School of War

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 Kim Jong Il • 22:14 Mackinder’s World-Island • 26:29 Interconnected • 33:18 Why commit to Russia? • 36:55 Limited imaginations • 39:03 New differences Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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 Tannenberg • 15:54 Hindenburg and Ludendorff • 19:57 Scale • 22:40 Combat • 27:14 Munitions scarcity • 32:10 Russian collapse • 36:45 Lenin returns • 40:42 Brest-Litovsk • 44:16 Proto-lebensraum • 47:20 The West • 52:30 War as a way out Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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 Containment • 28:10 Ratcheting up tensions Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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 • 28:00 Lee in Maryland • 34:57 Geography • 46:20 South Mountain to Antietam • 55:49 The fighting • 01:02:12 Mass and maneuver • 01:04:44 Lee escapes Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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 global balance • 21:45 Communism • 25:47 “Their own worst enemy” • 30:12 CCP & manipulation • 35:06 Weaponized supply chains • 39:12 Getting their attention Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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 • 23:47 Others • 31:31 Seljuks • 36:50 Crusader States • 41:28 Why did they fail? • 45:19 Continuity and complexity • 49:45 Fluidity Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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 The Russian model • 23:55 Israeli lessons • 26:38 Working with what we have • 32:05 Infantry concerns • 35:05 Women in the draft • 39:12 Deterrent value • 41:20 Sustaining industry • 43:45 An “I” society Back to the Drafting Board Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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 • 19:10 Near term calculus • 23:49 Regime change • 28:52 Reagan strategy • 32:55 A “good” deal Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Alex Miller, Senior Advisor for Science and Technology and the CTO to the Chief of Staff of the Army, joins the show to talk about how we are preparing to fight on the battlefields of the future—which are here today. ▪️ Times • 01:17 Introduction • 01:32 CTO • 04:48 Scale/E.W./drones • 09:06 How we buy • 13:07 Transforming in Contact • 18:15 Electronic warfare • 22:37 Defensive spectrum • 25:20 An invisible world • 28:12 Drone warfare • 35:05 Humans and machines • 37:49 What does the Army need? Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Frank Ledwidge, Senior Fellow in Air Power and International Security at the Royal Air Force College and author of Aerial Warfare: The Battle for the Skies, joins the show to talk about warfare’s next frontier, space. ▪️ Times • 01:40 Introduction • 03:24 Thinking about space • 09:09 More than a conduit • 14:15 ASAT • 19:55 Space domain awareness • 26:20 Directed energy and nuclear weapons • 31:16 Congested/competitive/contested • 39:44 36,000 earths • 42:15 Commercial incentives • 45:05 Who has the advantage? Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Eric Edelman and Thomas Mahnken of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments join the show to talk about what our defense establishment has gotten right, and wrong, in planning for the next war. ▪️ Times • 02:10 Introduction • 02:43 National Defense Strategy • 06:58 Continuity between administrations • 08:55 Multiple theater force construct • 17:31 “A flawed net assessment” • 28:30 An imbalance of power • 34:46 Favoring the defense • 38:42 Resources and cost Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Christopher Lynch, Professor of Political Science at Missouri State University and author of Machiavelli on War, joins the show to talk about renaissance warfare and Niccolò Machiavelli. ▪️ Times • 01:20 Introduction • 01:56 Machiavelli’s world • 03:52 French invasion • 07:08 Republicanism • 13:42 Mercenary armies • 22:50 Time in office • 27:30 Battle • 33:17 Resurrecting Rome and Greece • 38:00 Catastrophic endings • 41:31 Exile and writings • 45:54 Good guy or bad guy? Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at FDD and contributor to The Boiling Moat: Urgent Steps to Defend Taiwan, joins the show to talk about Taiwan, tensions in the South China Sea, and more. ▪️ Times • 01:27 Introduction • 02:00 Why the Navy? • 04:05 PACOM • 06:53 Working with Senator McCain • 10:51 Resource prioritization • 15:19 Shortsighted decisions • 19:56 Sink China’s Navy • 25:30 Is Taiwan ready? • 30:35 Imitate Estonia • 33:31 Sensor complexes • 37:26 Missile defense • 43:30 Nuclear escalation Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Sabin Howard, sculptor of A Soldier’s Journey, the central feature of the new World War I Memorial in Washington, DC, joins the show to talk about his work and the art of memorializing war and honoring veterans. ▪️ Times • 01:50 Introduction • 02:07 Becoming an artist • 07:03 Spiritually classical • 10:04 WWI • 14:24 Getting it right • 18:35 Daughter and father • 21:37 The ordeal • 25:00 The charging man • 28:18 Modern methods • 33:52 Aftermath • 41:11 Return • 51:00 Excite and engage Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny, joins the show to give his thoughts on Tucker Carlson’s controversial guest Darryl Cooper. ▪️ Times • 01:25 Introduction • 02:34 Churchill the villain • 05:20 Pat Buchanan • 08:57 Dragging America into war • 14:50 Barbarossa • 20:06 “Mr. Cooper simply can’t have read Mein Kampf…” • 21:37 Terror bombings • 24:19 Dog whistles • 26:11 Founding mythology Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Matt Pottinger, distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, Chairman of FDD’s China Program, and author of The Boiling Moat: Urgent Steps to Defend Taiwan, joins the show to talk about how a war over Taiwan might start and how it may be prevented. ▪️ Times • 01:13 Introduction • 03:11 The Boiling Moat • 04:54 Is Xi serious? • 11:35 How to deter China • 17:40 Out with the old, in with the new • 24:30 Mapping the scenarios • 30:14 No such thing as an accidental war • 35:44 A cognitive trap • 39:22 Left with no choice Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, joins the show to discuss his plan to spend five percent of America’s GDP on defense. Click the link to read more Peace through Strength: A Generational Investment in the U.S. Military ▪️ Times • 01:31 Introduction • 01:40 Service years • 04:39 3% vs 5% • 9:00 Peace through Strength • 12:50 More money, more problems? • 16:40 “Let’s get some more shipyards…” • 19:37 Modernizing the nuclear arsenal • 23:14 Force Design 2030 Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

