Abstract In persistent competition below the threshold of armed conflict, analysts gain advantage when they identify cognitive shifts before behavior confirms them. The Integrated Cognitive Assessment Framework (ICAF), provides a structured approach that links influence activities to observable outcomes through a defined cognitive decision cycle. ICAF integrates the Observe-Orient-Decide-Act (OODA) loop with a novel cognitive sequencing model, Perception, Emotion, Memory, Attitudes, Decision, and Behavior (PEMADB), to … Read more
Abstract This article builds on previous Signature Reduction contributions that defined signature as the totality of observable behavior across physical and digital domains, established signature reduction as a behaviorally grounded doctrine rather than a set of technical measures, and emphasized the primacy of human judgment in managing exposure. It shifts from that conceptual foundation to operational application under conditions of … Read more
Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. The Rise of a Hardline Four-Star General Tipped to Be the Next Army Chief 2. Trump’s Least Bad Option in Iran: The Logic Behind a Limited Deal 3. How Japan Should Spend Its Soaring Defense Budget 4. What a US defence industry trip to Taiwan says about Taipei’s efforts to overhaul … Read more
An open-source dataset compiled by Military Africa Magazine maps 234 drone procurement records across 34 African nations from 1980 to 2026. It comprises 1,959 total units, 21 supplier countries, and 150+ distinct platforms. Yes, this is a continent in the middle of a military transformation. It’s also one where competition for influence among outside powers is being projected through buzzing, … Read more
The expiration of New START and China’s impending intercontinental ballistic missile parity have rendered the bilateral logic of Mutual Assured Destruction inadequate for managing an emerging three-way nuclear competition. This article draws on David Goldfischer’s Mutual Defense Emphasis (MDE) framework – in which treaty-limited ground-based defenses expand only as offensive forces decline – and explores how it can be applied … Read more
Introduction The internet and digital domain are becoming increasingly a larger part of both governance and civilian life. Specifically, social media has played a role in enhancing the magnitude in which private citizens of nations can independently connect with one another. Previously, the practice of citizen-diplomacy, defined as private citizens engaging with one another to influence international relations, was limited … Read more
Editor’s Note: this article is being republished with the permission of the Irregular Warfare Initiative as part of a republishing arrangement between IWI and SWJ. The original article was published on March 24, 2026 and is available here. Moldova’s September elections reaffirmed its pro-EU course, but continued and increased Russian hybrid and military pressure make constitutional neutrality untenable. Russia’s continued “peacekeeping” presence within … Read more
Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. Opinion | In the disinformation war, the U.S. unilaterally disarmed 2. Leaked Documents Reveal Russian ‘Cognitive Strikes’ Against the West — Including Islamophobic ‘Pig Head’ Attacks in Paris 3. AI warfare is already here 4. Pentagon AI use jumped 1,775% in just one year 5. Why 80% of U.S. Startups Are Quietly … Read more
Santa Muerte devotion relies heavily on metaphor. Across YouTube testimonies, prayers, and devotional content, Santa Muerte is repeatedly described as a mother who protects her children, forgives failures, and never abandons the faithful.[1] These metaphors are powerful because they turn death into someone devotees believe they can trust. A mother protects her children. A patron rewards loyalty. A judge punishes enemies. Once death … Read more
Tampa has always felt to me less like a headquarters town than a frontier outpost of the American imperium—humid, kinetic, restless, permanently humming with the quiet traffic of planners, operators, diplomats, technologists, spies, contractors, and warrior-scholars moving between conference rooms and conflict zones. For more than two decades, MacDill Air Force Base and the larger Tampa Bay region have stood … Read more
In two recent articles at the Irregular Warfare Initiative—The Last A-Team: Special Forces Aren’t Special Anymore and A New Vision for Special Forces—Ned Marsh has performed a valuable service for the Special Forces Regiment and the broader national security community. He has forced a serious debate about whether U.S. Army Special Forces remains organized trained, equipped, educated, and optimized, for … Read more
Brazil’s organized crime landscape is entering a new phase, reports Maria Zuppello of Diálogo Américas in “New Map of Organized Crime in Brazil.” The report tracks the evolution of the First Capital Command (PCC) and Red Command (CV) alongside the rise of nearly 90 regional competing factions. What has emerged is criminal ecosystem that is both decentralized (at the local … Read more
Lisa J. Campbell reviewed Drones in the African Battlespaces, edited by Wayne Stephen Coetzee and Dries Putter, in a recent C/O Futures Book Review. The book is a collection of articles on drone technology in Africa. Here’s a quick summary of Cambell’s findings. Most scholarship on African security comes from European and American researchers. This volume draws primarily on African … Read more
Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. U.S. renews strikes on Iran, citing threats posed to American troops 2. Evolving Warfare Connects the Conflicts in Ukraine and Iran 3. Iran may consider transferring its uranium to China | The Jerusalem Post 4. This Is How the Iran War Ends 5. The Real Reason Trump Needs a Deal with Iran … Read more
“Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” At Fort Leavenworth, this mantra greeted Soldiers daily on the electronic display board, a reminder from Lieutenant General (RET) Milford Beagle that growth begins with honest assessment. Across the Army, feedback is not optional—it is foundational. Army Doctrine Publication (ADP) 6-22, Army Leadership and the Profession makes performance counseling a core leader responsibility, requiring … Read more
Abstract: The war in Ukraine has shown that a headquarters unit that cannot hide, move, and restore communications while still directing the fight will be found and disrupted. Warfighter exercises rehearse this problem using special purpose forces and other rear-area threats. Given that the aim of protection is preserving combat power for continued campaigning, headquarters units at echelon should train … Read more
Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. Constitutional Convention begins | May 25, 1787 2. War, Memory, and the Sons We Lose 3. Trump Says He Is in No Rush for an Iran Deal That Is Far From Finished 4. Opinion | Will Trump Bail Out Iran’s Regime? 5. Pope Leo Warns of Risks From A.I. in 42,300-Word Encyclical … Read more
The United States military is the most capable in the world. And yet, our political leaders have demonstrated an inability, across decades, to effectively utilize this powerful kinetic tool to achieve broader strategic aims. Iran is the most recent case in point. Although the result of America’s war there remains uncertain, it is clear that the White House’s air campaign … Read more
In my professional career, I have spent years studying how leverage, brinksmanship, and coercive pressure shape high-stakes business acquisition transactions. One of the more aggressive tactics involves a buyer deliberately delaying disclosure of a material issue discovered during diligence until late in the process. The logic is straightforward. The buyer waits until legal fees, management attention, financing commitments, and emotional … Read more
Conflict today is no longer solely defined by the control of the physical terrain with kinetic warfare. It is increasingly shaped by the influence of the cognitive terrain: the perceptions, the beliefs, and the expectations that guide how societies and leaders interpret events and respond to them. Achieving information dominance through social media is a foundational prerequisite for effective regional deterrence in … Read more