Angry Planet

On June 13, explosions—probably from Limpet Mines—hit two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. The United States has blamed Iran. On June 20, Iran shot down one of the United States’ Navy RQ-4 Global Hawk drones, basically a fancy unmanned spy plane.In the aftermath, US President Donald Trump considered a retaliatory action, then pulled back. I’m recording this at 5pm on Friday, June 21. It’s possible between then and the time you hear this, the situation will have changed again.Iran is complicated. In the American imagination, it’s become a stand in for a power in direct opposition to the United States. It’s famously part of George W Bush’s Axis of evil and, it often feels, Washington’s Hawks have long wanted an excuse to go to war there.So. Today. Three shows from War College’s past that, strung together, represent a closer and more nuanced look at Iran. All with remastered audio.The first is a look at the strength of the Iranian military during the end of the Obama presidency, and before the signing of the Nuclear Deal. The second is an interview with New York Times journalist Ben Hubbard about Iran’s use of Hezbollah. The third is deep dive into Iranian domestic politics and its role in Syria circa 2018.I present all of it in an attempt to paint a picture of how we got where we are today. America’s relationship with Iran is deeper, bigger, and more complicated than one President in one moment.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China and America are two of the world’s great powers. Their economies are intertwined, their military’s powerful, and their soft power spreading across the globe. And tensions are rising. Neither side wants to go to war, but both sides are committed to winning that war should the unthinkable ever occur.Recently, War College’s own Kevin Knodell spent time at the Army’s Joint Warfighting Assessment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State. The weeks long training brought together military personnel from seven different countries to train together for a nightmare scenario—a new war in the Pacific.Kevin is the producer of War College, but also a journalist whose work has appeared in Playboy, The Daily Beast, and McClatchy. He’s the co-author of several non-fiction graphic novels—including The ‘Stan and Machete Squad.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Flying saucers. Little Green Men. UFOs. Over the past few years, reports from US Navy Pilots of strange flying objects has been hitting the pages of America’s newspapers. And no, not just the tabloids. The New York Times is talking about UFOs. So what is going on? Is this evidence of extraterrestrial life? Lights reflecting off of swamp gas, or dastardly new tech designed by America’s enemies? Here to help us answer these tough questions is the editor-in-chief of The War Zone, Tyler Rogoway.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Soviet Union sent Sputnik into space in 1957. By 1958, thanks in part to the work of famed scientist Carl Sagan, the Pentagon had a plan to show the commies what for by nuking the moon. Thankfully, it was just a plan. One that the U.S. never acted on. But it’s far from the only military scheme the US and others cooked up over the years. From bat bombs to an aircraft carrier built from an iceberg, military history is full of outlandish and ridiculous schemes best left abandoned at the planning stages.Here to help us untangle these James Bond sounding plots is Vince Houghton. Houghton is a U.S. Army vet who served in the Balkans. Now, he is the historian and curator at the international Spy Museum in Washington D.C. He collected the wild schemes from America’s past in the new book Nuking the Moon and Other Intelligence Schemes and Military Plots Left on the Drawing Board.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Conspiracy theories are as old as the republic. Actually, they're a lot older than OUR republic. In every country, in every culture, people believe powerful forces are colluding in ways they know nothing about.Why is that?In this week's bonus episode we talk with Jesse Walker, books editor of Reason magazine and author of "The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory."-----------------------------------Qanon is a conspiracy theory that supposes President Donald Trump is at war with an ancient pedophile cult. When Qanon believers began to show up at Trump rallies, the mainstream media took notice. In early August, BuzzFeed published an article: www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanha…-is-probably-a that theorized the whole thing was an elaborate prank by leftists activists. Their evidence was a 1999 book about religious rebellions during the 16th century. It’s title? Q: www.amazon.com/Q-Luther-Blissett…e=&qid=1538017365.Wu Ming 1, one of the authors of that book joins us today to talk about Q, Qanon, and the importance of conspiracy theories in modern life.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Civilian casualties are a fact of war. The Pentagon, we’re told, does its best to minimize them but war is messy and it’s impossible to achieve the number zero. Unless you’re talking about Somalia. America has been at war in the African country for years and, according to the Pentagon, it has conducted that war with almost no civilian casualties. Amnesty International—a non-governmental organization focused on human rights—says that’s not true and has conducted its own investigation into the war and uncovered evidence of civilian casualties.Amnesty International's report is called The Hidden US War In Somalia Daphne Eviatar is here with us to discuss it. Eviatar is Amnesty International’s director of Security with Human Rights.