School of War

Sergey Radchenko, Wilson E. Schmidt Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and author of To Run the World: The Kremlin's Cold War Bid for Global Power, joins the show to talk about the strategic aims of the U.S.S.R. during the Cold War and how the Soviets attempted to run the world. ▪️ Times      •      01:17 Introduction      •      02:32 A novel arg...

Mike Gallagher and Matt Pottinger join the show to discuss their recent Foreign Affairs essay on the need for a victory strategy in America’s cold war with China. ▪️  Times      •      01:53 Introduction      •      03:25 Meeting in Iraq     •      07:43 “There are bad guys…”     •      13:15 Why detente isn’t working       •      23:45 Real statesmanship?     •      32:12 Rearm/Reduce/Recruit    ...

Andy Lowery, CEO of EPIRUS and a retired U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander, joins the show to talk about directed energy weapons on the modern battlefield. ▪️  Times      •      01:45 Introduction      •      02:02 Before EPIRUS     •      06:29 Drones on the battlefield     •      13:30 Current countermeasures      •      19:40 An answer for autonomy     •      21:32 How does it all work?      •    ...

Iskander Rehman, Ax:son Johnson Fellow at the Johns Hopkins SAIS Kissinger Center and author of Iron Imperator: Roman Grand Strategy Under Tiberius, joins the show to talk about the military career and statecraft of Tiberius and what his career has to teach us today. ▪️  Times      •      02:32 Introduction      •      03:29 The Pentagon and Rome     •      07:29 Why Tiberius?     •      15:04 Par...

Yaroslav Trofimov, chief foreign-affairs correspondent at The Wall Street Journal and author of Our Enemies Will Vanish: The Russian Invasion and Ukraine's War of Independence, joins the show to talk about the early days of Russia’s war in Ukraine, how the battlefield has evolved, and where the war may be headed. ▪️  Times      •      01:48 Introduction      •      02:06 Growing up Ukranian     • ...

Michael Doran, Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at the Hudson Institute and co-host of the podcast Counterbalance, joins the show to talk about the Israel-Hamas war and the broader regional competition with Iran. ▪️  Times      •      02:04 Introduction      •      04:01 Is Hamas winning?     •      10:29 Fighting the clocks     •      13:10 Defeat...

Rabbi Shlomo Brody, executive director of Ematai and author of Ethics of Our Fighters: A Jewish View on War and Morality, joins the show to talk about the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas and the Jewish tradition of military ethics. ▪️  Times      •      01:28 Introduction      •      04:04 Just war     •      07:27 The Bible as a framework     •      13:34 International service      •      18...

David Stahel, associate professor of history at the University of New South Wales and author of Hitler's Panzer Generals: Guderian, Hoepner, Reinhardt and Schmidt Unguarded, joins the show to talk about Heinz Guderian, the myth and the man. ▪️  Times      •      01:38 Introduction      •      02:57 Diving into the letters     •      08:43 Debunking     •      15:30 A sinister figure       •      1...

Stephen Robinson, author of The Blind Strategist: John Boyd and the American Art of War, joins the show to talk about Boyd, the man who developed the concept of “maneuver warfare,” and what Boyd may have gotten wrong. ▪️  Times      •      01:21 Introduction      •      02:24 “A genuine polymath”     •      04:20 The OODA Loop     •      07:39 J.F.C. Fuller and B.H. Liddell Hart       •      13:28...

Eric Edelman, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and Ambassador to Turkey and Finland, joins the show to talk about how nuclear strategic thinking began and how those debates resonate today. ▪️  Times      •      01:47 Introduction      •      02:45 Oppenheimer’s Borden in reality     •      07:00 Brodie and The Absolute Power     •      11:12 Deterrence before Hiroshima      •      13:1...

Rebeccah Heinrichs, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and the director of its Keystone Defense Initiative, joins the show to talk about the state of U.S. deterrence of Russia, Iran, and China—and what Washington could be doing better. ▪️  Times      •      01:42 Introduction      •      02:18 Conventional and strategic deterrence     •      04:06 A failure of strategic deterrence     •      09...

Paul Scharre, Executive Vice President and Director of Studies at CNAS and author of Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, joins the show to talk about how AI will change the battlefield. ▪️  Times      •      01:38 Introduction      •      01:54 Becoming a Ranger     •      03:48 A defining moment      •      07:25 A historical parallel for AI     •      11:16 Hardware ...

