The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance
Episode 84 of the Irregular Warfare Podcast is our fourth installment of the IWI Project on Cyber where we look at Steven Feldstein's book The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance. Our guests delve into what digital repression is and how authoritarian
How to Win with Data: The US SOF-Cyber Partnership Supporting Ukraine
Winning the information war has been a strategic enabler for Ukraine since the Russian offensive began on February 24, 2022. Shortly after the invasion, various entities in Ukraine began systematically flooding Western news and social media with highlights of Ukrainian national resistance and tactical successes. These stories were sometimes false
Rethinking Counterinsurgent Force Design and Employment
Ryan C. Van Wie States rarely predict what their next war will look like. However, the choices they make regarding their military force structure have a lasting impact on their capabilities in future conflicts. This is clearly seen in the case of Russia, where systematic weaknesses in force structure, including
Reaching the Tipping Point: Lessons from Combining Kinetic and Information Operations
Iain Cruickshank, Kirk Windmueller, and Matt Benigni This article is part of a series hosted by Maj. Iain Cruickshank, Ph.D., that explores the idea of combining cyber operations with information operations to produce effects well beyond what each capability can accomplish alone. One dark night in a far-off
Treating or Feeding the Disease?: Elite Capture of the Security Sector
Is it possible to disentangle the problems contributing to elite capture of the security sector? What can and should the US government do when engaging with partners where the risk for elite capture is high? What does elite capture look like in Afghanistan versus Mexico? In Episode 83 of the
Power Grids and Plumbing: The Link Between Irregular Warfare and National Critical Functions
Zachary Kallenborn On December 5, 2022, unknown shooters attacked two power substations in Moore County, North Carolina. Over 30,000 people lost power for days. Today, responding to power loss means far more than just lighting candles and winding up the hand-crank flashlight. In an increasingly cashless society, no
China’s Focus on the Brain Gives it an Edge in Cognitive Warfare
Janna Mantua In 2016, US diplomats and CIA officers in Cuba abruptly began reporting symptoms of dizziness, nausea, and cognitive difficulties. Individuals suffering from this ailment – termed “Anomalous Health Incidents” by the US government, but more commonly known as “Havana Syndrome” – believed they had been victims of a coordinated attack.
200 Years After the Monroe Doctrine, US Influence in Latin America Is in Peril
Daniel Vrablic In 1823, the United States published its first dictum regarding Latin America: The Monroe Doctrine declared the entire region off limits for “future colonization by any European Powers.” Augmented by the Roosevelt Corollary, this assertive foreign policy set up two centuries’ worth of US dominance over the Western
"The Wise Man Will Be Master of the Stars:" The Use of Twitter by the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Service
Peter Schrijver Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 is the largest conventional land war in Europe since the end of World War II. Russia's goals: to overthrow and replace Ukraine's elected government through territorial conquest and by subjugating the entire country's populace
The Lessons of Afghanistan: Why Countering Someone Else’s Insurgency Is So Hard
The withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 marked the confirmation in the minds of many not only of the end of the United States’ longest war, but also that of counterinsurgency as a relevant and useful facet of modern military thought. “Once dynamic and desired…counterinsurgency was by then toxic
Bridging the gap between irregular warfare scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.
