School of War

Tom Karako, Senior Fellow and Director of the Missile Defense Project at CSIS, joins the show to discuss what President Trump’s executive order on missile defense portends. ▪️ Times      •      01:15 Introduction     •      02:08 Dawn of missile defense      •     05:50 Ups and downs     •      10:40 Arguments against      •      14:50 Capabilities       •      18:45 A layered defense     •      2...

Eric Chewning and Thomas Moore of HII join the show to discuss America’s military shipbuilding challenges, and their potential solutions. ▪️ Times      •      01:32 Introduction     •      01:55 Origins      •     07:08 An eroded defense industrial base      •      10:20 Shipbuilding in 2025       •      17:11 Deindustrialization       •      21:46 Learning curves     •      27:00 Contract economi...

Diana Mara Henry and Gabe Scheinmann join the show to discuss the new book I Am André: German Jew, French Resistance Fighter, British Spy, which charts the astonishing, brave, and tragic World War II career of ‘André’ Joseph Scheinmann. ▪️ Times      •      01:50 Introduction     •      03:01 The story of a fighter      •     09:26 Born in Munich        •      11:87 Citizen without a country      ...

Evan Mawdsley, Honorary Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow and author of Supremacy at Sea: Task Force 58 and the Central Pacific Victory, joins the show to discuss the successful 1944 U.S. naval campaign through the Central Pacific in World War II. ▪️ Times      •      01:36 Introduction     •      02:27 The Central Pacific      •      11:15 Carrier air power      •     14:3...

Dmitry Filipoff, associate research analyst at the Center for Navy Analyses, joins the show to discuss the U.S. Navy surface component and the grave challenges it faces. ▪️ Times      •      01:19 Introduction     •      02:09 Lessons from the Red Sea      •      06:35 Friendly fire       •      10:55 Depletion        •      13:45 2027       •      18:07 How do fleets fight?      •      21:47 Scop...

Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow, China Studies, at the National Bureau of Asian Research and author of Mapping China's Strategic Space, joins the show to discuss how to better understand the geopolitical premises of China’s strategic elites. ▪️ Times      •      01:36 Introduction     •      02:04 Strategic space      •      05:05 Mao’s strategic vision       •      11:12 Origin points       ...

Dan Blumenthal and Kyle Balzer, co-authors of The True Aims of China’s Nuclear Buildup for Foreign Affairs, join the show to discuss the geopolitical implications of China’s increasing and diversifying nuclear arsenal.  ▪️ Times      •      01:24 Introduction     •      02:40 China’s buildup      •      05:05 American perception       •     07:28 What is nuclear strategy?        •      11:49 Geopo...

Rachel Kousser, professor of Classics and Art History at the City University of New York and author of Alexander at the End of the World, joins the show to talk about the violent, brilliant, complex career of Alexander the Great. ▪️ Times      •      01:27 Introduction     •      01:59 Early years and conquest     •      05:45 Pragmatic opportunist       •     09:20 Persepolis burning        •    ...

Shyam Sankar, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Palantir Technologies, joins the show to explain the broken Defense Department acquisition process and how he believes it can be fixed. ▪️ Times      •      01:24 Introduction     •      01:39 Employee #13      •      03:14 Palantir      •      06:22 Monopsony       •      11:18 Messy and chaotic      •      14:40 Dual purpose...

Mark Dubowitz, chief executive officer of Foundation for Defense of Democracies, joins the show to break down the collapse of the Assad regime and the implications for Israel, Turkey, and Iran. ▪️ Times      •      01:23 Introduction     •      02:49 What happened?       •      05:04 Rebels      •     08:17 Risk assessment       •      11:30 Factions     •      17:10 Extremists and radicals      •...

Host Aaron MacLean recently embedded with the Israeli Defense Forces and saw firsthand Israel’s war with Iranian proxy groups Hezbollah and Hamas. What lessons can Americans learn from Israel’s year of fighting for its survival?  ▪️ Times    •      03:28 The North      •    04:26 Metula      •    07:45 Yishai     •    10:00 Realities and misconceptions       •    18:06 Stalemate     •    22:33 Sha...

Michael Leggiere, Professor of Humanities at the University of Florida and editor of War Studies Journal 1, joins the show to discuss the sad state of military history in higher education. ▪️ Times      •      01:17 Introduction      •      02:48 Military history in academia      •      03:53 PME      •     05:22 What is “new” military history?       •      11:55 “History shouldn’t be a mystery”  ...

Mackenzie Eaglen, senior fellow at AEI and author of Keeping Up with the Pacing Threat: Unveiling the True Size of Beijing’s Military Spending, joins the show to discuss the dire situation the U.S. defense budget is in.  ▪️ Times      •      01:22 Introduction      •      02:48 Keeping up      •      05:26 China’s spending      •     10:01 Equipment costs       •      13:46 “Stealing our stuff”   ...

