Small Wars Journal

Access SOF News HERE.   SOF Weekly Brief – March 2, 2026 March 2, 2026 SOF News Update 0 Curated news, analysis, and commentary on special operations, national security, and conflicts around the world. Photo / Image: Green Berets assigned to 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) operate a Ground Mobility Vehicle equipped with specialized snow tracks during cold weather training on …
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The post SOF Weekly Brief – March 2, 2026 appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

The joint U.S.-Israeli military operations against Iran announced Saturday, February 28, 2026, represent a dangerous escalation in Middle Eastern tensions—one rooted in strategic miscalculation and contradicted by America’s own intelligence assessments. The military campaign aims to topple Iran’s ruling leadership, dismantle its missile and naval capabilities, and encourage popular uprising following the strikes. Initial reports from regional and international media …
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The post U.S.-Israel Strikes on Iran: Preliminary Assessment appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Abstract: Command culture is a critical force multiplier for Navy Expeditionary Logistics. Leaders must apply Navy initiatives such as Culture of Excellence 2.0 and Get Real, Get Better, to their commands to achieve excellence through psychological safety, decentralized command, and learning-based environments. Readiness does have a cost but cannot be bought. It is built with deliberate leadership, time investment, and …
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The post Beyond Metrics: Integrating Command Culture with Operational Readiness appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

The Enemy We Didn’t Name In 2003, I commanded Task Force 2-7 Infantry during the invasion of Iraq. We accomplished our mission with precision, dismantling Saddam’s regime in weeks. After annihilating Republican Guard Forces east of Baghdad International Airport, we were called to reinforce 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized). We traveled around western Baghdad to link up with 2nd …
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The post Iran: Lessons from Task Force 2-7 Infantry (OIF 1) and the Path Forward appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Joint US and Israeli military strikes in Iran Saturday morning marked the start of a conflict with no clear offramp or end in sight. At the onset of the attack, Trump released a video on Truth Social declaring the strikes were to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon. He then called on Iranian citizens to “take over” the government, …
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The post The US Must Clarify Its Strategy in Iran appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Abstract Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign launched on February 28, 2026, has destroyed significant elements of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and decapitated portions of its leadership. What it has not destroyed, and what no air campaign alone can destroy, is Iran’s forty-year strategic investment in a distributed proxy architecture spanning Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Gaza. The nuclear program …
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The post We Bombed the Wrong Target appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

The post Operation Epic Fury Update, President Donald J. Trump appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

“A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime. A vicious group of very hard, terrible people. Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world. For 47 years, …
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The post President Donald J. Trump on the United States Military Major Combat Operations in Iran appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. Statement by Chief Pentagon Spokesman, Sean Parnell, on ‘Aligning Senior Service College Opportunities With American Values’ 2. Why the U.S. and Israel Struck When They Did: A Chance to Kill Iran’s Leaders 3. Opinion | Trump’s Doctrine in Iran and Beyond 4. Iranians Under Attack Are Afraid, Angry or Joyful 5. How …
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The post 3/1/26 National Security and Korean News and Commentary appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Join the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs and its Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, in partnership with the Alliance for Peacebuilding and featuring former leaders of the U.S. Institute of Peace, on Tuesday, March 10, for a full-day convening of leading scholars, civil society leaders and national security officials to examine what is at stake for the future of American peacebuilding. …
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The post WEBINAR (3/10/26): American Peacebuilding at a Crossroads appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

“Souls Without Graves, We Will Cry for You for a Thousand Years”: Exhuming the Massacre Sites of South Korea’s Politicide Grace M. Cho is a Professor of Sociology at the College of Staten Island, CUNY, author of Tastes Like War: A Memoir, writing a book examining the Korean War through the lens of her family’s experience. 2026 ASU Future Security …
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The post WEBINAR (3/6/26): “Souls Without Graves, We Will Cry for You for a Thousand Years”: Exhuming the Massacre Sites of South Korea’s Politicide appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. Exclusive: Prior to Iran attacks, CIA assessed Khamenei could be replaced by hardline IRGC elements if killed, sources say 2. Opinion | Trump Enforces His Red Line on Iran 3. Opinion | The Ayatollah Is Choosing War (published prior to the launch of Epic Fury) 4. A Timeline of U.S. and …
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The post 2/28/26 National Security and Korean News and Commentary appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. Second U.S. Aircraft Carrier Approaches Middle East as Nuclear Deal With Iran Remains Elusive 2. Exclusive | Altman Says OpenAI Is Working on Pentagon Deal Amid Anthropic Standoff 3. Exclusive | Government Agencies Raise Alarm About Use of Elon Musk’s Grok Chatbot 4. Paradigm Change in the 2025 National Security …
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The post 2/27/26 National Security and Korean News and Commentary appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan turned into open hostilities on Friday after a prolonged period of escalating cross-border violence that is rooted in decades of unresolved disputes and militant activity. The latest phase began when Pakistani forces launched airstrikes against what this France24 report describes as “key military installations of the Afghan Taliban regime,” marking a shift from proxy conflict …
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The post Pakistan–Afghanistan Escalation Signals Shift from Proxy Conflict to Open Hostilities appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

The essay “The Missing War: Why the 2025 NSS Needs a Political Warfare Strategy to Defeat the CRInK in the Gray Zone” by Col. David Maxwell advocates for a more explicit political strategy to confront China as was done in the Cold War against the Soviet Union. But China presents an economic challenge as our peer that the Soviet Union never …
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The post Paradigm Change in the 2025 National Security Strategy appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Abstract Decentralized resistance networks often fail due to vulnerabilities in connector roles rather than the compromise of combat cells. Movement, logistics, finance, safe house management, communications, and external liaison functions create unavoidable concentration points that accumulate visibility, saturate capacity, and enable cascading compromise under modern counter-network operations. This structural vulnerability has decisive implications for resistance preparation and partner force development. …
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The post The Connector Problem in Resistance Networks: Why Decentralization Fails in Practice appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Editor’s Note: Small Wars Journal generally does not allow authors to publish anonymously or under a pseudonym. If an author is an authentic voice and can demonstrate to the editors that they have reason to fear retribution for publishing their opinions, then we have a process for granting rare exceptions. This article and the author have met that standard. We …
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The post SOF-ening the ICE: The Domestication of Special Warfare appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. Going on the Offensive: Rethinking US SOF’s Mission Set for the Age of Strategic Competition 2. American Power Without Fiscal Alignment Is Not Sustainable Power 3. In a First, U.S. Deploys Combat Jets to Israel for Potential Wartime Mission in Iran 4. F-16 Pilot’s Narrow Escape in Missile Attack Shows Risks …
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The post 2/26/26 National Security and Korean News and Commentary appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

  For years, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, was one of the most wanted men in the Western Hemisphere. His death on February 22, 2026––confirmed by Mexico’s Secretary of National Defense––removes a figure around which a significant portion of Mexican organized crime orbited. Yet, while the man is gone, the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) remains. The urgent …
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The post Beyond the Kingpin: What El Mencho’s Death Reveals About Cartel Resilience appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

CSIS’s ChinaPower Project article The Purges Within China’s Military Are Even Deeper Than You Think unpacks Xi Jinping’s unprecedented internal purge of the People’s Liberation Army, which extends far beyond previously understood levels. Around 2023, Xi initiated a second major round of purges—this time far bolder and more extensive than before… According to CSIS data and analysis, 36 generals and …
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The post The Purges Within China’s Military Are Even Deeper Than You Think | CSIS Report appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.