Be sure to visit the Irregular Warfare Initiative's new website, www.irregularwarfare.org, to see all of the new articles, podcast episodes, and other content the IWI team is producing!

What are the origins of America’s longstanding policy of strategic ambiguity regarding Taiwan? How effective has that strategy been and, more urgently, how effective is it likely to remain? How has the military balance of power in the Taiwan Strait shifted, and what coercive methods does Beijing have at its disposal to subjugate Taipei?

In this episode, our guests explore these questions and more in a discussion that considers the prospect of a cross-strait conflict between China and Taiwan and the asymmetric defensive capabilities that Taipei needs to stave off an invasion by the People’s Liberation Army. Michael Brown is a visiting scholar at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and previously served as the director of the Defense Innovation Unit. And Professor Larry Diamond is the William L. Clayton senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, where he cochairs the programs on China’s Global Sharp Power and on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region.

Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa

Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Be sure to visit the Irregular Warfare Initiative's new website, www.irregularwarfare.org, to see all of the new articles, podcast episodes, and other content the IWI team is producing!

As the character of warfare changes, emerging technologies are influencing the direction—and the magnitude—of that change. But what can past technological revolutions teach us as we prepare for the new challenges combat leaders will face on the modern battlefield? In what specific ways will new technologies, from artificial intelligence to advanced cyber capabilities, affect militaries’ ability to mass combat power? And at the strategic and policy levels, what must leaders do to prepare forces for future, large-scale combat operations?

Ben Jebb and Adam Darnley-Stuart are joined on this episode by two guests who help explore these important questions. Lieutenant General Xavier T. Brunson is the commanding general of the US Army’s I Corps who has led US soldiers in multiple theaters around the globe. And Mick Ryan is a retired Australian Army major general who commanded soldiers at the platoon, regiment, task force, and brigade levels and is the author of the book War Transformed: The Future of Twenty-First Century Great Power Competition and Conflict.

Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa

Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Subscribe to the IWI monthly newsletter by going to www.irregularwarfare.org!

How does the National Defense Strategy distill guidance from the National Security Strategy down to the Pentagon? How does the US military operationalize the document’s guidance in practice? And how does the National Defense Strategy specifically shape the way the US armed services implement irregular warfare? We’re joined by two expert guests to address these questions and more. Dr. Kori Schake is a senior fellow and the director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute and has held senior positions across the US defense, national security, and foreign policy enterprise. Retired Brigadier General Chris Burns is a senior advisor to the Irregular Warfare Center who led US special operations units at multiple echelons during his thirty-six-year Army career. They share their insights in a fascinating discussion on this episode of the Irregular Warfare Podcast.

Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa

Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Subscribe to the IWI monthly newsletter by going to www.irregularwarfare.org!

This episode explores the concepts of zero trust and persistence theory within the cyber domain and features a conversation with two guests: Mr. David McKeown serves as the acting DoD principal deputy chief information officer and Dr. Richard J. Harknett is professor and director of the School of Public and International Affairs and chair of the Center for Cyber Strategy and Policy at the University of Cincinnati.

In the discussion, they first define these two concepts—zero trust and persistance theory—before highlighting how they complement each other in practice. They continue by explaining the importance of seizing and maintaining the initiative in the cyber domain and how it would be more helpful to shift to a mindset of persistent campaigns and away from the idea of isolated cyberattacks. They conclude with thoughts on the implications for future cyber strategies.

Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa

Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Subscribe to the IWI monthly newsletter by going to www.irregularwarfare.org!

Somalia’s security landscape is complex, making the challenge of understanding the terrorist group al-Shabaab especially challenging. The group uses intricate methods to maintain its foothold in East Africa, complicating both international and indigenous efforts to counter the threat it poses. To examine al-Shabaab and the critical contextual influences unique to Somalia, this episode features a conversation with two guests. Mary Harper is the Africa editor at BBC World Service News and author of Everything You Have Told Me is True: The Many Faces of Al Shabaab. Sam Wilkins is an Army Special Forces officer with operational experience in Somalia. Together, their insights and expert perspectives help to paint a picture of the Somalia-based terrorist organization and its effects on security and stability in the region.

Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa

Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Subscribe to the IWI monthly newsletter by going to www.irregularwarfare.org!

What lessons can be found in India’s experience with counterinsurgency? Are there elements of India’s philosophical approach to counterinsurgency and its tactical innovations that can be applied by the United States in expeditionary counterinsurgency operations? In this episode, we’re joined by Sumit Ganguly, distinguished professor of political science at Indiana University Bloomington, and Sajid Shapoo, a decorated senior Indian Police Service officer and PhD candidate at Princeton University. Together, they tackle these questions and more as they assess the Indian approach to counterinsurgency.

Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa

Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Subscribe to the IWI monthly newsletter by going to www.irregularwarfare.org!

What are America’s interests in the Arctic? Are the traditional institutions that have governed interstate relations in the region equipped for an emerging period of intensified competition in the High North? And how is climate change affecting the strategic calculus of the United States, Russia, China, and other states? This episode tackles these questions and more as our guests—the Honorable Sherri Goodman, former deputy under secretary of defense for environmental security and current senior fellow at the Wilson Center, and Brigadier General Shawn Satterfield, commanding general of Special Operations Command North—join the podcast to examine the evolving relationship between climate change, Arctic security, and geopolitical competition.

Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa

Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Subscribe to the IWI monthly newsletter by going to www.irregularwarfare.org!

In this episode, we're joined by two guests to discuss how airpower can be a critical aspect of building partner capacity. Retired Brigadier General John Teichert and Colonel Tobias Bernard Switzer guests begin by highlighting past success of air advising and explaining aviation’s role in establishing access and influence with partner nations. They go on to explain how key air advising capabilities are being divested, presenting a capability gap between what combatant commanders are requesting and what the services can provide. Finally, they describe the implications of emerging technologies on future air advising and how models of air advising can adapt and be reprioritized.

Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa

Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Subscribe to the IWI monthly newsletter by going to www.irregularwarfare.org!

What role does promoting liberal values, such as human rights and democracy, play in security cooperation? How should the inherent tension between promoting liberal values and accomplishing national security objectives be managed when working with partner nations? Should policymakers deliberately seek to tie US values to security force assistance in the future? Our guests on this episode, Ambassador Dennis Ross and Dr. Renanah Joyce, share their insights on these questions and more.

Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa

Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Subscribe to the IWI monthly newsletter by going to www.irregularwarfare.org!

This episode explores how America’s security cooperation programs can help shape regional security environments by training foreign militaries. We're joined by two guests whose extensive practical and research experience is extraordinarily relevant to the subject. Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling is a national security and military analyst for CNN who served thirty-eight years in the US Army, culminating in command of US Army Europe. Professor Derek Reveron is the chair of national security affairs at the US Naval War College and the author of the book Exporting Security. Together, they address why America settled on security cooperation as a pillar of its global strategy, describe the important nuances associated with the implementation of security cooperation efforts, and discuss how past military cooperation efforts have shaped today’s regional security environment in Eastern Europe and what America can do to optimize its approach to security cooperation in the future.

Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa

Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0