The return of the mercenary points not just to the transformation of warfare but to a shift away from the Westphalian state-based sovereignty regime. Low intensity in terms of political impact to Western powers but high intensity in terms of indirect and direct costs to human life, there are increasing numbers of forever wars that continue to rage across the world: Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Libya, and more. Recent history has been largely defined by conflicts that do not fit the traditional model of interstate warfare; clashes between conventional armies are rare. Instead, what predominates is usually referred to as unconventional warfare, those activities, as the U.S. military defines them, “conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt, or overthrow a government or occupying power by operating through or with an underground, auxiliary, and guerrilla force in a denied area.”