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On paper, Japan is no longer a military power. Article 9 of the Japanese constitution states that “the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes” and that “land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained.” Japan is, on paper, to rely on its allies for military defense and, since World War II, American military bases have dotted its islands. But attitudes and policies are changing and as the South China sea looks more and more like a flashpoint, some are wondering if Japan will amend its constitution and re-arm.Here to help us figure that out is Kimberly Westenhiser is a journalist, photographer and artist. She writes for the Eatonville Dispatch and her work has appeared at The Seattle Globalist, Foreign Policy, War Is Boring and Playboy.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The cliche goes that those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. But history is more than just a memory and a lesson, sometimes it’s a tool and a weapon. Some pundits are concerned that historians in their ivory tower of academia are neglecting the study of war and policy in favor of identity politics, and in some cases shirking their role of educating the public in favor of an academic elitism that is mostly aimed producing work for themselves and their colleagues to consume.Brian Laslie is the Deputy Command Historian at NORAD and United States Northern Command.  He previously served as the Historian of the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base from December 2009 to August 2012.  In 2011, he deployed as the Air Forces Central Command (Forward) Historian to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, from September 2011 to January 2012. It was while deployed that Brian wrote the majority of what would become his first book. Brian’s views expressed here are his own and don’t reflect those of the United States government.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Drugs and war go together like peanut butter and jelly. American soldier boys smoked the reefer in Vietnam, the Wehrmacht ran on amphetamine, and Viking Berserkers were probably on something. Soldiers have enhanced and altered perception using chemicals for centuries, but in the annals of getting fucked up and going to war you don’t hear a lot about psychedelics such as LSD and MDMA.But that might be changing. With us today is Marine Corps officer Emre Albayrak. Albayrak is an Expeditionary Ground Reconnaissance officer and has served as an intelligence officer for 12 years. He’s also the author of an interesting article in the February issue of the Marine Corps Gazette—a professional journal published by the Marine Corps Association. It’s titled Microdosing: Improving Performance Enhancements in Intelligence Analysis. It suggests, very basically, that military intelligence operations could get a boost if Marines dropped a little acidYou can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s a story some of you may know, it’s been told over and over in different forms. A gaijin, an outsider, comes to Japan and ingratiates themselves with the local military power. From James Clavell’s Shogun, to a bad Tom Cruise movie, to William Adams, it’s a story told over and over in both Japan and the West. Some of those stories have a kernel of truth and few are as fascinating as that of Yasuke—a Samurai born in Africa.  Here to help us unravel the mystery and history of this legendary Samurai is Thomas Lockley. Lockley is a professor at Nihon University College in Tokyo and a visiting scholar at the University of London. Along with Geoffrey Girard, Lockley is the author of the book African SamuraI: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the Silver Legion to the Aryan Nation, the U.S. has had its share of fascist organizations but its never had anything quite like Atomwaffen Division. Grown and organized online, the group has been linked to five murders and a bomb plot in the past eight months. The group is so extreme that even prominent leaders of the Alt-Right have denounced it.This week on War College, journalist Jake Hanrahan takes us through what the group believes, what it wants, and what it might be willing to do to get it.You can listen to War College on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/war-c…d1023774600?mt=2, Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/jason-fields/war-college, Google Play: play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/…yfrxlbf6e6ec6difm or follow our RSS directly: rss.acast.com/warcollege. You can reach us on our new Facebook page: www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College: twitter.com/War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Civil Defense! From the dawn of World War II and throughout the 1960s, America had a plan to keep its civilians safe and fit to fight in case of invasion or, god forbid, nuclear armageddon. From duck and cover to the aesthetic of the Fallout video games, American popular culture is enmeshed in the history of its Civil Defense. But what, exactly, is Civil Defense. Where did it come from and do we still practice it today?Here to help with this history is Alex Wellerstein. Wellerstein is a historian of science, secrecy, and nuclear weapons. He lectures on this and more at Stevens Institute of Technology. You may know him as the guy who created the nuke map, a website that allows you to simulate the effect of various nuclear weapons on an interactive map.