Thomas Barfield, Professor and Chairman of the Anthropology Department at Boston University and author of Shadow Empires: An Alternative Imperial History, joins the show to discuss empire.   ▪️ Times      •      01:15 Introduction      •      03:20 Understanding Afghanistan      •      05:15 Classifying empires      •     09:59 Failures and features       •      12:24 Borders     •      15:30 Exog...

Rebeccah Heinrichs, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and author of Duty to Deter: American Nuclear Deterrence and the Just War Doctrine, joins the show to make the moral argument for why the United States should modernize and grow its nuclear arsenal.  ▪️ Times      •      01:15 Introduction      •      01:48 A net good     •      04:50 Tactical nuclear weapons     •     10:25 The argument of...

Randall Schriver, Chairman of the Board at The Project 2049 Institute, and Dan Blumenthal, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, join the show to discuss a road map for economic competition—and warfare—between the U.S. and China.  ▪️ Times      •      01:55 Introduction      •      02:30 Planning for economic warfare     •      06:27 Endstate     •     10:18 Leadership     •      12:...

Watch this episode on YouTube. Frank Cohn joins the show to talk about his life: fleeing Hitler’s Germany, his return as a U.S. soldier tasked with hunting Nazi’s, his service in Vietnam, and more. ▪️ Times      •      01:55 Introduction      •      02:15 A Nazi in the classroom     •      05:47 Martin and Ruth     •     17:35 Leaving Germany     •      19:22 New York City     •      22:50 Pearl H...

Nicholas Eberstadt, Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute, joins the show to discuss the North Korean regime and the geopolitical impact of its decision to send troops to support Russia in Ukraine. ▪️ Times      •      01:36 Introduction      •      01:49 Finding North Korea     •      04:00 The Sung dynasty     •     09:24 Beijing and Moscow     •      14:43...

Nick Lloyd, Professor of Modern Warfare in the Defence Studies at King’s College London and author of The Eastern Front: A History of the Great War, 1914-1918, joins the show to discuss the critical role of the eastern front in World War I. ▪️ Times      •      01:43 Introduction      •      02:09 “The soul of the war”     •      04:00 Before the fighting     •     05:59 War aims     •      10:51...

Ben Noon of the Vandenberg Coalition writes about US-China rivalry and geopolitics. He joins the show to discuss the critical fight for semiconductor dominance. ▪️ Times      •      01:38 Introduction      •      02:15 Semiconductors      •      05:49 Legacy and advanced chips     •     09:47 China’s chip script     •      14:21 What’s the big deal?      •      19:20 Trade policy     •      25:11...

Scott Hartwig, author ofI Dread the Thought of the Place: The Battle of Antietam and the End of the Maryland Campaign, joins the show to discuss the single bloodiest day in American military history, the Battle of Antietam. ▪️ Times      •      01:46 Introduction      •      02:19 Why Antietam?     •      09:09 Sourcing history     •     12:45 Limited to total war     •      21:24 McClellan      •...

Jacqueline Deal, President and CEO of the Long Term Strategy Group and recently the author of the article Competing against Ourselves: How U.S. Policy Strengthens China, joins the show to discuss U.S.-China competition. ▪️ Times      •      01:15 Introduction      •      01:53 Net assessment     •      04:32 China’s view     •     08:20 Is entanglement the goal?     •      14:34 Changing the globa...

Nicholas Morton, Senior Lecturer in History, Nottingham Trent University and author of The Crusader States and their Neighbours: A Military History, 1099-1187, joins the show to discuss the Crusades. ▪️ Times      •      01:25 Introduction      •      02:21 What were the Crusades?     •      07:30 Franks and Turks     •     09:57 Combat     •      14:01 50/50     •      19:48 Sieges     •      23:...

Katherine Kuzminski, Director of the Military, Veterans, and Society Program at CNAS, joins the show to discuss recruiting and mass mobilization in the event of war. ▪️ Times      •      01:33 Introduction      •      02:08 Why worry about mobilization?     •      03:54 Meeting the threshold      •     06:58 Low yield     •      11:37 A loss of identity     •      15:42 Aging up     •      21:38 T...

Mark Dubowitz, chief executive of Foundation for Defense of Democracies, joins the show to help us understand breaking developments in the war between Israel, Iran, and Iran’s regional proxies. ▪️ Times      •      01:41 Introduction      •      02:24 Iran’s missile attack     •      03:56 Iranian intentions     •     06:34 Options     •      11:27 Iranian concerns     •      14:59 Ring of fire   ...