Small Wars Journal

Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. Philippine defense chief slams China over audience note on South China Sea at Seoul forum 2. The Invisible Campaign Against America’s AI Data Centers 3. Cognitive Warfare Runs on Data: The Definition Washington Still Owes 4. The Improviser’s War: How Mao Zedong Actually Won 5. America is still fighting the wrong war Russia and China are the real threats by Robert Kaplan 6.

The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) required the Department of War to define cognitive warfare by March 31, 2026. The deadline passed with no public definition of any kind, even as officials warn that China and Iran are already targeting entire populations with tailored disinformation and influence campaigns. Cognitive warfare runs on data.

In December 1936, Mao Zedong wrote that war, “this monster of mutual slaughter among men,” would eventually be eliminated by the progress of human society. It is a strange line for a man now remembered as one of the twentieth century’s most gifted strategists: a promise of peace built entirely out of violence, offered by a leader who spent the next thirteen years proving he had no intention of putting the monster down.

Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. Not stopping 9/11 was catastrophic but bigger mistakes came later 2. The Untold Pre-History of 9/11 3. How the Unity of 9/11 Sowed the Seeds of America’s Deep Political Division 4. The Rise and Fall of Global Jihadism: How America Contained—but Didn’t End—the Terrorist Threat 5. Why America Can’t Strangle Iran: The Sources of Tehran’s Economic Resilience 6.

Curated news, analysis, and commentary on special operations, intelligence, irregular warfare, national defense, and global conflicts. Photo: A Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom crew chief assigned to Littoral Combat Force-24 fires an M134 minigun during a maritime interdiction operation while underway in the Pacific Ocean, Sept. 2, 2026. The vessel of interest was boarded and cleared before being destroyed.

Waging modern war requires assured access to strategic minerals and the ability to process them into products that can readily enter the supply chain. Nations planning for future conflict can defeat rivals by preventing them from accessing ready sources of minerals, employing trade bans on vital minerals and metals, and through dominating refining processes. When supply chains are broken, munitions depth is a challenge.

The first two decades of the 21st century may be remembered as the golden age of expensive drones. The reason is uncomplicated: they were largely flown against enemies with limited or no air defenses. But what happens when the enemy can defend? This question has been raised in Ukraine, as well as in Yemen and Iran. When faced with non-permissive environments, expensive drones face challenging cost-survivability problems.

A car bomb (coche bomba, carro bomba) was detonated outside the Comandancia (municipal police headquarters) in Ojocaliente, Zacatecas, MX on Sunday, 30 August 2026. Mexican security officials, including Zacatecas Governor David Monreal and Omar García Harfuch, head of the federal secretariat of security and citizen protection (Secretaría de Seguridad y Protección Ciudadana – SSPC), link the attack to retaliation for arrests of cartel members.

Ecuador and the United States growing relationship In recent months, increased attention has been directed toward the United States’ expanding activity across Latin America. The Trump administration has launched numerous strikes in amongst its broader efforts to combat international cartels, while simultaneously designating select cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO’s) . Ecuador has become an integral part of Trump’s ongoing regional strategy.

Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. A CNN journalist spent years reporting on al-Qaeda. Now he’s handing over a massive archive. 2. Upset About Data Centers? Big Tech and Trump Think You’re a Socialist Dupe 3. Heading to America to bridge the gap in US-China relations 4. The Emerging U.S.-China Détente 5. Opinion | AI doomers can’t have it both ways 6. Taiwan region must understand signals from the China-US theater commanders’ meeting: Hai Feng 7.