Episode
What the Hell is Irregular Warfare Anyway?
- Podcast
- Irregular Warfare Podcast
- Published
- Apr 17, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3678
- Processing state
not_requested
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/irregular-warfare-podcast-672482/episodes/what-the-hell-is-irregular-warfare-anyway/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/irregular-warfare-podcast-672482/what-the-hell-is-irregular-warfare-anyway.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
Episode 152 of the Irregular Warfare Podcast grapples with the many definitions of irregular warfare used across the community of interest. In this episode, our guests discuss why the concept of irregular warfare has resisted a stable definition across decades of changing doctrine, and what that persistent confusion has cost operationally and strategically. We walk through three competing definitional approaches— the maximal, the traditional, and the competition-disruption model — weighing the strengths and weaknesses of each. We close by asking what irregular warfare actually is at its core, and why getting that answer right matters, not just for writers of doctrine, but for practitioners. The article is here: Fragmented Frontiers: Three Approaches to Understanding Irregular Warfare Dr. Chris Tripodi is Reader in Irregular Warfare at the Defence Studies Department, King's College London. His research focuses on the forms of knowledge Western militaries use to understand their operational environments, and the complex relationship between counterinsurgency theory and practice. Eric Robinson is an Associate Director of the Data Science and Technology Group at the RAND Corporation, where his research focuses on special operations, irregular warfare, and gray zone challenges. He is the lead author of RAND's 2023 report Strategic Disruption by Special Operations Forces, which we touch on in today’s episode. Lieutenant General (ret.) Mike Nagata served for 38 years in the US Army, with 34 years in special operations. Among his many positions of leadership, he served as Commander of US Special Operations Command-Central from 2013 to 2015, and was heavily involved in the first two years of combat operations against the Islamic State. Alisa Laufer hosts this episode. Please re…