Guests Robert Burrell and John Collison join Dave Brown to discuss this comprehensive volume which provides the first canon for SOF, interagency, and conventional forces to understand irregular warfare, and the emerging areas of Resilience and Resistance within international competition, and deterrence. The book highlights the asymmetric strategies of adversaries to subvert the international order, including the malign activities of the CCP, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and violent extremist organizations, (and includes case studies on Cuba, Laos, Tibet, and Colombia).

Guests:

Robert S. Burrell, Ph.D. is a resilience and resistance interdisciplinary scholar using data-driven and human-centric methodologies to analyze intrastate conflict ranging from nonviolent protest through belligerency. His methodological frameworks can be found in his new book Resilience and Resistance. He also serves as a 2025 fellow for the Irregular Warfare Initiative. He currently works as Senior Research Fellow with the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida. He has a PhD in history from the University of Warwick and master’s degrees from San Diego State University and the U.S. Naval War College.

John Collison is a Core One contractor supporting Special Operations concept development. John is a retired Army Lieutenant-Colonel with over 26 years of active-duty service in the Civil Affairs and Infantry career fields. He served on the USSOCOM Staff, the Army Staff and held various assignments in both Civil Affairs and Infantry units as an Operations Officer, Executive Office, Company Commander and Platoon leader. John’s overseas assignments and deployments include Cambodia, Egypt, Honduras, Bosnia, Iraq, and Alaska.

Articles/References:

1. Resilience and Resistance: Interdisciplinary Lessons in Competition, Deterrence, and Irregular Warfare, JSOU Press, July 2025
2. Authored by: Robert S. Burrell, John Collison, A. Jackson, David Oakley, Brian Petit, Chris Mason, John H. Mongan, David DiOrio, Thomas A. Marks, Aaron Baty, Gabriele Pierini, Christopher Marsh, David Maxwell, Namrata Goswami
3. Edited by: Robert S. Burrell

Guests Michelle Bockmann, John Driscoll, and Tomer Raanan join Dave Brown to discuss the so-called ‘shadow fleet’, describing the large, and growing unregulated network of aging oil tankers and cargo ships, (often older than 15 years), that use deceptive practices like turning off maritime tracking systems, faking identities (false flags/names), and using shell companies to operate outside international sanctions, primarily to transport sanctioned oil (like Russian or Iranian) or conduct other illicit trade, while also posing potential major environmental and safety risks due to lack of proper insurance and oversight.

Guests:

Michelle Wiese Bockmann is a Senior Maritime Intelligence Analyst for Windward and London-based energy commodities writer specializing in sanctioned oil flows and the ‘shadow fleet’, (deceptive and illicit shipping practices, and their regulatory, security and legal implications). Bockmann has more than 25 years’ experience across three continents in shipping and oil markets with a focus on the intersection of global shipping and geopolitics, maritime intelligence, and risk & compliance. Michelle has also worked as a journalist and political writer for The Australian, and worked for Bloomberg News, Lloyd’s List, and Fairplay shipping publications.

John J. Driscoll is a 31-year career officer in the U.S. Coast Guard as an expert in maritime law enforcement, theater security cooperation, and maritime and defense policy. Captain Driscoll commanded five USCG Cutters, enforcing U.S. drug, immigration, and fisheries laws, as well as UN Security Council resolutions against Bosnia, Iraq, Libya, and North Korea. He served in defense policy and maritime law enforcement roles, including Chief of Drug and Migrant Interdiction at USCG Headquarters, and Director for Homeland Defense Integration in OSD Policy.

Tomer Raanan is a maritime risk analyst at Lloyd’s List, where his reporting explores how geopolitics and regulation shape seaborne commerce, and how deceptive and high-risk practices are used to evade sanctions and facilitate illicit trade. In 2024, Tomer was named ‘Multimedia Journalist of the Year’ by the Seahorse Freight Association for uncovering a sanctions-skirting LPG shipping network. Before joining Lloyd’s List in 2022 as senior reporter, he worked for a decade in private security.

Articles:

1. Shadow Fleet: How illicit shipping networks broke global oil trade, S&P Global Energy, YouTube, 22 Sep 2025
2. Swedish Navy Finds Russian Military Personnel Aboard “Shadow Fleet” Tankers, Sania Kozatskyi, Militarnyi, 16 Dec 2025
3. EU targets Russia’s shadow fleet with new sanctions, hitting businessmen and companies, AP News, 15 Dec 2025
4. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine: Council sanctions 9 shadow fleet enablers, Press Release,...

Guest Craig Whiteside and co-host Tim Hoyt join Dave Brown to discuss a recent book on Special Operations capabilities being developed by violent non-state actors, including various militants, mercenaries, and even criminal organizations. Join us for this discussion on the growing and emerging capabilities of the dark side of international security, as we examine the recent book, Non-State Special Operations: Capabilities and Effects, by Craig Whiteside and Ian Rice.

Article:

Non-state Special Operations - Capabilities and Effects, Ian Rice & Craig Whiteside, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2026 - (ISBN 9781032594514)

Guests:

Timothy D. Hoyt, Ph.D. is a Senior Professor at the U.S. Naval War College’s Strategy and Policy Department. Professor Hoyt holds the John Nicholas Brown Chair of Counterterrorism and Academic Director of the Advanced Strategist Program. Publications include articles on the war on terrorism in South Asia, the limits of military force in the global war on terrorism, military innovation and warfare in the developing world, and the impact of nuclear weapons on recent crises in South Asia. He is currently working on a book on American military strategy in the 21st Century, and a study of the strategy of the Irish Republican Army from 1913-2005.

Craig Whiteside is a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College resident program at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, where he teaches military officers as part of their professional military education. He is a senior associate with the Center on Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, and a fellow at the International Centre for Counter-terrorism – The Hague and George Washington's Program on Extremism. Whiteside’s current research focuses on the doctrinal influences on the leadership of the so-called Islamic State movement and its evolving strategies. He is the co-author of The ISIS Reader: Milestone Texts of the Islamic State Movement (2020). He has a PhD in Political Science from Washington State University and a former U.S. Army officer with combat experience.