Irregular Warfare Podcast

The Future of Coalition Building and Irregular Warfare

In the aftermath of the military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the country's chaotic collapse, it is easy to forget the prominent role that the United States played in building, leading, and sustaining a forty-nation coalition for the war effort—a task that required some determined diplomacy and a sophisticated understanding of what each country brought to the table. As the United States pivots to the Indo-Pacific region and the competition with China for legitimacy and influence below the level of armed conflict, the question becomes whether coalition building is the right approach for new challenges and a new strategic environment. Retired US Army Lieutenant General Douglas Lute and retired Australian Army Major General Duncan Lewis both have deep experience working with coalitions, both as senior officers and in diplomatic roles. They join this episode to share their experiences and lessons for the future.

Learning from the Past, Anticipating the Future: Organizational Change in Irregular Warfare

hroughout history, IW organizations have undergone dramatic changes at all levels to meet the demands of new operating environments and threats. The book The Changing of the Guard: The British Army since 9/11 explores the difficulties the British Army faced trying to reorganize for irregular warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan. Simon Akam, the book's author, is one of our guests on this episode, and he provides listeners with lessons learned and key takeaways from the British experience that can guide ongoing organizational changes. Our other guest is retired General John Allen, who draws on his decades of experience at the highest levels of military leadership and policy, giving his perspective on how IW organizations can successfully meet the needs of strategic competition.
Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa
Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Cyberspace as a Battlespace: Irregular Warfare through Bits and Bytes

What is the intersection between cyber and irregular warfare? Should the United States consider cyberspace a typical or exquisite domain? How did the counterterrorism fight serve as a proving ground for the application of these emerging capabilities? This episode examines the character of cyber warfare—both in its relationship to irregular warfare and in its applicability to broader national security approaches—and features a conversation with Dr. Jacquelyn Schneider and Admiral Mike Rogers.
Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa
Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Special Operations Forces and Great Power Competition

Will the role and capabilities required of special operations forces change in a geopolitical context characterized by great power competition? How will SOF balance enduring counterterrorism missions with new requirements to deter great power rivals? This episode examines those questions and more and features a discussion with General Richard Clarke, commander of US Special Operations Command, and Linda Robinson, a leading researcher on special operations forces and author of two books on the subject.
Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa
Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

What Have We Learned from Twenty Years of War?

What lessons should the United States and its allies take from twenty years of irregular warfare since 9/11? What will the future of irregular warfare look like? Episode 38 of the Irregular Warfare Podcast is a recording of the keynote policy panel, featuring prominent scholars and practitioners, from the inaugural Irregular Warfare Initiative conference held on September 10, 2021. The panelists address these questions and discuss the overarching theme of the changing character of irregular warfare.
Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa
Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

On the Road to Jihad: The Role of Foreign Fighters in Irregular Warfare

Foreign fighters play an influential role in Islamic extremist groups. They tend to be more violent, more committed, and more resistant to reconciliation than their indigenous counterparts. Perhaps most significantly, they act as vectors of extremism, moving between zones of conflict, and sometimes returning to their countries of origin to instigate acts of terrorism. Our guests on this episode, Jasmine El-Gamal and Nate Rosenblatt, have researched the problem extensively for almost two decades. They predict that the next wave of extremism fueled by this phenomenon is gathering momentum even now and could pose an even greater threat to global security than its predecessors.
Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa
Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Information Operations for the Information Age: IO in Irregular Warfare

When information can travel globally at the tap of a finger, irregular warfare professionals must contend with an ever-changing environment. How does strategic messaging tie into operations on the battlefield? How can we build a more information-savvy force? And how can information act as both weapon and warfighting space? Raphael Cohen and Brent Colburn join this episode to discuss these vital questions and more.
Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa
Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Lessons from the Hardest Place: Twenty Years of War in Afghanistan

What lessons should the United States military take from twenty years of war in Afghanistan? This episode focuses on US efforts in the Pech valley, where the United States waged an enduring counterinsurgency and counterterrorism campaign over many years. Our guests, Wesley Morgan and retired Colonel Bill Ostlund, argue that the Pech represents a microcosm of the broader US war effort in Afghanistan, and that the collapse of the Afghan government following the withdrawal of US forces from the country in August 2021 was foreseeable by looking at what happened in the valley after US forces withdrew years earlier.
Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa
Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

China’s Strategically Irregular Approach: The Art of the Gray Zone

How does China operate in the space between war and peace to gain strategic advantage in Asia and globally? What do these gray zone activities look like, and how do they facilitate China’s influence in the region? What are the consequences of inconsistent US policy and posture in the Pacific in countering China’s rise? This episode features a conversation with Ambassador David Shear and Dr. Zack Cooper, who explore what China's efforts in the gray zone mean for the United States.
Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa
Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

An Un-American Way of War: Why the United States Fails at Irregular Warfare

The United States and other nations have spent billions of dollars and invested untold effort, not to mention lives, in a global campaign against Islamist terrorism—and yet the threat landscape is arguably worse now than it was on 9/11. Despite the importance for national security of understanding how to wage irregular warfare effectively, something in the American way of war, the fundamental culture of the US military, prevents us from doing so. William Wechsler and retired Colonel Liam Collins join this episode to discuss the question of what needs to be done to reverse this trend and thus ensure that the United States can recover from the mistakes of the past, restore its credibility, and return to its place of prominence on the global stage.