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On March 15, a shooter entered two Mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. He killed fifty and injured 50 more. He left behind a bizarre and meme-laden manifesto. In February, authorities arrested a Coast Guard lieutenant who had been stockpiling weapons in anticipation of kicking off a race war. When it comes to terrorism, America’s problems are overwhelmingly white and nationalist. In terms or raw numbers, it’s not even close.With us here today to talk about our collective white nationalism problem is Robert Evans. Evans is a conflict journalist who has reported on the fighting in Ukraine and Mosul, the host of Behind the Bastards—a podcast that explores the origin stories of the worst people in history, and and author of fine articles at Bellingcat where he charts the growth of online fueled right-wing terrorism. It’s the subject of his forthcoming audiobook—The War on Everyone.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America is at war across the world, but it’s also at war at home. For decades, violent crime has been at record lows across the country—but that’s slowly changing as cities such as Baltimore, Chicago, and St. Louis see terrifying amounts of murders and gang violence. To make things worse, the way cops do their job in some of these cities looks more like counterinsurgency than it does community policing.Here to help us unpack what’s going on is Patrick Burke, Burke is a freelance journalist who covered the war at home for War Is Boring, Al Jazeera and the Huffington Post  He’s also a former researcher at the Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We need to talk about Putin. Of all the leaders of state nobody is as maligned, studied, and over-analyzed as Russian President Vladimir Putin. He’s a KGB thug, he’s playing three dimensional chess while everyone else is playing checkers, and he’s turned a state into decline into a global superpower through information warfare. No one is as cunning as Putin.But that’s not quite true. Here to help us dispel myths and set the record straightish is friend of the show Mark Galeotti. Galeotti is an expert on the Russian military, politics, and underworld, the author of many fine books and  an honorary professor at University of College London and a Senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.He’s got three books coming out this month. One is We Need to Talk About Putin: How the West Gets Him Wrong and another is Russian Political War: Moving Beyond the Hybrid.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

War is a racket and damn, business is good. When it comes to the global arms trade, no one sells more weapons than the United States of America. The US controls about a third of the nearly 100 billion global arms trade. Its next closest competitor—Russia—doesn’t do even half the business America does. January 2019 was a record year for the defense industry—profits were up across the board. It was the best month for arms sales in a decade.Here to help us understand the war racket is Amanda Macias. Macias is CNBC’s National Security Reporter. She specializes in the business of war. Amanda, thank you so much for joining us.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On February 14, a 20-year old man drove a car packed with explosives into a bus full of Indian Central Reserve Police Forces. 40 of the police officers died in the attack. This happened in an Indian controlled portion of Kashmir and India responded by launching an air strike on a village in Pakistan. Things have escalated since then and, as so often happens in modern conflict, gotten confusing and muddied.With us today to help untangle all this is Suchitra Vijayan. Vijayan is a writer, photographer, and lawyer. Her work has appeared in GQ, the Telegraph, and Foreign Policy. As a lawyer she worked for the United States war crimes tribunal for Yugoslavia and Rwanda. As a journalist, she was embedded with NATO-led troops along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and is currently studying the conflict in Kashmir and India’s borderlands.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the end of World War II and deep into the Cold War, the American Military operated a strange building deep in the Hollywood Hills. It was the 1352nd Photographic Group of the United States Air Force, and for two decades it served as a nexus between the Pentagon and Hollywood. Part movie studio, part propaganda machine, and part meeting hall—it attempted to shaped American minds for a generation. And it’s story is largely untold.Here to tell us the story is Kevin Hamilton and Ned O’Gorman. Hamilton and O’Gorman are both professors at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. They’ve worked together on articles and books about the American Military, the Cold War, and the role of images in the US consciousness. Their new book is Lookout America! The Secret Hollywood Studio at the Heart of the Cold WarYou can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Kurds are a people without a country. They occupy large swaths of land in Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran but have no central government. Kurdish fighters have been constant allies in America’s fight against ISIS, and Peshmerga troops fighting on behalf of the semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq