by Joey Middleton | Aug 23, 2026 | SOF and Strategic Competition
By Kerry Chávez Since 9/11, Special Operations Forces (SOF) have often been cast as the United States’ sharpest instrument: they hunt high-value targets, train partners, and operate at the seams where conventional forces cannot reach or persist. Thriving in permissive...
by Joey Middleton | Aug 9, 2026 | SOF and Strategic Competition
By Brian Petit It is conceivable that in one blistering campaign, the People’s Republic of China could invade, occupy, and forcibly annex Taiwan. One question would dominate the post-occupation debate: “What more could have been done?” The obvious answers will be...
by Joey Middleton | Aug 1, 2026 | SOF and Strategic Competition
By Tahir Mahmood Azad In mid-March 2026, satellite imagery confirmed what many defense analysts had long feared: the USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike groups had quietly abandoned their forward offensive positions near Iran. The Ford moved...
by Joey Middleton | Jul 29, 2026 | SOF and Strategic Competition
By Yi Se Gwon Abstract The cognitive warfare tools demonstrated in Ukraine and Iran are not exclusively a high-intensity conflict problem. They are reshaping the gray zone as well, and the adversaries employing them below the threshold of kinetic engagement are...
by Joey Middleton | Jul 26, 2026 | SOF and Strategic Competition
By retired colonels Montgomery Erfourth, Paul Burton, Brian Petit, Jeremiah Monk, and Dr. John A. Pennell, all of the Irregular Warfare Center Among the five of us who teach the Irregular Warfare Center’s (IWC) advanced campaigning course (IW401), we have spent a long...
by Joey Middleton | Jul 22, 2026 | SOF and Strategic Competition
By Russell D. Howard The Historical Continuum of Chinese Unconventional Warfare To truly understand China’s mastery of irregular warfare, one must realize it is not a newly adopted doctrine, but a cultural inheritance. It spans from the foundational philosophies of...
