This article is presented in a question-and-answer format, with the Irregular Warfare Initiative’s Maritime Program’s ...

Owen West’s brief remark during the 2026 AUSA Project Agincourt autonomous warfare panel deserves attention beyond the room.

The "Short of War" Podcast discussing this article is AI-generated. In August 2021, Afghan National Security Forces collapsed in a mere eleven days following the withdrawal of the United States ...

Episode #167 of the Irregular Warfare Podcast grapples with the role cyberspace should play in the broader coercion toolkit. The conversation considers why cyber has remained a go-to tool for shaping ...

Bridging the gap between irregular warfare scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.

Why does providing aircraft to partner forces so often fall short of building an effective air force? Retired Lieutenant General Anthony Rock, Michael Horowitz, and Tobias Switzer join Kyle Atwell to ...

Bridging the gap between irregular warfare scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. The following organizations support IWI's mission to advance the study of irregular warfare. Bridging the gap ...

What happened October 7, 2023? How was it possible that one of the most battle-tested, technologically advanced, intelligence-capable nations in the world was taken by surprise? What do the lessons ...

“Every intervention begins as a story of liberation. Without adaptation, it ends as a story of occupation.” Why do militarily superior forces consistently win the fight—but lose the peace? This is not ...

The ANSF’s collapse was not a military defeat. It was the final, visible stage of an institutional failure that had been running for two decades. Following the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, ...

Editor’s Note: this article is being republished with the permission of Small Wars Journal as part of a republishing arrangement between IWI and SWJ. The original article was published on 04.10.2026 ...