fought against the militants after they stormed Mosul. Without the help of Kurdish forces in Mosul, Raqqa, and across the Levant, America couldn’t have defeated ISIS so handily. In December, after a conversation with Turkey’s president, President Donald Trump announced U.S. troops would be leaving Syria on grounds that ISIS is defeated.Things have gotten complicated since then.It’s unclear if the withdrawal will actually take place, Turkey thinks the Kurds are terrorists, and the Kurds are caught between regional power in one of the most complicated conflicts in the world. Here to help us sort this out is Mohammed Salih. Mohammed spent years working as a journalist for international media in Kurdistan. He’s currently a doctoral student at University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you hear the word Sparta, there’s an immediate association with war and the military. Of the Greek City States, it’s the one most associated with battle. Spartan men were expected to be warriors and their society was geared almost entirely toward training for war. For generations, military leaders have drawn inspiration from Sparta.Much of the romance around Sparta centers Around the battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE, where the Persian Empire crushed a small and ill-equipped collection of elite soldiers. Since then, historians, propagandists, Hollywood, and the American military have turned Sparta’s epic defeat at the gates of fire into a myth of slavery vs freedom, east vs west, and democracy vs despotism. But the thing is … a lot of what hear about the Spartans is bullshit, the truth is more complicated.Here to help us unpack modern day mythos around Sparta is Pauline Kaurin. Kaurin is the Chair of Military Ethics at the US Naval War College and the author of The Warrior, Military Ethics and Contemporary Warfare: Achilles Goes Asymmetrical.Disclaimer: Pauline Kaurin's opinions are her own and do not reflect the opinions or policy of the US Naval War College.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Drugs and the battlefield go together like peanut butter and jelly. The Third Reich’s soldier ran on methamphetamine and American soldiers smoked like chimneys. The picture of the US GI with a burning cigarette pressed between their lips is so iconic that few people question it...or realize how young the image really is.Joel R. Bius, assistant professor of national security studies at the U.S. Air Force Air Command and Staff College, is here to help us dispel the myth of the great American military cigarette and walk us through the fascinating history of how cigarettes ended up in the US military kit, and how they left. It’s the subject of his new book, Smoke Em If You Got Em: The Rise and Fall of the Military Cigarette Ration.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on War College, Syrian journalist Loubna Mrie walks us through life in the early days of the Syrian revolution, how it turned into a nightmarish Civil War, and the consequences of  US Withdrawal.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New voices and new topics. It’s War College 3.0. The music is staying the same, but some of the voices are changing. Former Green Beret and current cyber ninja, Derek Gannon comes on the show to co-host and journalist Kevin Knodell steps in to help produce.This week’s show is all about introductions, as we go on a long winded and bizarre discussion that covers everything from Derek’s obsession with Linux to African terror squads to Stuxnet to Missile Defense Review. You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The National Guard gets a bad rap, but they’re an important part of the military that’s little understood.This week on War College we try to change that.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason Fields is leaving War College and War College is entering a new era.Tune into to get some behind the scenes anecdotes and hear a special treat from Jason.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The United State's war in Afghanistan drags on with no end in sight. Worse, the current administration doesn’t have a clear vision of how it wants to proceed in the country. With all options on the table, private military contractor and entrepreneur Erik Prince - the founder of Blackwater - has gone on a lobbying tour around the U.S. pitching his own plan.Prince’s vision for Afghanistan calls for a viceroy to take over the country, drive out the Taliban and exploit the country’s natural resources. He’s likened it to the Marshall Plan or the Dutch East India company’s exploitation of India.This week on War College, author Robert Young Pelton and retired Green Beret Derek Gannon sit down to walk us through why Prince’s plan is bad for Afghanistan and bad for America.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On November 25, Russia seized three Ukranian gunboats in the Kerch strait—a strip of water connecting the Black Sea to Azov Sea. Ukraine claimed it was an act of aggression and, possibly, a prelude to war. Russia said it was just policing its territory. Then Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko attempted to institute martial law and things got … weird.With us today to unpack what’s going on is Michael Kofman. Kofman is a Senior Research Scientist with the Center for Naval Analyses. He’s an expert on Russia and he’s been following the Kerch kerfuffle. You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