Prit Buttar, historian and author of To Besiege a City: Leningrad 1941–42, joins the show to talk about the siege of Leningrad and about the nature of war on the Eastern Front.  ▪️  Times      •      01:56 Introduction      •      02:10 A familiar story     •      06:09 Themes of the Eastern Front      •      13:19 From Tsar to Stalin to Putin     •      11:10 Barbarosa      •      19:45 An immens...

Thomas Mahnken, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, joins the show to talk about net assessment and the future of war. ▪️  Times      •      01:39 Introduction      •      02:02 An interesting journey     •      03:33 The Office of Net Assessment      •      09:49 A tool, not a solution      •      13:19 Both quantity and quality matter     ...

John Noonan, senior advisor at POLARIS National Security, joins the show to talk about all things nuclear; the life of a missileer, the current U.S. arsenal and its production problems, the strategy of deterrence, and how Congressional oversight helps/hinders good government.  ▪️  Times      •      01:34 Introduction      •      02:04 VMI and the Air Force     •      05:13 Missileers      •      1...

Donald L. Miller, historian and author of Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany, the book behind Apple TV+’s Masters of the Air, joins the show to talk about the air war over Europe during WWII. ▪️  Times      •      01 :41 Introduction      •      02:12 Growing up “surrounded by the war”     •      15:35 Both sides are losing      •      25:23 Highe...

John Orloff, creator, writer and co-executive producer of Apple TV+’s Masters of the Air, joins Aaron to talk about the new show highlighting the WWII experiences of the men of the 100th Bomb Group, a part of the 8th Air Force’s strategic bombing campaign over Europe. Masters of the Air streams January 26th only on Apple TV+. ▪️ Times    02:25 Introduction    03:00 Getting started   05:45 Band of...

John McManus, author of To the End of the Earth: The US Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945 and host of the We Have Ways of Making You Talk in the USA podcast, joins the show to talk about why the U.S. Army’s war in the Pacific during WWII merit deeper study and recognition. ▪️ Times      •   02:12 Introduction      •   03:57 Lessons to be learned     •   05:32 The Army from Pearl to Tokyo      •...

Dmitry Filipoff, head of online content at the Center for International Maritime Security, joins the show to talk about modern naval tactics and the readiness of the U.S. Navy for a surface engagement with the PLA Navy. ▪️ Times      •    01:26 Introduction      •    02:48 Evolution in naval warfare     •    05:46 Historical comps      •    08:01 Lessons from the Red Sea     •    09:37 Anti-ship m...

Peter Feaver, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Duke University and author of Thanks For Your Service: The Causes and Consequences of Public Confidence in the US Military, joins the show to talk about the state of civil-military relations in America, and to call for a truce on the issue of “wokism.” ▪️ Times      • 01:46 Introduction      • 2:40 Precedents     • 4:18 Citizen sold...

Sean Mirski, author of We May Dominate the World: Ambition, Anxiety, and the Rise of the American Colossus, joins the show to talk about how the United States came to its global position and China’s attempts to match it. ▪️ Times      •    01:40 Introduction      •    2:22 An accidental project     •    6:41 The view from Washington      •    13:18 American paranoia     •    16:43 Post Civil War M...

Paul Edgar, Executive Director of the Clements Center for National Security at the University of Texas-Austin, a veteran of the U.S. Army, and a scholar of ancient Near Eastern warfare, joins the show to talk about war and peace in the old days—the very old days. ▪️ Times      •    02:58 Introduction      •    10:07 Olmsted     •    16:00 The Bronze Age     •   22:07 Verifying history     •    27:...

Iskander Rehman, Ax:son Johnson Fellow at SAIS’s Kissinger Center and author of Planning for Protraction: A Historically Informed Approach to Great-power War and Sino-US Competition, joins the show to talk about how future wars might be more a test of national endurance than expected. ▪️ Times      •    01:56 Introduction      •    04:01 Sharp and short wars     •    09:07 After the first salvo   ...

Alexander Mikaberidze, Professor of History and Ruth Herring Noel Endowed Chair at Louisiana State University and author of The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History, joins the show to talk about director Ridley Scott’s Napoleon. ▪️ Times      •    02:54 Introduction      •    04:52 First reactions     •    08:18 Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon     •    15:12 Propaganda of the time     •    17:14 No inven...

Nicholas Morton, associate professor of history at Nottingham Trent University and author of The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East, joins the show to talk about the Mongol invasions. ▪️ Times      •    01:40 Introduction      •    02:15 Central Asia before the Mongols     •    04:15 Mongol methods     •    09:15 Sailing the Eurasian Steppe     •   13:54 Temujin   ...