The renewed Houthi threats against maritime traffic in the Red Sea and the resumption of missile attacks towards Israel in early June 2026, even if they were a one-off attempt since the November ceasefire, reemphasise concerns about regional security and the safety of global commerce posed by an insurgent group utilizing typical irregular warfare tactics. Yet the most important lesson emerging from these developments extends well beyond Yemen, the Red Sea, and the Middle East.
This report arises from a shared belief that irregular warfare (IW) in the United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) Area of Responsibility (AOR) cannot be fully understood through institutional doctrine alone. For decades, countries in South and Central America have served as strategic partners to the United States. While U.S. doctrine remains the most visible reference point, regional actors have developed their own IW frameworks that are sophisticated, deeply rooted, and often more aligned with their lived experiences.
The popular memory of Ignacio Zaragoza is often compressed into a single date: May 5, 1862. In much of the United States, Cinco de Mayo has become a cultural celebration detached from the military and political context that produced it.
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For much of the last two decades, irregular warfare in the Middle East has been viewed primarily through the lens of insurgencies, terrorism, and armed proxy conflicts. Yet Iraq’s evolving political and security landscape suggests that irregular warfare has become far more sophisticated than traditional models assume. The modern battlefield is no longer confined to remote terrain or clandestine militant cells. Increasingly, the most effective form of irregular competition operates from within the very state institutions it once sought to challenge.
In today’s world, financial systems are increasingly relying more on anti-money laundering and Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations as part of efforts to stop illicit cash flows. When those safeguards weaken, especially in conflict regions, the consequences can extend far beyond national borders.
Shortly after midnight on September 26, 1983, Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov sat at his console at the Serpukhov-15 command center outside Moscow and watched his early warning system report that the United States had launched five intercontinental ballistic missiles. The screen flashed “launch.” The siren howled. The automated alert registered at the system’s highest confidence level.
In a move to harden the nation’s skies against evolving global threats, the Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) recently collaborated with American Airlines during a high-level strategic security meeting with regional airline partners and specialists, January 15, 2026. The summit shifted the focus from traditional security protocols to the complex realities of irregular warfare (IW), specifically addressing the proliferation of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and their potential to disrupt domestic aviation and transportation infrastructure.
On March 13, 1881, a young man named Ignaty Grinevitsky stood outside the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg and watched his accomplice throw a small bomb at the convoy of Tsar Alexander II. The Tsar stepped out of his carriage, unhurt. Grinevitsky rushed forward and dropped a second bomb at Tsar’s feet. Both men died.
The ongoing conflict in West Asia has caught global attention for many reasons. In the domain of warfare however, the emergence of drones as central systems for offsetting technologically advanced adversaries appears to be one of the most consequential takeaways from this conflict.
July 15, 2026, 12:00 PM EST
Join lead researcher Dr, Steven Sin for an exclusive briefing on the internal fragilities of Transnational Criminal Organizations. This session will unveil a new, diagnostic framework to help practitioners read violence patterns as warning indicators, allowing them to pinpoint and exploit vulnerabilities before a network collapses.