War correspondents risk life and limb to report on conflict. Increasingly, it’s a leath profession. Marie Colvin was one of the best in the business. She was so good that Bashar al Assad’s regime ordered her execution.This week on War College, Lindsey Hilsum walks us through Colvin’s life and death. Hilsum is a journalist and friend of Colvins. She’s just published a new book, In Extremis, that follows Colvin’s fascinating and heartbreaking career.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The alliance between the United States and Saudi Arabia helped define America’s role in the Middle East after World War II. Lately, Saudi Arabia has tested the limits of that relationship. This week on War College, Shadi Hamid walks us through the complicated alliance and what it means for the world.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the United States Air Force tests a new aircraft it needs to make sure it won't crash should a stray bird slam into the plane's side. Thankfully, the military has an artillery piece with a 60-foot barrel that hurls chicken more than 400 miles an hour. The chicken gun allows the military to make sure no stray bird will foul up its expensive jets while they're mid-flight. If you think the chicken gun is weird, it’s only the tip of a strange and fascinating iceberg.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Roadside Picnic to Fallout, the stories a culture tells about can tell you a lot about the culture. On this bonus episode of War College, Matthew and Jake Hanrahan of the Popular Front podcast sit down to puzzle out what’s going on these days with nuclear culture.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From 1971 to 1972, the FBI reported more than 2,500 bombings in America. That’s five explosions a day, and most were tied to radical underground political movements. Political violence is on the rise in the US but many of its perpetrators are disorganized loners, attached to fringe movements that foment online but rarely follow through. In the 1970s and into the 1980s, dozens of violent political groups agitated for change and attempted the violent overthrow of the government.Today’s political violence is scary and terrible, but it’s a far cry from the explosive 1970s. Here to help us understand it is Bryan Burrough, author of Barbarians at the Gate, Public Enemies and Days of Rage: America’s Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America is at war all over the planet and the American public doesn’t seem to care. Since the end of the Cold War, Americans have largely checked out of foreign policy concerns. Today on War College, American foreign policy analyst Stephen M. Walt walks us through how we got here, and how to fix it.Walt’s new book is The Hell of Good Intentions: America's Foreign Policy Elite and the Decline of U.S. Primacy.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The life of a combat medic is hard. When you’re a combat medic in Afghanistan, it’s hard and surreal. This week on War College former U.S. Army medic walks us through what it’s like to save lives in Afghanistan and how he, and his squad, avoided self destruction, the Taliban, and America’s own Special Forces.It’s all captured in Dulak’s new comic book memoir Machete Squad.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why do soldiers fight? Maybe it’s patriotism. Maybe it’s comradeship. Maybe it’s fear of their own side.Or maybe it’s the drugs.For as long as there have been people, there have been people trying to get high. It’s no different in warfare. Fighters have used drugs to make themselves bloodier, stronger, more able to go without sleep. Lukasz Kamienski, author of "Shooting Up: A Short History of Drugs and War," joins us.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Taylor Swift and Islamic State are in a battle for our hearts, minds and eyeballs. Russia wants your vote, or for you not to vote at all. And if you think the amount of false information out there online is dangerous now, just wait. Artificial intelligence is about to make fake news virtually indistinguishable from the real thing.Peter W. Singer, author of the new book "LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media," takes us beyond the troll farms and into some even creepier territory.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More than 2,400 years ago, Thucydides of Athens wrote about his city's war with Sparta. Today, that book is still read at military academies all over the world.Why?That's what we asked Dr. Cliff Rogers of West Point.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Xi Jinping’s China tends to look at itself as a historical victim, an underdog fighting to roll back indignities of the past and prove its strength. Author and journalist Paul French has been chronicling China’s rise since the 1980s, but has also focused on understanding the development of the country since the Opium Wars of the 19th century.In this episode, French offers his view of how China’s past is informing its aggressive foreign policy now.