Air and Space Power in the Gray Zone
Introducing Project Air Power: Exploring the totality of air, aviation, and space opportunities for air-minded approaches to irregular, hybrid, and gray-zone threats to security and stability. Introduction Since the dawn of military aviation, air power has been, and continues to be, a predominant psychological weapon with the power to influence
Selling the War at Home (Book Review)
In the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Russia has suffered substantial setbacks. Supplies of clothing, body armor, and food are unreliable. Open-source intelligence indicates Russia has lost over 2,000 armored vehicles and hundreds of aircraft. Estimates of personnel losses are even more extensive, with one U.S. intelligence report assessing
Armed Politics
Episode 97 of the Irregular Warfare Podcast focuses on a theory of armed politics as proposed by General Sir Nick Carter. We recorded this episode in late spring of last year during one of General Carter’s visits to Stanford University as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow. Our guests begin by
Shifting Sands: The Future of West Africa’s Power Dynamics and the Sahel Alliance
If there is a way to conduct irregular warfare in the Sahel without the UN and France, Mali has yet to crack the code. Despite the assistance of Turkish Bayraktar drones and Russian mercenaries, the Malian Armed Forces are taking heavy losses from extremist groups and making limited gains against
Letter From The Editor
Last week, the IWI Board of Directors approved me to take on the role of Editorial Director, succeeding Hope Hodge Seck, who is returning to her career in national security journalism. Jacob Ware will remain on as Deputy Director and Senior Editor Sam Rosenberg will fleet up to share those
People as a Weapons System: Moscow and Minsk’s Continued Attempts to Weaponize Migration
Weaponized migration, the orchestration or threatened orchestration of a sudden influx of refugees by a hostile government into another country for coercive purposes, continues to make appearances as the latest preferred instrument in the modern autocrat’s toolkit. Using what was once a favorite strategy of leaders such as Cuba’
A Guide for Measuring Resiliency
A portion of this article was previously published in Small Wars and Insurgencies journal. The question of state resiliency remains essential to the three biggest U.S. foreign policy questions of today. Why did Afghanistan fall so rapidly to the Taliban in 2021? Why, in contrast, has Ukraine stood firm
The Stability Instability Paradox: How Nuclear Weapons Incentivize Irregular Warfare
This week’s episode delves into the 1999 Kargil Conflict, exploring the intricate dynamics of the India-Pakistan rivalry and the impact of nuclear weapons on conflict below the threshold of open war. Our guests kick off by exploring the regional security dynamics germane to South Asia. They delve into the
Israel’s Pyrrhic Victory in the Gaza Strip: Implications of Waging War in the Age of Social Media
By now, it is clear that Israel is dominating the battlefield in the Gaza Strip. However, what is not certain or within the control of the Israelis is the global perception of this offensive in light of the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. There are reasons to conclude that the modern
Learning from Failure: Afghanistan as a Microcosm for Strategic Competition
Why should the U.S. military and political leadership care about Afghanistan? Isn’t Afghanistan a story about sunk costs whose lessons only apply to counter terrorism or counter insurgency? Absolutely not. Rather, the U.S. military must understand its failures in Afghanistan to succeed in strategic competition. Failure to
Bridging the gap between irregular warfare scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.
