Small Wars Journal

Department of Defense Instruction 3000.07 defines Irregular Warfare with ambiguous criteria, including indirect approaches and asymmetric activities, which are also characteristic of conventional warfare. This lack of differentiating criteria complicates planning and approval processes. To provide a clearer distinction, this article proposes adding a complementary criterion, the level of state stewardship (state authority, entitlement, and responsibility), to differentiate state, or …
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The post Regular or Unleaded? Differentiating Irregular Warfare appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

AI Racing Drone Beats Human Controlled FPV Racing Drones on Aerial Racetrack: An Overlooked ‘AlphaGo Moment’ with Future War Implications By: Dr. Robert J. Bunker of SWJ El Centro and Kaden K. Bunker C/O Futures Weaponized Drone Research Note Series | 18 February 2026 “In April 2025 at the A2RL Drone Championship and Drone Champions League (DCL) competition in Abu …
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The post AI Racing Drone Beats Human Controlled FPV Racing Drones on Aerial Racetrack: An Overlooked ‘AlphaGo Moment’ with Future War Implications appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Abstract  Less than nine months after the United States and Israel conducted joint strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities during Operation Midnight Hammer and Operation Rising Lion, both nations are again assembling substantial military force in the Middle East. As of February 2026, a dual-carrier strike group deployment is underway, F-22 Raptors are transiting to forward bases, and Western intelligence sources …
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The post The Gathering Storm: U.S. and Israeli Military Posturing and the Coming Reckoning with Iran appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Check out this new report from USSOCOM’s Joint Special Operations University: From Guns for Hire to Military Doctrine: Russia’s Institutionalization of Influence in Africa. Nadina Ronc’s report provides one of the most comprehensive threat assessments of Russian gray-zone activity across the continent and what those actions mean for USSOF. Below are highlights from the introduction, and we highly encourage you …
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The post From Guns for Hire to Military Doctrine: Russia’s Institutionalization of Influence in Africa appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. Hegseth forces ouster of senior Army spokesman in latest internal clash 2. U.S. Hardens Allegation That China Conducted a Secret Nuclear Test 3. ‘Woke’ AI Spat Escalates Between Pentagon and Anthropic 4. The Phantom Stealth Fighter That Exposes Europe’s Deep Divisions Over Defense 5. Special Operations News – Feb 17, 2026 6. Starlink …
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The post 2/18/26 National Security and Korean News and Commentary appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

The Guardian’s recent article, Disappearances in Mexico surge by 200% over 10 years, reports that Mexico’s missing-person crisis now includes more than 130,000 people and links the surge in disappearances to expanding cartel power. The article opens with the 2022 abduction of Ángel Montenegro, whose case reflects how families often begin searching immediately and continue for years with limited state …
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The post Disappearances in Mexico surge by 200% over 10 years appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

On Feb. 3, the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE) hosted a webinar on the widespread adoption of drones by Mexican cartel forces and the robust supply chains that support these operations. Read below for key takeaways. Because cartels treat drones as commodities, the traditional counter UAS focus – detection and tactical defeat – is insufficient to tackle …
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The post Cartel Drone Operations & Related Supply Chains | NCITE Webinar Recap appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Abstract The direct collection of intelligence information from human sources is highly sensitive for good reason. Many people have risked their lives to pass valuable information to the United States, and practitioners have a strict responsibility to protect their assets and tend to avoid publicity. Nonetheless, spy novels and films have popularized human intelligence (HUMINT), though these often misrepresent the …
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The post Mapping the Human Terrain: The Enduring Role of Human Intelligence in the U.S. Army appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Introduction Despite extensive research on terrorist violence, far less attention has been paid to whether attacks are publicly claimed and what those attribution decisions reveal about organizational strategy. Claiming responsibility is not a trivial byproduct of terrorism but a deliberate communicative act that shapes public perception, government response, and inter-group competition. Yet, empirical trends suggest that most terrorist attacks today …
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The post Claimed or Unclaimed: Patterns of Attribution in Global Terrorism appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Access SOF News HERE.   Special Operations News – Feb 17, 2026 February 17, 2026 SOF News Update 0 Curated news, analysis, and commentary about special operations, national security, and conflicts around the world. Photo / Image: Candidates assigned to the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School take part in a an early morning ruck march as part of Special …
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Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. Making the War Colleges Great Again 2. George Washington by George W. Bush 3. Beyond COIN: Governance Warfare and the Changing Character of Irregular Conflict 4. China is the real threat, Taiwan says in rebuff to Munich speech 5. Japan protests China comments on reviving ‘militarism’ 6. Iran Pitches New Ideas in Nuclear …
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The post 2/17/26 National Security and Korean News and Commentary appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Attributing Russian Information Influence Operations: Testing the Information Influence Attribution Framework with real-world case studies  By: James Pamment Ben Heap Victoria Smith Sofiia Dikhtiarenko for NATO’s Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence “This report examines Russian Information Influence Operations targeting audiences in Ukraine and neighbouring regions, including Ukrainian civilians and defence forces, civilians in nearby states, and European pro-Kremlin groups. The analysis draws primarily on …
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The post Attributing Russian Information Influence Operations: Testing the Information Influence Attribution Framework with real-world case studies appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

