The world has entered an era where competition is increasingly shaped by tools and tactics that fall outside traditional conflict. Economic pressure, legal maneuvering, regulatory manipulation, and other unconventional methods are becoming central features of strategic rivalry and irregular warfare. Yet as these challenges grow, the gap in understanding - and preparing for - irregular forms of competition is widening faster than most institutions can keep pace.

Our project was created to fill that gap.

As a new Focus Area, the **Irregular Warfare Initiative: Economic & Legal Warfare Project** is dedicated to examining, explaining, and advancing understanding of these evolving forms of unconventional statecraft. We focus specifically on the economic and legal dimensions; Areas that are critically important but often overlooked or misunderstood within the broader security conversation.

Your support will directly help us:

- **Conduct foundational research** that clarifies how economic and legal tools are being used in irregular ways in today's competitive environment.
- **Develop practical insights and frameworks** that decision-makers, practitioners, and analysts, can use to navigate those emerging challenges.
- **Bring together leading thinkers and rising experts** to share perspectives and create new approaches where none currently exist.
- **Build a hub for knowledge and collaboration** in a field where the need is growing, but dedicated resources remain scarce.

As a new focus area within IWI, every contribution has a meaningful impact. Your support helps us take the lead in building the understanding, expertise, and strategic thinking required to navigate an increasingly irregular world.

Thank you for helping us shape this essential work.

Advancing the Economic & Legal Warfare Project

IWI is an all volunteer organization that provides resources for the community of IW practitioners, researchers, and policymakers.

IWI's mission is to support the community of irregular warfare professionals by providing a forum to cultivate the incorporation of irregular warfare competencies in the context of modern national security strategy. Capitalizing on its sponsorship by the Modern War Institute at West Point and the Empirical Studies of Conflict Project, IWI is a collaborative space to engage in professional and public discourse structured around three key pillars:

1. Content production. IWI produces both biweekly podcasts and written content. This content is designed to marry practitioner perspectives with scholarly research to contribute to substantive dialogue on topics relevant to irregular warfare.

2. Engagements. IWI engagement includes an annual conference held in conjunction with the Empirical Studies of Conflict Project annual meeting. The conference format facilitates further collaboration through interactive panels and presentations.

3. Fellows program. IWI fellows will include representation from across the community of interest. The fellows program provides a venue for scholars and practitioners to study and debate irregular warfare topics under the sponsorship of the Modern War Institute and the Empirical Studies of Conflict Project.

As the US Department of Defense shifts focus to great power competition, IWI contributes to efforts to synthesize and archive the historical legacy of post-9/11 irregular warfare competencies with the requirements for competition and conflict anticipated over the next few decades. Moreover, it provides an opportunity to characterize the actions of the pacing threats facing the United States and its allies—threats that are increasingly employing novel approaches that push the boundaries of strategic competition in nontraditional spaces. IWI thus offers a platform that is credible, accessible, and interactive, facilitating a more comprehensive understanding of the modern national security environment and opportunities for more productive engagement in this space.

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Advancing the Economic & Legal Warfare Project

Irregular Warfare Initiative

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Irregular Warfare Initiative