Irregular Warfare & Military Learning

ASU Charter

ASU is a comprehensive public research university, measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed; advancing research and discovery of public value; and assuming fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural, and overall health of the communities it serves. 

ASU is a prototype National Service University

National Service Universities aspire to accelerate positive social outcomes through the seamless integration of cutting-edge technological innovation and scalability with institutional cultures dedicated to the advancement of academic enterprise and public value. 

Professional Education for IW

Security & Defence PLuS Short Courses (offered in collaboration with King’s College London and the University of New South Wales): 

• Certificate in Narrative Strategies (Spring 2024)
• Certificate in Understanding Domains of Conflict (Summer 2024)
• Certificate in Security Implications of Advanced Technologies (Fall 2025)
• Certificate in Integrated Deterrence (Fall 2025)

Graduate Education for IW

The MA in Global Security – Irregular Warfare concentration is the first of its kind in an accredited civilian university. It addresses the growing recognition among security experts that irregular warfare will be a prominent component of future conflicts, particularly in the context of great power competition. 

Coursework focuses on current and future conflict domains including cyber, information & narrative warfare, economic competition, proxy war, counterinsurgency, and other domains of irregular warfare and special operations that make up a whole-of-society approach to contemporary conflict. Featured faculty include David Kilcullen, Ajit Maan, Peter Singer, Peter Bergen, Ike Wilson, and Candace Rondeaux. 

Key courses in the Irregular Warfare concentration include: GSC 571: Narrative Conflict; and GSC 572: Proxy Warfare, Strategic Thinking, History, and Operational Arts. 

Other degree concentrations and certificates offered in the MAGS program include:

• MA Global Security (Cybersecurity)
• Certificate in Global Security and Competitive Statecraft
• Certificate in Narrative Strategies (Spring 2024)

Military Learning Partnerships

• Air University and ASU have partnered to deliver the Department of the Air Force’s online professional military education. Approximately 52,000 airmen are currently enrolled.
• Navy Community College and ASU have partnered since June 2022 to offer three associate degrees to active-duty enlisted Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen. 734 students enrolled to date.
• Advanced Digital Learning Partnership Lab conducts research to offer guidance and best practices to the DOD, Federal agencies, and coalition military partners. Led by faculty from The Polytechnic School in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering since 2017.
• U.S. Space Force University Partnership Program, which signed an agreement with ASU in June 2022, partners with top universities to provide resources, mentorship, and hands-on experience for students to explore potential career paths in the space sector.

Publications

• Inter Populum: The Journal of Irregular Warfare and Special Operations: A product of the Competitive Statecraft Initiative, Inter Populum is a central voice in the scholarly literature on issues related to irregular warfare, special operations, and the intersection between them. Inter Populum is a peer-reviewed academic journal for the scholar and practitioner, a place to explore everything from lessons learned through historical case studies, to current best practices, to the nature of future conflict.
• Small Wars Journal [expected announcement in May 2024]: ASU is proud to be the academic home of Small Wars Journal and will engage faculty and students from across the university and the community of interest to continue SWJ’s long legacy as the premier hub for exchanging information among practitioners, thought leaders, and students of Small Wars.

Convenings

ASU has a long record of convening multi-sector stakeholder communities to address the most difficult problems of irregular warfare and strategic competition.

• 2017-2019: In partnership with New America, and with co-sponsors including the U.S. Army War College, Joint Special Operations University, the University of Texas, and the Global SOF Foundation, ASU hosted the annual Special Operations Policy Forum.
• 2015 – Present: Since 2015, ASU’s Future Security Initiative has hosted the annual Future Security Forum in Washington, D.C., with co-sponsors including CNN, Defense One, JSOU, the US Army War College, and more. 
• February 2023: ASU’s Competitive Statecraft Initiative hosted a DC Workshop on Innovating for Competitive Statecraft, featuring ASU Distinguished University Fellow LTG HR McMaster in conversation with ASU Ambassador-in-Residence Michael Polt. 
• March 2023: The ASU Forum on Innovating for Competitive Statecraft, in Tempe, AZ, featured leading scholars, practitioners, and policymakers representing all the instruments of national power, including a panel on “Irregular Warfare as the Military Contribution to Competitive Statecraft.” 
• Many more on the way.

Defense-Focused Centers & Initiatives

• Competitive Statecraft Initiative: The Competitive Statecraft Initiative harnesses expertise from across the government, academia, business, and civil society to develop, advocate for, and educate toward innovative, whole-of-society concepts, policies, strategies, and structures to protect American interests and promote universal values. 
• Future Security Initiative: FSI pioneers research in security, combining open-source investigations, fieldwork, policy analysis, and case studies to develop new approaches to pressing security issues. Unique educational programming, includes an online MA in Global Security, with concentrations in cybersecurity and irregular warfare, as well as a certificate in competitive statecraft. FSI engages diverse audiences through public forums, live-streamed discussions, podcasts, and publications. 
• Leadership, Diplomacy, and National Security Lab: The LDNS Lab promotes character-based leadership, diplomacy, and national security education across university activities. Based in DC and led by diplomatic and national security professionals, The Lab dedicates itself to learner-centered solutions, such as the MA in International Affairs and Leadership and the Policy Design Studio and Internship Program, and thought leadership, including the Flag Officer Advisory Council. 
• Global Security Initiative: With more than $30M of DOD-funded research annually, the Global Security Initiative (GSI) produces mission-relevant approaches and decision support tools to address some of the world’s most vexing and complicated security challenges, including in disinformation, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies. 
• Security & Defense PLuS: The PLuS Alliance is a longstanding partnership between ASU, King’s College London, and the University of New South Wales—three world-class research universities on three continents providing support and innovation to help solve global challenges. S&D+ expands upon this partnership to help advance and support statecraft, research, and policy in the spirit of the AUKUS partnership 

Relevant Research Initiatives

• Center on Narrative, Disinformation, and Strategic Influence: Fuses humanities and social science research with state-of-the-art computer science and modeling to better understand how people make sense of the world around them, and thereby support efforts to safeguard the United States, its allies, and democratic principles against malign influence campaigns. 
• Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict: Advances multidisciplinary research and education on the religious dynamics of conflict and peace. By fostering exchange and collaboration, the Center creates networks—local, national, and global—that expand knowledge, deepen understanding, and promote wiser, more effective responses to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. 
• Future of Proxy Warfare: Explores the impact of proxy warfare on contemporary conflicts and how globalization, technological innovation, weapons of mass destruction, and the emergence of transnational non-state actors have reshaped our understanding of proxy warfare in Syria, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, among others. A joint project of New America’s International Security program and ASU’s Future Security Initiative. 
• Weaponized Narrative Initiative: Examines the use of narratives to assert dominance by one group over another, highlighting how emerging technologies such as the internet, artificial intelligence, bots, and malware enable strategies that build on conditions of uncertainty and mistrust, illustrating a new vision of conflict. 
• Zomia Center: Conducts rigorous research of non-state spaces for scholarly and humanitarian pursuits. Zomia’s researchers are actively engaged in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Afghanistan. Supported by the Future Security Initiative and New America. 
• DOD-Bilateral Academic Research Initiative (BARI) project – New Era Political Warfare: Aims to develop a new dataset to enhance understanding of how key strategic adversaries, including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, engage in political warfare, influence campaigns, and operations below the threshold of armed conflict to advance their regimes’ interests.