Irregular warfare threats during multi-domain operations in the Indo-Pacific region topic of latest CASO Panel

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kansas - The U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Cultural and Area Studies Office hosted the second panel of the academic year to discuss irregular warfare threats during multi-domain operations in the Indo-Pacific Dec. 15, 2025.

"Irregular warfare has proven a critical aspect of the United States security policy across a wide variety of conflicts and war," Col. Ethan Diven, commandant, CGSC, stated during opening remarks.

Moderator and CASO Director, Dr. Mahir Ibrahimov shared a graphic outlining the complexity of military strategy that integrates space, cyberspace, and special operations forces to enhance deterrence and operational effectiveness before turning the discussion to the panelists.

Panelists were faculty members of CGSC who shared their multi-faceted research on IW and discussed military strategy implications.

This panel is part of a seminar series discussing issues of operational and strategic importance to the U.S., which CASO conducts regularly in coordination with CGSC, universities, think tanks, interagency and other partners.

Dr. Dan Cox and Dr. Luke Herrington, School of Advanced Military Studies, CGSC, presented their research on the social media platform TikTok as a potential current and future weapon.

"We quickly discovered that Chinese cognitive warfare was a problem far greater than a single social media platform. We assert that China is offering the United States two forms of warfare, one kinetic and the other cognitive," Cox stated.

Evidence of intentionality was found around data harvesting, data privacy, and as a weapon of mass distraction that can be used for domestic social control and global information operations.

Dr. Herrington highlighted the variety of data TikTok has been known to access including SIM card content, tax and social security information, and biometric data.

While western social platforms also practice surveillance capitalism, Herrington explained that U.S. adversaries have weaponized this TikTok data, including virtually stalking reporters to identify sources who had spoken critically of the company.

"We know that it has already been used in Chinese multi-domain operations. In particular while the People's Liberation Army Navy was engaged in kinetic activities off the coast of Taiwan, TikTok was being used to pepper the island with propaganda about the operation at the same time," Herrington explained.

Cox described additional shopping, gaming, and artificial intelligence apps that have aggressive malware, access to sensitive user information, or feed the user propaganda.

Poison the well operations, such as China's Operation Shadow Play that occurred on YouTube in 2022/23, make legitimate information hard to find, promote pro-Chinese and anti-American narratives on many political topics.

Mr. Joseph Donalbain, instructor, Department of Joint, Interagency, and Multinational Operations, CGSC, presented a case study of IW tactics used by North Korea during the Korean Demilitarized Zone conflict and the conditions that enabled their effectiveness.

"Irregular warfare seeks to disrupt, degrade, or discredit an adversary and sew discord among allies," Donalbain explained.

Tactics used by North Korea, including an assassination attempt on the South Korean president at the executive mansion and seaborne attacks on the border, were effective in causing panic in the population and mistrust of the government's ability to protect them.

Donalbain warned of conditions today that could enable success of similar tactics with potential outcomes, which was underscored by fellow DJIMO instructor Lt. Col. J. Thompson.

Thompson spoke to IW basics such as planning and execution as laid out in a book chapter, he co-authored with Maj. John Wirge titled, "Irregular Warfare within Multi-Domain Operations: Focusing on the Fundamentals."

"IW is not separate or a secondary effort, it is a critical component especially during the competition and crisis phase aspects of the continuum that may precede or accompany open conflict," Thompson explained.

The war in Ukraine provides examples of the spectrum of activities found in IW, including civil military operations, information warfare, and proxy actions which shape the battlespace as much as conventional maneuver.

Thompson and Wirge's chapter will be part of a larger anthology.

The anthology is the third of its kind sponsored by CASO in support of U.S. national security and senior leadership's priorities.

The full panel can be viewed on the CGSC YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbLdSL03Jak.