by Joey Middleton | Jun 14, 2026 | SOF and Strategic Competition
By William F. Lyons Jr. Introduction In a widely read essay published in June 2026, a recently retired senior Green Beret argues that the United States Army Special Forces have slipped from being the U.S. military’s premier irregular force to “a campaign...
by Joey Middleton | Jun 8, 2026 | SOF and Strategic Competition
“The essence of irregular, unconventional, and political warfare is not violence. It is strategy.” By David Maxwell Editor’s note: This is a Focus Area article that has not undergone standard editorial review in order to facilitate rapid...
by Joey Middleton | Jun 3, 2026 | SOF and Strategic Competition
By Cole Livieratos Cognitive warfare is everywhere, but it may already be doomed. It is hard to read national security literature and social media posts without coming across the term cognitive warfare. The conflict with Iran. China’s current operations. Russia’s way...
by Joey Middleton | Jun 3, 2026 | SOF and Strategic Competition
By Andrew Rolander The Pattern That Never Changes In January 2013, French forces entered Mali to conduct Operation Serval and did what Western militaries do well: they moved fast, hit hard, and pushed jihadist fighters out of the northern cities seized the previous...
by Joey Middleton | Jun 2, 2026 | SOF and Strategic Competition
For three years, I’ve watched with excitement as Dr. Kerry Chavez and Dr. Rick “Newt” Newton built and expanded IWI’s Air and Space Power Initiative into the premier forum driving the discussion of the role for air and space power in irregular warfare. It is a great...
by Joey Middleton | May 19, 2026 | SOF and Strategic Competition
by Dr. Aleks Nesic & Arnel P. David This article was initially published in Small Wars Journal and was taken from research completed for the 2019 Special Operations Research Association (SORA) Symposium in Monterey, California. The illiterate of the 21st...
