational, maritime — appear across every region this week.

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China’s AI Capabilities and the Risks to U.S. National Security — June 24; DC

Defense of the Homeland: Maritime & Transportation in IW — July 14 - 15; Miami

Book Release: Lethal Autonomy: The Future of Warfare Whether We Like It or Not — June 25; DC

Sixteenth Annual South China Sea Conference — July 7; DC

Strategic Resources in Competition: Rare Earths & Critical Minerals — July 21-22; Reston, VA

Global Information Summit Australia 2026 — July 21-24; Adelaide, Australia

African Logistics and Communications Symposium — July 26-31; Ethiopia

Irregular Warfare in the Homeland, IWC Symposium — August 4-6; Arlington, VA

Indo-Pacific Irregular Warfare Symposium — August 18-20; Honolulu

Introducing APEX 2026 - IPA — September 8-9; Reston, VA

NATO Annual CIMIC Foresight Conference — September 14-18; The Hague

SAVE THE DATE: Inaugural Narrative Strategy Symposium — September 30; DC

Global SOF in Europe Conference — October 6-8; Rome

Future of War Conference — October 26-28; Netherlands

Tactical Trauma 2026 — November 2-4; Sweden

Medicine In the Mediterranean 2027 — January 29-31, 2027; Malta

Phoenix Challenge London 2027 — March 9-11, 2027; London

Have an event to highlight? Send details to mick@stratagemconsultingllc.com.

How Should the United States Counter the CRINK Axis?

In Moscow's Shadows: All the Pieces of Peace in Ukraine

Military Watchdog Blocked From Overseeing Special Ops

Defence by denial in emerging countries: strategy, technology and resilience

The Joint Force in the Jungle: The Alamo Scouts Blueprint for SF in LSCO

Deterrence Through Resilience and Civil Preparedness: Models of Civil Defence

5 Years After U.S. Withdrawal: Rethinking Afghanistan Engagement

The Army's Bold New Approach to PSYOPs and Cognitive Warfare

U.S. Senators Propose Arctic Spy Ship Ban Amid Rising Chinese, Russian Activity Near Alaska

Understanding the Value and Risk of Arming Indigenous Groups in Support of US Objectives

Reforge the Beret: Special Forces, PME, and the Cognitive Domain

Supply Chains, Espionage, and Cyberwar

From Sea Denial to Market Shock

FM 3-08 Casualty Evacuation Support to Operations

TXA - 2g Slam and other myths busted

A Paris Basement Gives a Glimpse to the Future of Warfare

Ukraine’s Shotgun Doctrine: A Blueprint for the FPV Battlefield

Inside the Army's efforts to jam its own forces — and what it learned

Hidden Costs of Precision: What Drone Strikes Actually Do to Civilians

Create a Professional Drone Specialization Inside the Infantry

How the United States is Learning from Drone Warfare in Ukraine

China’s Limited Advance in El Salvador

Cartel Network Evolution: From Trafficking Corridors to Criminal Governance

Green and White Money: An Analysis of the Figueira Professional Crypto Laundering

The Deadly Drone War Terrorizing Colombia

Updating the Democratic Transition Framework to chart a way forward in Venezuela

A Dangerous Model? The JNIM-FLA Convergence and Armed Group Cooperation in the Sahel

Al Qaeda-linked militants curb their brutality in seized Malian territory

Cartel Networks are Establishing a Greater Foothold in Africa

ISWAP’s next frontier: Darak in northern Cameroon

JNIM Escalates Sahelian Offensives Amid Fratricidal War with ISSP

From protest to silence: China’s long game in Zambia

Somalia is the dark horse in US defense and economic strategy

Ukrainian Battlefield Lessons for Kurdish Warfare

Sarayah Ansar al-Sunnah: Sectarian Violence, Micro-Insurgency, and the ISIS Shadow in Syria

Following the Money: Allegations of Cross-Border Networks in Northern Syria

Trump’s Iran Deal: What We Know So Far

Hezbollah’s Iranian Oil for Venezuelan Gold Scheme

When Russia Loses Its War in Ukraine

UK intercepts Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker for first time

Russia escalates war on Ukrainian heritage and national identity

Taiwan’s “Integrated Diplomacy” on the 10th Anniversary of the New Southbound Policy

China & Taiwan Update, June 12, 2026

Together, Australia and Japan are Stepping Up in the Pacific

Narco Tales: True Stories from America's War on Drugs

2026 Special Operations Research Topics: Academic Year 2027 Addendum

Call for Papers - Information Professionals Association— (due July 31)

Papers: “Civil Affairs: Securing the Victory in New Environments” — (due September 11)

Ed - Hybrid Threats and Cybersecurity— July 6-31; Garmisch, Germany

Ed - Homeland Defense and Border Security— August 10-21

Ed - Irregular Warfare 101

Ed - Irregular Warfare 201

Ed - Irregular Warfare 301

Ed - Irregular Warfare 110; IW approaches for Homeland Security and Homeland Defense

Ed - Center for Homeland and Defense Studies Self-Study Courses

Job - USAJOBS – Professor at Fort Bragg’s CISA JSOMA Program

Job - USAJOBS – SO/LIC Program Manager

Job - SAJOBS – SO/LIC Security Specialist

The IW Weekly is made possible through the generous support of Stratagem Consulting. We're especially grateful to Mick Crnkovich, Founder and CEO of Stratagem, for championing thoughtful, practitioner-oriented resources in the national security space.