Hellscape Taiwan: Drones, Deterrence, and the Future of Asymmetric Defense
This week’s episode of the Irregular Warfare Podcast examines how Taiwan could deter—or potentially defeat—a Chinese invasion by transforming the Taiwan Strait into an “unmanned hellscape.” Anchored in the recent CNAS report Hellscape for Taiwan: Rethinking Asymmetric Defense, the conversation explores how drones, autonomous systems, and mobile
The Last A-Team: Special Forces Aren't Special Anymore
Editor’s Note: This is part one of a two-part article assessing the past, present, and future of U.S. Army Special Forces. The operating environment has evolved faster than the United States Army Special Forces. Green Berets did not fail at their assigned missions; they failed to sufficiently adapt
Stop Calling It the “Gray Zone”: How China Exploits the Language of Ambiguity
"The problem is not that China operates in a gray zone. The problem is that the free world continues describing warfare in terms China itself does not recognize." For more than a decade strategists, journalists, and policy makers have relied on the phrase “gray zone” to describe China’
From Coal to Code to Reactors: How Wyoming’s State and Local Decisions Shape Irregular Warfare
For much of the twentieth century, Wyoming powered the United States by extracting coal and sending it elsewhere. From the postwar boom through the early 2000s, trains left the Powder River Basin loaded with fuel that kept distant lights on, factories running, and bases operational. Wyoming’s contribution to national
Disaster Diplomacy: A Backdoor to Improved Inter-Korean Relations Amid Great Power Realism?
It has been stated many times that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Such a description aptly describes the enduring geopolitical reality on the Korean Peninsula. Currently, North Korea and South Korea, (officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea,
Mercenaries, Private Security, and the Civilian Cost of Outsourced Coercion
While states still use military force in pursuit of national interests, private military and security companies (PMSCs) have become an increasingly common instrument, enabling states to apply pressure, manage escalation, and maintain deniability in ways that conventional deployments cannot. As resistance to foreign troop deployments grows and strategic competition shifts
The Counterinsurgency Dilemma: Foreign Fighter Influence on Insurgencies
Episode 154 of the Irregular Warfare Podcast examines a core puzzle in intrastate conflict: how a small number of foreign fighters can exert outsized influence on insurgencies. Anchored in Professor Tricia Bacon’s The Counterinsurgency Dilemma, this episode explores when foreign fighters strengthen insurgent groups—and when they undermine them.
Digital Finance as a Geopolitical Arena: China, Web3, and the Competition Over Africa’s Digital Payments Landscape
A young Nigerian man uses cryptocurrency for peer-to-peer transactions to avoid the challenges of Naira inflation, while thousands of miles away, a farmer in rural Kenya uses her smartphone to access a mobile credit platform for a microloan. These two examples represent just a small sample of how the payments
IWI Europe Leads Featured in Euromaidan Press: The "Accidental" Hardening of Ukraine
In a recent article for Euromaidan Press, authors Dr. Olga Chiriac (Director, Europe Focus Area) and Nicholas Krohley (Resistance Hub Lead) examine how two decades of Russian hybrid warfare unintentionally transformed Ukraine into a uniquely resilient state. While Moscow's long-term campaign of political interference, economic pressure, and sub-threshold
Strategic Resources in Competition: Critical Minerals & Rare Earth Elements
21–22 July 2026 · 0830–1600 Carahsoft HQ · 11493 Sunset Hills Road, Reston, VA The Irregular Warfare Initiative (IWI) and the Special Operations Association of America (SOAA) will host a two-day conference at Carahsoft Headquarters in Reston, Virginia, focused on the role of critical minerals and rare earth elements in
Bridging the gap between irregular warfare scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.