General Kenneth F. McKenzie, USMC, retired as the fourteenth commander of U.S. Central Command in 2022 and is the author of The Melting Point: High Command and War in the 21st Century (https://a.co/d/a2RmIDK). He joins the show to talk about the strategic significance of the Middle East. ▪️ Times • 01:16 Introduction • 01:38 The Citadel • 04:15 The humanities • 10:00 Central Command • 13:43 Thinking globally • 17:53 Iran pushes back • 23:05 Pursuing peace • 26:15 Afghanistan • 32:01 Collapse • 37:58 A regional war Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Joshua S. Treviño, Chief of Intelligence and Research and the Director for Texas Identity at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, joins the show to talk about the crisis on the U.S. southern border. ▪️ Times • 01:28 Introduction • 02:03 “The border itself is insecure…” • 06:06 Immigration is not the issue • 08:58 Texas remembers • 21:44 The Mexican side • 31:34 WWI in Mexico • 32:25 PRC and cartels • 39:24 DoD and the border • 44:01 “A sincere security partner…” • 46:03 The Caroline affair Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Richard Frank, historian and author of Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire and Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War: July 1937-May 1942, joins the show to talk about the controversial legacy of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. ▪️ Times • 02:05 Introduction • 02:15 Soldier/Lawyer/Historian • 09:19 Early controversy • 14:55 Counting all the dead • 21:54 Contemplating invasion • 30:10 1:1 ratio, recipe for a bloodbath • 38:03 Why unconditional surrender? • 40:48 Two steps to end the war • 46:54 A combination of forces • 51:08 How many bombs? • 54:01 Thinking as your enemy does Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Ronald C. White, Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum and author of On Great Fields: The Life and Unlikely Heroism of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, joins the show to talk about the hero of Little Round Top, Joshua L. Chamberlain. ▪️ Times • 01:37 Introduction • 01:51 Why Chamberlain? • 09:01 Fighting for the Union • 14:05 The 20th Maine • 18:10 Arriving at Gettysburg • 21:34 The 15th & 47th Alabama • 24:25 “Bayonets” • 29:31 Fighting for Grant • 33:40 Appomattox • 35:53 Home • 29:31 Battle Cry of Freedom Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Rich Goldberg, senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, joins the show to talk about the expanding war between Israel and Iran. ▪️ Times • 01:40 Introduction • 03:30 Where things stand • 15:25 Israeli expectations • 24:44 Retaliation • 31:39 Iran’s strategic concept • 36:16 American interests • 44:20 Projection • 50:36 Once Iran has nuclear weapons Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Michael Sobolik, author of Countering China's Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance and Senior Fellow in Indo-Pacific Studies at the American Foreign Policy Council, joins the show to talk about China. ▪️ Times • 01:38 Introduction • 04:29 Belt and Road • 07:54 The Beginning • 13:12 Chinese imperialism • 20:50 Mackinder’s math • 25:19 Nazi geostrategic thinking • 28:21 Spykman and BRI • 31:42 Imperialism is not a relic • 35:43 Countering China • 40:40 Tracing BRI back to Beijing • 46:55 Keeping Taiwan safe Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

