iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

David Ucko @ucko.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

Drawing on his experience with FARC, David Spencer has penned a superb review of my book 'The Insurgent's Dilemma', exploring the innovations in insurgent strategy and response options that the book covers. Many thanks. digitalcommons.ndu.edu/cgi/viewcont... @hurstpublishers.bsky.social

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David Ucko @ucko.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

NOW OUT: A Framework for Countering Organized Crime: Strategy, Planning, and the Lessons of Irregular Warfare, by David H. Ucko and Thomas A Marks (NDU Press). Available in full at: ndupress.ndu.edu/Media/News/N...

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David Ucko @ucko.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

يا للروعة I’m now available in Arabic, thanks to the Saudi National Defense University. They have translated our “Crafting Strategy for Irregular Warfare: A Framework for Analysis and Action” (w/ Tom Marks, NDU Press)! I’m hopeful this will further extend the impact of this practioner’s toolkit.

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David Ucko @ucko.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Glad to announce that my latest work, “A Framework for Countering Organized Crime: Strategy, Planning and the Lessons of Irregular Warfare,” now has a cover. Co-authored with Tom Marks, it presents organized crime as an IW problem and proposes a framework to help with analysis and response.

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David Ucko @ucko.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Insightful book review of my “The Insurgent’s Dilemma” by Maj. Travis Peet for the Australian Army Research Centre. Captures the state equivalents of the non-state strategies I explore—a key area of convergence. Many thanks. researchcentre.army.gov.au/library/aust... @hurstpublishers.bsky.social

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David Ucko @ucko.bsky.social · 05/11/2024

Tom Marks and I on how ‘irregular warfare’ stayed relevant in a post-Afghanistan era of inter-state competition. Answer: it was redefined. That works, as America’s rivals do mirror the irregular strategies of non-state groups, but it also risks losing IW’s meaning and lessons. lnkd.in/ebf5zMWF

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David Ucko @ucko.bsky.social · 03/07/2024

I enjoyed reviewing John Olsen's edited "Routledge Handbook of NATO" for the @rusi.bsky.social Journal. It's an excellent resource on the Alliance, now celebrating its 75th anniversary in DC (where the treaty was signed). Timely reading ahead of the summit... www.tandfonline.com/eprint/J9IKA...

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David Ucko @ucko.bsky.social · 12/03/2024

Two reviews of "The Insurgent's Dilemma" in one week—and both positive! This one by @shubhakprasad.bsky.social is extremely well written. It perfectly captures the book's argument about the future of insurgency and of violent contestation. Many thanks! www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianou...

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David Ucko @ucko.bsky.social · 11/03/2024

Great to review the latest book of my former PhD supervisor and boss, not least because Mats Berdal's work is always so insightful. Here, in RUSI Journal, is my take on his "The Political Economy of Civil War and UN Peace Operations," co-edited with Jake Sherman. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

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David Ucko @ucko.bsky.social · 23/02/2024

"David Ucko’s, The Insurgent’s Dilemma, is a captivating book that is a must-read for national security professionals, PME professors, and those interested in the future of insurgency"—and that's just the first sentence! (lnkd.in/ePwFGj6v). Many thanks, @dpoakley.bsky.social, for great review.

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David Ucko @ucko.bsky.social · 17/02/2024

Engaging critique of "non-state governance" as "conceptually, empirically, and normatively unattractive"—implies false dichotomy btw state/non-state, is in fact exceedingly rare & gives no clue as to its desirability. Below intro also great (by Ralf Michaels) scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcont...

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David Ucko @ucko.bsky.social · 14/02/2024

I really enjoyed this conversation. Though we didn’t always agree, I learned something new. On #irregularwarfare, words really do matter—and how we define them determines how we operate. Thanks, Dave Brown, CIWAG, and Naval War College for the opportunity. open.spotify.com/episode/4b39...

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David Ucko @ucko.bsky.social · 14/02/2024

Invited by GEN Luis Córdoba, now commander of Colombia’s air force but, in 2011, my thesis student at @NDU_CISA, I spent the week in Bogota talking w/ #Colombia’s general staff, future leaders, Defense Minister, head of armed forces, and service chiefs. Great trip and dialogue.

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David Ucko @ucko.bsky.social · 13/02/2024

“Educate as You Operate: Developing National Security Practitioners for Strategic Competition” (by David Oakley & me). It argues for broadening of PME to interagency, a fusing of military and political curricula, and a sharp focus on skills-building. www.usf.edu/gnsi/publica...

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