Call for Nominations

The Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) is committed to enhancing irregular warfare (IW) knowledge through academic partnerships to facilitate research on IW and strategic competition and continue to engage with U.S. and international universities. The IWC – a component of the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation University – is pleased to invite nominations for participation in the inaugural Irregular Warfare Colloquium, to […]

Utopia or Oblivion?

This report is part of a broader project on wargaming and futurism that included the design and execution of a futurism-focused wargame, Utopia or Oblivion?, that was cohosted by the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) and Johns Hopkins University, and ran from March 25 to April 10, 2021.

Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) Leadership To Participate in The Center on Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups (CIWAG) Symposium

A leadership team of IW subject matter experts representing the Irregular Warfare Center is scheduled to attend the Center for Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups (CIWAG) Symposium at the Wyndham Newport Hotel in Middletown, R.I. from June 27-28, 2023. The Center on Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups’ 2023 Maritime symposium, Exploring Our Maritime Strategies, is scheduled to host five panels […]

May 2023 IWC Newsletter

Welcome to the monthly newsletter for the IWC. This newsletter is designed to keep our community up-to-date on the latest news and events happening within the organization. Please click here or on the image below to open the newsletter PDF:

Three Lessons from the Front: Economic Warfare in Russia / Ukraine

A country’s economy is core to its ability to provide a better life for its people, develop and fund social services, and ultimately create the means for war. Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump both used speeches in 2017 to directly link economic might to the pursuit of national interests. It should therefore come as no surprise that economic warfare tactics are getting a much-needed refresh as we re-enter a multi-polar world with specific challenges to both the United States’ economic hegemony, as well as the international rules-based system.

Simple Sabotage 2.0: the Threat of Pro-Russian Civil Resistance in Ukraine

Resistance is an asymmetric tool that can be used by an underdog to fight against an oppressor or a foreign military occupation. However, the Russo-Ukrainian War has demonstrated that this concept can also be used by an occupying force. As part of the Irregular Warfare Center’s (hereafter, IWC) ongoing mission to illuminate and address irregular threats posed to the U.S. and its allies and partners, the Center recently obtained and translated a Russian handbook designed to instruct pro-Russian Ukrainian citizens on how to resist the Ukrainian government; something that is especially relevant in recently recaptured territories.

Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) Leadership To Participate in the Irregular Warfare Symposium

A leadership team of IW subject matter experts representing the Irregular Warfare Center is scheduled to attend the Irregular Warfare Symposium at Fort Bragg, N.C., from May 1-3, 2023. The event is hosted by the National Defense University (NDU) and College of International Affairs (CISA) in conjunction with the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. The […]

The Defender’s Dilemma: Identifying and Deterring Gray-Zone Aggression

Elisabeth Braw’s central thesis in The Defender’s Dilemma: Identifying and Deterring Gray-Zone Aggression is that gray-zone aggression has become an increasingly more pervasive and complex challenge for nations than traditional war and that defense strategies are often inadequate to address gray-zone aggression. Braw pointedly argues that gray-zone aggression, which refers to acts of aggression that fall between the traditional definitions of peace and war, has emerged as the preferred mode of modern conflict as states seek to assail Western institutions and values through non-traditional means, such as cyber-attacks, disinformation campaigns, and economic coercion.