Learning All the Wrong Lessons: Why an Over-the-Horizon Approach to Counterterrorism Won’t Work
This Irregular Warfare Initiative article was originally posted through our partner organization, the Modern War Institute at West Point. President Joe Biden’s speech in the wake of the US withdrawal from Kabul was intended to put a seal on a painful chapter in the nation’s history. “I was
Lessons From The Philippines: Irregular Warfare In Action
This Irregular Warfare Initiative article was originally posted through our partner organization, the Modern War Institute at West Point. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the world watched as the United States began a punitive expedition to Afghanistan to kill or capture Osama bin Laden, oust the Taliban, and
Out of Africa: The Strategic Mistake of US Disengagement from Somalia
This Irregular Warfare Initiative article was originally posted through our partner organization, the Modern War Institute at West Point. In December 1992, as an infantry platoon commander, I was among the first Marines to land in Mogadishu at the onset of Operation Restore Hope. It was a mission that made
Not Your Grandfather’s Counterinsurgency: The United States Must Prepare for Radically New Forms of Nonstate Violence
This Irregular Warfare Initiative article was originally posted through our partner organization, the Modern War Institute at West Point. Twenty years of costly counterinsurgency (COIN) efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan have left many national security experts—and the American public—ready to move on. However, while the United States may
Will Culture Defeat Strategy? The British Military And Irregular Warfare After Afghanistan And Iraq
This Irregular Warfare Initiative article was originally posted through our partner organization, the Modern War Institute at West Point. In their recent introduction to the Irregular Warfare Initiative, Jacob Shapiro and Patrick Howell propose that a combination of Russian revanchism and China’s increasingly muscular global ambitions provides ample opportunity
Failing To Train: Conventional Forces In Irregular Warfare
This Irregular Warfare Initiative article was originally posted through our partner organization, the Modern War Institute at West Point. A recent election saw a nationalist Estonian party take control of the government. Frustrated by the election outcome and lack of citizenship, the ethnic Russian minority, 20 percent of the population,
China's Irregular Approach To War: The Myth Of A Purely Conventional Future Fight
This Irregular Warfare Initiative article was originally posted through our partner organization, the Modern War Institute at West Point. Since early March, up to 220 boats from China’s maritime militia have been moored near Whitsun Reef in the South China Sea. The Philippine government has asked the Chinese government
ARMED OVERWATCH: AIRPOWER IN IRREGULAR WARFARE—PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
Aviation has played an important role in irregular warfare, from its use by the British against rebellious tribesmen in Iraq and Transjordan in the interwar period to the era of the unblinking eye and precision strike in Afghanistan. Our guests discuss this evolution in the use of airpower to support
American Vulnerabilities In An Age Of Great Power Competition: The Case For Understanding Domestic Extremism Through An Irregular Warfare Lens
This Irregular Warfare Initiative article was originally posted through our partner organization, the Modern War Institute at West Point. In the United States, we often analyze distant armed conflicts and counterterrorism efforts as if watching from a remote observation tower. We keep an eye on expeditionary initiatives abroad, dissecting and
Learning To Fly: How The US Military Can Fix The Problems Plaguing Aviation Advising Missions
This Irregular Warfare Initiative article was originally posted through our partner organization, the Modern War Institute at West Point. In 2017, Afghan Mi-17 helicopters flown by crews from the elite Afghan 777 Special Mission Wing saved the day. Shortly after notification of an ISIS-Khorasan attack on a hospital in Kabul,
Bridging the gap between irregular warfare scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.
