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Karen National Union (KNU) Case Study
Contributor MOE GYO Moe Gyo is a writer and consultant working with ethnic organizations in Myanmar. Writing from the Thai–Myanmar borderlands, he draws on years of direct engagement with communities shaped by conflict and disrupted health systems. His work captures firsthand how resilience and informal support networks develop under prolonged irregular warfare. His writing has
State-Insurgent Strategic Competition Part III
Contributor Moe Gyo Moe Gyo is a writer and consultant working with ethnic organizations in Myanmar. Writing from the Thai–Myanmar borderlands, he draws on years of direct engagement with communities shaped by conflict and disrupted health systems. His work captures firsthand how resilience and informal support networks develop under prolonged irregular warfare. His writing has
State—Insurgent Strategic Competition for Governance: PART II: The Market Forces of War
Contributor Moe Gyo Moe Gyo is a writer and consultant working with ethnic organizations in Myanmar. Writing from the Thai–Myanmar borderlands, he draws on years of direct engagement with communities shaped by conflict and disrupted health systems. His work captures firsthand how resilience and informal support networks develop under prolonged irregular warfare. His writing has
A Failed Coup in Guinea-Bissau
Overview of the Events In late 2025, elements linked to the security services in Guinea-Bissau attempted to seize control of key state facilities in the capital, Bissau. The episode unfolded over a short time window and did not escalate into sustained fighting. Loyal units retained control of core government sites, and the attempt collapsed before
Venezuela Contingency Operation: Resistance Potential and Irregular Warfare Risk
Update (January 2026): In a major escalation of U.S.–Venezuelan tensions, U.S. special operations forces conducted a surprise military operation in early January 2026 that resulted in the capture and removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from Caracas; both were transported to New York to face federal narco-terrorism charges. Maduro’s departure has created
The Knights Dilemma: Evolution of Elite Warfare
On October 25, 1415, in a muddy French field, the age of the knight began to die. The Battle of Agincourt was a collision of peak military capability, the feudal knight, and the battlefield introduction of cheap massed fires from the British longbow. Thousands of armored nobles, bound by centuries of skill, ritual, and pride,
China’s Fishing Flotillas as Paramilitary Economic Warfare
In the darkness of the eastern Pacific, a floating city of light drifts beyond Ecuador’s territorial waters. Hundreds of Chinese fishing vessels illuminate the horizon, their floodlights cutting through the night while satellite transponders flicker off one by one. To the untrained eye, this looks like ordinary commerce. To regional navies and maritime analysts, it
What Large States Can Learn from Small States’ Total Defense Strategies
When Size Stops Being an Advantage Large nations often assume that sheer volume ensures survival. They trust in their populations, economies, and geographic depth to absorb shocks. Yet the last decade has demonstrated that abundance can conceal fragility. Critical systems fail not from external invasion but from slow corrosion of coordination and trust. Small states