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Foreword by Joseph M. Humire Turn on the news any day of the week and you will see endless crime and violence by gangs, cartels, terrorists, insurgents, and other armed non- state actors in close to every corner of the world. Wars and civil conflicts are raging in Syria, Venezuela, Congo, Yemen, Myanmar, South Sudan, and more, while the United States is increasingly stretched thin in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to the UN Refugee Agency, there are more refugees today than after World War II, yet no nation is in a declared con- ventional war with another nation-state. Wars and conflict continue to be a growing phenomenon, but today’s wars are not like those of earlier generations. The strength of an adversary no longer lies in its military capability, and the root cause of most asym- metric threats rests in malgovernance and failed institutions within soci- ety. This lesson is a central point in the writings and teachings of Dr. Max Manwaring, who is a leading authority on irregular warfare. Whether you call modern-day conflicts asymmetric, unconventional, irregular, or as General John Galvin coined in his 1986 classic Uncomfort- able Wars: Towards a New Paradigm—today’s battlefield looks less like Nor- mandy and more like Mogadishu. Unless we change our thinking on how to approach modern warfare, our fate is to endure the perils of never- ending small wars that ultimately drain our blood and treasure.