James Holland, author of The Savage Storm: The Battle for Italy 1943 and host of the We Have Ways of Making You Talk podcast, joins the show to talk about the Allied campaign in Italy. ▪️ Times • 02:08 Introduction • 04:23 “No greater moment of human drama…” • 11:08 Why go into Italy at all? • 18:24 Mission to Rome • 29:33 Baytown and Avalanche • 32:10 Salerno • 36:25 rethinking Mark Clark • 40:50 Very hard fighting Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Michael Kofman, Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and contributor to War in Ukraine: Conflict, Strategy, and the Return of a Fractured World, joins the show to talk about the operational phases of the war in Ukraine. ▪️ Times • 01:28 Introduction • 02:14 A case of “Two Wars” • 09:37 Operating on assumptions • 14:54 Contingency and structure • 23:41 Figuring things out in the field • 31:22 Cyber is overhyped • 39:56 Achieving a favorable outcome Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Thomas Mahnken, President and CEO of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments and contributor to War in Ukraine: Conflict, Strategy, and the Return of a Fractured World, joins the show to talk about how strategic fallacies have played a role in Ukraine. ▪️ Times • 01:33 Introduction • 02:30 Fallacies of rationality • 05:36 Is war irrational? • 10:02 Germany willed WWI to happen • 15:40 Fallacy of the irrational/hyper-rational adversary • 22:53 Rational/irrational Hitler • 28:09 Wrapped around the rational axle • 30:34 Fallacy of over/underestimating the adversary • 37:53 Losing the contingency • 41:08 Fallacies of interaction • 45:56 Learning but not doing • 50:53 Building defenses against fallacies Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute and host of the Urban Warfare Project, joins the show to talk about urban combat and how Israel is fighting an unprecedented war against Hamas with justice and humanity. ▪️ Times • 01:50 Introduction • 02:08 Fighting and teaching • 09:31 Changes in urban warfare • 17:14 Terrain still matters • 21:54 Israel’s unprecedented war • 26:11 Learning on the ground • 33:24 Genocide • 43:57 The battle of Manila • 49:41 Suffering is the strategic aim • 51:04 Tunnels • 55:51 Outthinking the enemy Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Frank Gavin, the Giovanni Agnelli Distinguished Professor and inaugural director of the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS and contributor to War in Ukraine: Conflict, Strategy, and the Return of a Fractured World, joins the show to talk about nuclear strategy and the war in Ukraine. ▪️ Times • 01:36 Introduction • 01:53 What are nuclear weapons for? • 04:15 Pervasive but not used • 09:53 Invasion insurance • 17:58 Better to be near-nuclear • 22:26 How might Putin use nuclear weapons? • 26:04 Learning by doing • 33:48 “It’s all happening at once” • 41:31 Rattling the saber works • 48:04 “We will get them back” • 50:07 History and Strategy Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack Follow the link to buy the book - War in Ukraine: Conflict, Strategy, and the Return of a Fractured World

