{"podcast":{"title":"Irregular Warfare Podcast","slug":"irregular-warfare-podcast-672482","podcast_index_feed_id":672482,"rss_url":"https://feed.podbean.com/IrregularWarfare/feed.xml","website_url":"https://IrregularWarfare.podbean.com","image_url":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/17843522/IWP-logo.jpg","author":"Irregular Warfare Initiative","episode_count":161,"summary":"The Irregular Warfare Podcast explores an important component of war throughout history. Small wars, drone strikes, special operations forces, counterterrorism, proxies—this podcast covers the full range of topics related to irregular war and features in-depth conversations with guests from the military, academia, and the policy community. The podcast is a collaboration between the Modern War Institute at West Point and Princeton University’s Empirical Studies of Conflict Project.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-07T22:18:04.582926+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/irregular-warfare-podcast-672482"},"episode":{"title":"The Strategic Logic of Large Militant Alliance Networks","slug":"the-strategic-logic-of-large-militant-alliance-networks","published_at":"2026-03-06T10:16:25+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/irregular-warfare-podcast-672482/the-strategic-logic-of-large-militant-alliance-networks","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/irregular-warfare-podcast-672482","url":"https://IrregularWarfare.podbean.com/e/the-strategic-logic-of-large-militant-alliance-networks/","audio_url":"https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/jx5utzrt4rnqee3x/Strategic_Logic_of_Large_Militant_Alliance_Networks_-_3_6_26_1002_AM6lu82.mp3","summary":"Episode 148 of the Irregular Warfare Podcast explores why militant groups form alliances, and what the content of those alliances can tell us about their organizational capacity. Drawing on an article Professor Chris Blair co-authored with Phillip Potter, The Strategic Logic of Large Militant Alliance Networks, this episode offers a new framework for understanding militant cooperation. Reflective of the comparative advantage model, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State each pursued alliance networks not simply from a position of strength, but to compensate for distinct organizational deficits–with al-Qaeda seeking operational reach after 9/11, and the Islamic State seeking ideological legitimacy after its split with al-Qaeda. The conversation explores how these dynamics played out with these two groups and how practitioners might use these insights to efficiently disrupt militant alliances in an era increasingly focused on great power competition. Dr. Chris Blair is an Assistant Professor at Princeton University in the Department of Politics. Professor Blair’s research mainly engages with questions of how counterinsurgency policies affect civilian and rebel behavior and how prospective host countries respond to forcibly displaced people. He has published prolifically in top academic journals as well as publications such as Foreign Affairs and the Washington Post. General Joseph Votel is the current distinguished chair of West Point’s Combatting Terrorism Center. He is a retired Army 4-star officer who in his last active duty assignment served as the commanding general of U.S. Central Command. During his 39 years in the military he commanded Special Operations and conventional military forces at every level. Alisa Laufer hosts this episode. Please reach out to the Irregular Wa…","meta_description":"Episode 148 of the Irregular Warfare Podcast explores why militant groups form alliances, and what the content of those alliances can tell us about their…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3374,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/irregular-warfare-podcast-672482/episodes/the-strategic-logic-of-large-militant-alliance-networks/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/irregular-warfare-podcast-672482/the-strategic-logic-of-large-militant-alliance-networks.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}