TAMPA, Fla. - The landscape of global conflict is shifting toward unconventional and hybrid strategies, a reality that took center stage at the 14th Annual Special Operations Forces and Irregular Warfare (SOF & IW) Symposium in Tampa, Fla., December 10-11, 2025. Hosted by the Defense Strategies Institute (DSI), this year’s symposium focused on the strategic challenges facing the SOF enterprise through 2025 and beyond.
While the symposium gathered a broad spectrum of senior leaders from United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), international partners, and industry innovators, the Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) emerged as an intellectual driver of the irregular warfare (IW) conversation.
The presence of three key IWC representatives Chris Burns, (Ctr.) Senior Advisor for Irregular Warfare, Tom Searle, Deputy Regional Advisor, (Ctr) CENTCOM and SOUTHCOM, and Josh Hastey, (Ctr) Deputy Regional Advisor, INDOPACOM served as a force multiplier for the Center’s mission. Their participation as keynote speakers and panelists solidified the IWC’s reputation as the central “shaping force” within the Irregular Warfare community of interest.
The IWC’s contributions spanned the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of IW with Burns delivering a forward-looking address titled “Leveraging SOF Expertise for the Development of the Next-Gen Warfighter,” focusing on how elite experience must inform the training of tomorrow’s forces.
Searle challenged the prevailing “glass-half-empty” view of American competition with his afternoon address, “The US is Winning in IW: Now What?”
“Most articles about Russian, Iranian, and Chinese IW emphasize the threat and suggest that we should imitate them.” said Searle. “I wanted to point out that adversary IW efforts are going badly. For example, Iran built proxies to deter attacks on Iran but instead, the proxies started wars that dragged Iran into direct conflict with Israel and the U.S. I wanted the audience to recognize and learn from adversary mistakes instead of imitating bad adversary strategies.”
IW is a global playing field and Hastey provided a granular look at strategic competition during the “IW in the Indo-Pacific” panel. Alongside other IW experts, Hastey utilized a case study on foreign political interference in Palau to illustrate the complexities of hybrid influence. “It was a real pleasure to share the panel with other IW experts,” said Hastey. “I think we were able to spark some fruitful discussions, and look forward to working with them again in the not too distant future.”
Beyond the panels, the IWC deepened critical international ties. Representatives engaged in high-level discussions with key members of several partner nations. These interactions highlight the IWC’s role in harmonizing IW strategies with key allies in the theaters around the world.
The 14th Annual Symposium made one thing clear: Irregular Warfare is no longer a “niche” concern, it is the primary arena of modern competition. Guiding the SOF community toward a more sophisticated understanding of IW.
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| Date Taken: | 01.16.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 01.20.2026 10:40 |
| Story ID: | 556392 |
| Location: | ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 11 |
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