Technology has been the great equalizer for these types of things. It has given nations that don't have the technology or means to deliver conventional types of weaponry a means to level the playing field. These things have been going on for years, but the smaller nations never had a way to do the types of destabilizing acts that normal, and even the standard level of unconventional warfare could accomplish. It's not like Lebanon is going to crank up their navy and pull up to our shores and drop off 10,000 screaming Marines, same for Iran. With the internet and technology, they no longer need a military capable of invading the U.S., they just need a warehouse full of tech savvy people who can spend all day hacking into our systems. Add in the larger powers of the world as their sponsors and enablers, and now the power of the smaller nations is increased expontentially through an internet connection. No large intercontinental missile. No large global bombers. A piece of cable and a PC. And the desire. A State sponsor only works to magnify those efforts, and the damage they are able to do.
Of course, when we have our assets in their part of the world, they can still use insurgencies, asymetric warfare, and their power over the local population to stymie our efforts. The basics of fear, intimidation and radicalization of the local populace work against our efforts the same as they have for the last 60 years (ie: the Viet Cong, ISIS, Al Qaeda, PLO, HAMAS, and various others).
Add these two together, and now we're not just fighting them on their turf, but here as well. Without the technological benefits, they would not be able to as easily advertise their propaganda through social media and sway public opinion here. They would not be able to increase their ability to hack into our election system. They would not be able to easily subvert our information systems and financial systems (ie: credit reporting agencies).
These are all activities that don't challenge us in the stereotypical frontal military attack. Challenging us in that fashion doesn't work well for them, and would be very costly.
There's my 18 cents