This Wall Street Journal report investigates allegations that Anthropic’s AI model, Claude, was used in JSOC’s operation to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, revealing that frontier AI tools are rapidly gaining traction within the Pentagon. The mission reportedly included AI-enabled targeting that helped with bombing multiple sites in Caracas, even though Anthropic’s usage guidelines prohibit Claude from facilitating violence, …
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The post Pentagon Used Anthropic’s Claude in Maduro Venezuela Raid appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Full Commentary: The Institutional Battlefield: Why Irregular Warfare Must Contemplate Path Dependence, by Ian Murphy, Inter Populum: The Journal of Irregular Warfare and Special Operations (Spring 2026). This latest commentary in Inter Populum explains that irregular warfare analysis suffers from a critical blind spot. It focuses too heavily on tactics while ignoring institutions as a battlefield in their own right. …
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The post The Institutional Battlefield: Why Irregular Warfare Must Contemplate Path Dependence appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

This event is sponsored by Arizona State University’s Future Security Initiative and New America. WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm EST WHERE: Online REGISTER HERE In Empire of Madness: Reimagining Western Mental Health Care for Everyone, Dr. Khameer Kidia offers an urgent rethinking of the Western approach to mental health, which treats the symptoms rather than the exploitative systems causing …
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Abstract According to People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)–affiliated military oceanographers’ assessments of the Paracel Island region, include acoustically attenuated shadow zones created by rugged seamounts and abrupt bathymetry are prime locations for AI-intelligentized seabed mines to establish a subsea anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) zone by obscuring direction and disrupting submarine sonar. Although these AI-enabled systems remain conceptual, they represent a plausible evolution …
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Abstract While the use of chemical weapons by non-state actors in warfare is rare, several recent examples, by the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka and by the Islamic State in Syria, offer insight to potential future challenges that non-state actors may pose. Introduction Chemical weapons are currently being deployed in a number of ongoing conflicts, including by the Sudanese Armed …
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The post Chemical Weapons by Violent Non-State Actors in Combat appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

WHEN: Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm EST WHERE: Online REGISTER HERE In the 1970s, an unprecedented wave of international terrorism broke out around the world. More ambitious, networked and far-reaching than ever before, new armed groups terrorized the West with intricately planned plane hijackings and hostage missions, leaving governments scrambling to cope. Their motives were as diverse …
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The post WEBINAR (2/24/26): The Revolutionists: The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

This essay is the first in a three-part project that examines Mexico’s security landscape under President Claudia Sheinbaum. It analyzes the criminal structures and institutional conditions inherited by the current administration, with particular attention to the territorial reach, organizational diversity, and adaptive capacity of organized crime across Mexico. By mapping the current configuration of criminal networks, this installment establishes a …
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The post Transnational Organized Crime in Mexico: Continuity, Change, and Uncertainty under the Sheinbaum Administration (Part I) appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.

Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. Cognitive Warfare Fails the Cognitive Test 2. Russia’s Wagner Group pivots to European sabotage, say western officials 3. Biodefense Blind Spot: Why Washington Confuses Pandemics with Bioweapons 4. The Sound of Munich: Autonomy, Anxiety, and the Twilight of Transatlantic Order 5. Three American Speeches at Munich, and …
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The post 2/16/26 National Security and Korean News and Commentary appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.