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. You can reach us on our new Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Qanon is a conspiracy theory that supposes President Donald Trump is at war with an ancient pedophile cult. When Qanon believers began to show up at Trump rallies, the mainstream media took notice. In early August, BuzzFeed published an article that theorized the whole thing was an elaborate prank by leftists activists. Their evidence was a 1999 book about religious rebellions during the 16th century. It’s title? Q.Wu Ming 1, one of the authors of that book joins us today to talk about Q, Qanon, and the importance of conspiracy theories in modern life.Take our listener survey!https://podcastsurvey.typeform.com/to/C5LsSOSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The man behind defunct mercenary provider Blackwater sees private air power as the key to winning the war in Afghanistan. A new report links Erik Prince to efforts to buy or build private gunships - the kind of weapon only the United States and a few other countries have at their disposal.David Axe, who writes for the Daily Beast, joins us to discuss the results of his investigation.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in Venezuela are murdering each other at the highest rate in the world. Workers are fainting on the job because of hunger. Citizens have lost 20 pounds on average since the country’s economic crisis began. It’s a nation in collapse with no clear way out.How did Venezuela, once one of the world’s richest countries, plummet so far? Keith Johnson of Foreign Policy helps us understand.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Several recent developments have the potential to move the hands of the nuclear doom clock closer to midnight. In this episode from a while back, we talked with the Washington Post's Dan Zak about his reporting on the potential for nuclear war. What he had to say wasn't cheering.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Conspiracy theories are as old as the republic. Actually, they're a lot older than OUR republic. In every country, in every culture, people believe powerful forces are colluding in ways they know nothing about.Why is that?In this week's bonus episode we talk with Jesse Walker, books editor of Reason magazine and author of "The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory."You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sometimes called insider, or “green on blue” attacks, when U.S. forces are assaulted by their allies, it usually makes the news. That wasn’t the case in Syria when a member of the Syrian Defense Forces shot a Marine sergeant twice in the leg. Instead, there was no mention of it by the military, no press release. Instead, there was contradictory information and a curious reporter who refused to let it lie.When Paul Szoldra of Task & Purpose first heard of the incident, the only thing that was clear was that more questions needed to be asked. He tells us what he found on this week’s episode.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Humanity has never been farther from home than the moon (and that was nearly 50 years ago), but the United States may soon be getting its own Space Force. So, what are the dangers a Space Force is meant to grapple with? And what would it do that isn’t being done now by the Air Force and the other services?The War Zone’s Joseph Trevithick joins us to explain that the dangers in space are very real, even if it isn’t clear that a Space Force is the answer.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Children born on Sept. 11 are old enough to fight in the war that began that day. When they go into battle, they will only know the video of the Twin Towers falling, of the Pentagon wounded and smoking, as historical footage, much like the Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination looks to an earlier generation.Will they know why they’re fighting in Iraq in Afghanistan? Do we still know?CJ Chivers of The New York Times joins us to talk it through.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Syria was pulled apart seven years ago, the United States opted to stay on the sidelines. It was clear that President Bashar Al-Assad was a bad guy, but it was far less clear who the good guys were. Unfortunately, inaction has also had its price for the U.S., according to our guest Steven A. Cook, who is the Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bonus Episode: Facebook recently revealed that trolls had been at it again: creating pages intended to drive Americans ever further apart, turning the volume of online political discourse up to 11. All signs point to Russia as the instigator. Graham Brookie of the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab joins us to explain what the perpetrators revealed about themselves and what we have to look forward to in the midterms.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the great strains on NATO is the question of who’s paying how much for what. But that’s not a new problem. Almost as long as the alliance has been around - 69 years - there’s been arguing over the bills. Germany has been a particular target of late, with the United States calling on the economic powerhouse to pay up. Kathleen Hicks of the Center for Strategic and International Studies offers some needed perspective.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bashar Al Assad has gassed his own people. An assassin used VX to murder Kim Jong Un’s half-brother. Now, Russia has allegedly used an obscure Cold War era chemical weapon to assassinate an old spy on British soil. The taboo against chemical weapons has eroded and, for those willing to use them, they’re an effective weapon of war.This week on War College, The Daily Beast reporter Adam Rawnsley walks us through the lastest on the chemical weapon attacks in Britain and what these eroding norms might mean for the future.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollege.co. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.