Publications Archive

The Blind Spot in Defense: Inside Counterterrorism’s Black Box

September 17, 2026

On July 10 2026, a Cambridge University researcher published a report that mapped the use of frontier artificial intelligence (AI) models, including ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, DeepSeek, Gemini and Meta AI,...

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Bridging the Convergence Gap

September 15, 2026

A “convergent” process is one built to narrow a range of possibilities down to a single answer. The joint doctrine of the United States military is one such convergent process....

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Frontier AI Rewrites the Future of Irregular Warfare

September 15, 2026

In 2005, in The Singularity Is Near, computer scientist and futurist Ray Kurzweil re-iterated his prediction that we would reach human level Artificial Intelligence (AI) by 2029. That prediction may...

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Can Europe Defend Itself?

September 14, 2026

The decisive battlespace of the twenty-first century will ever more entail the cognitive domain, wherein strategic advantage is achieved through the shaping of perception, informing judgment, influencing decisions, and governing...

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Regime Change, Major Powers, and the Prospects for Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran Part II:

September 10, 2026

This is Part II of a two-part article. Part I provides a very brief history of post-World War II regime change operations and identifies the four factors that make U.S.-sponsored...

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Irregular Warfare Center Concludes 4th Annual Scholars Colloquium Focused on Homeland Defense

September 8, 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of War (DoW) Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) concluded its fourth annual Scholars Colloquium at the National Defense University in Fort McNair, Washington, D.C., bringing together...

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Regime Change, Major Powers, and the Prospects for Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran Part I:

September 8, 2026

In recent months the media has been full of talk about regime change in Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran, but very few attempts to understand the post-World War II history of...

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China’s Irregular Warfare Strategy and Actions in the Bahamas

August 31, 2026

Chinese investment across the Caribbean over the past two decades, has been framed as development assistance, commercial expansion, or participation in global infrastructure initiatives. Ports, resorts, highways, telecommunications networks, and...

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The Agentic Olympus: The “Gods” of AI in Irregular Cognitive Warfare

August 18, 2026

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War of Position and Irregular Warfare: How Information Shapes Strategic Advantage Before Combat

August 12, 2026

Chinese information warfare strategists often describe the United Front Work Department (UFWD) as a "magic weapon" for advancing national objectives without direct coercion. In 2015, Xi Jinping described UFWD as an "important...

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The Laboratory of Terror: How Pakistan Became the World’s Frontline Against Industrialized Extremism

August 11, 2026

On the morning of December 16, 2014, six heavily armed militants scaled the walls of the Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan and entered a place that should have been...

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Orbital Data Centers Could Potentially Exacerbate the Risk of Escalation in Outer Space

August 10, 2026

China is engaging in tactics just short of war, unconstrained by any formal declaration of hostilities as it seeks weaknesses to exploit in the United States Farm Surveillance Program and...

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Preparing Populations for Hybrid Threats against Critical Infrastructure: The European Experience

August 10, 2026

One of the most persistent security threats the United States (U.S.) faces today is a range of hostile activities short of open armed conflict. These activities occur in what is...

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Social Terrain: The Strategic Substrate of Irregular Competition

August 3, 2026

China is engaging in tactics just short of war, unconstrained by any formal declaration of hostilities as it seeks weaknesses to exploit in the United States Farm Surveillance Program and...

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Cultivating Vulnerability: The Irregular Warfare Campaign Against American Farms and America’s Economy

July 29, 2026

China is engaging in tactics just short of war, unconstrained by any formal declaration of hostilities as it seeks weaknesses to exploit in the United States Farm Surveillance Program and...

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National Security Officials and Maritime Leaders Convene to Combat Irregular Warfare at the Maritime & Transportation

July 23, 2026

National security and maritime leaders convened at Port Miami, Fla. on July 14-15 to discuss measures and strategies to counter irregular warfare threats targeting U.S. ports and shipping. Hosted by...

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Solving the Wrong Problem? A Practitioners’ Method for Campaigning in Irregular Warfare

July 23, 2026

Among the five of us who teach the Irregular Warfare Center’s (IWC) advanced campaigning course (IW401), we have spent a long time watching capable people lose slowly. Not only on...

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Same Spelling Different Story: Comparing the Conceptualization of Irregular Warfare Across the Globe

July 15, 2026

Irregular Warfare (IW) goes by many names and definitions across the world. While some differences are only minor semantic variances reflecting the history of specific countries or the local culture...

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The Hollowing Arsenal: How Artificial Intelligence Erodes the Foundations of Irregular Warfare

July 14, 2026

For centuries, irregular warfare has derived its power from a simple truth: populations matter. Whether a state seeks to coerce an adversary, support a resistance movement, or undermine the legitimacy...

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The Houthis and the Evolution of State-Enabled Irregular Warfare: Lessons from the Red Sea for Future Strategic Military Engagement

July 8, 2026

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...

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Irregular Warfare Conceptualization of South and Central America

July 7, 2026

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....

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Ignacio Zaragoza and the Irregular Logic of Resistance

July 6, 2026

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...

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Beyond Proxy Warfare: The Iraq Model of Institutionalized Irregular Competition

June 24, 2026

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...

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