Stephen Kotkin, Kleinheinz Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and contributor to War in Ukraine: Conflict, Strategy, and the Return of a Fractured World, joins the show to talk about the war in Ukraine and what the endgame might look like. ▪️ Times • 02:24 Introduction • 05:09 Four victories • 11:48 “Winning only on Twitter” • 22:36 10/7 and Ukraine • 28:27 Regime change in Russia • 37:03 Keeping allies • 45:24 Renting land armies • 55:01 “European culturally but not Western” Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack Follow the link to buy the book - War in Ukraine: Conflict, Strategy, and the Return of a Fractured World

Robert Blackwill & Richard Fontaine, authors of Lost Decade: The US Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power, join the show to talk about America’s failed pivot to Asia and why they think it still needs to happen. ▪️ Times • 01:59 Introduction • 03:10 Was the pivot serious? • 07:40 Absent compulsion • 13:25 War in Europe? • 22:46 Changes to the plan • 28:28 A bigger budget • 32:23 Domestic resistance to TPP • 38:25 The ultimate goal • 44:36 Why not regime change in China? • 51:08 Henry Kissinger Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack Follow the link to buy the book - Lost Decade: The US Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power

Michel Paradis—litigator, national security law scholar, and author of The Light of Battle: Eisenhower, D-Day, and the Birth of the American Superpower—joins the show to talk about D-Day and the man behind the invasion, Dwight Eisenhower. ▪️ Times • 01:49 Introduction • 01:56 “Wildly under appreciated” • 05:17 Upbringing • 11:40 Seeing the world as it is • 15:01 Not that long ago • 22:14 British vs American plans • 32:50 Using strategic advantages • 36:03 Designing D-Day • 46:58 Planning for failure Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack Follow the link to buy the book - The Light of Battle: Eisenhower, D-Day, and the Birth of the American Superpower

Nick Bunker, journalist and author of In the Shadow of Fear: America and the World in 1950, joins the show to talk about the first decade of the Cold War. ▪️ Times • 01:36 Introduction • 02:26 Countdown to war • 05:17 Biden and Truman • 09:05 A failure of American policy? • 13:09 Present at the Creation • 21:16 Stalin’s view of the world • 25:50 Stalin and China • 30:44 Developing nuclear thinking • 32:39 Robert Taft • 38:01 No choice but to defend Korea • 46:44 NSC-68 Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack Follow the link to buy the book - In the Shadow of Fear: America and the World in 1950

Shane Brennan, Associate Professor of History and Classics at the Asian University for Women in Bangladesh and author of Xenophon's Anabasis: A Socratic History, joins the show to talk about why the Anabasis remains an important part of the Western canon of military writing. ▪️ Times • 01:30 Introduction • 02:05 Dubai to Bangladesh • 05:37 Xenophon’s start • 09:25 Several levels of failure • 12:37 “An exemplary Socratic student” • 14:40 Fighting for the Persians • 17:18 Cyrus the Younger • 20:46 A leader emerges • 29:41 “How was he so right?” • 36:43 Matterhorn • 38:33 Exile • 42:01 An instruction on leadership • 44:16 “There is always something there…” Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack Follow the link to buy the book - Xenophon's Anabasis: A Socratic History

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 argument • 08:36 Power and recognition • 11:51 Who started the Cold War? • 14:55 The American dilemma • 17:09 Fukuyama • 21:21 Nuclear guarantees • 25:16 The shadow of WWII • 29:44 Flippancy and boredom • 32:06 Détente • 32:12 Backstabbing • 37:52 American lecturing • 45:39 Sources of Soviet collapse Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack Follow the link to buy the book - To Run the World: The Kremlin's Cold War Bid for Global Power

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 • 35:20 TikTok Follow along on Instagram Read the Foreign Affairs piece here No Substitute for Victory America’s Competition With China Must Be Won, Not Managed Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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? • 29:54 Beam specs • 33:45 Sci-fi but familiar • 38:11 Gallium nitride • 40:31 Cat and mouse game Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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 Parallels • 18:26 Germania • 22:38 Roman criticism • 28:03 Auxiliaries and proxies • 32:09 Diplomacy and a recruitment crisis • 34:00 A brilliant military career • 37:17 Force structure • 41:18 Parthian Cold War Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack Buy the book here - Iron Imperator: Roman Grand Strategy Under Tiberius

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 • 05:03 The collapse of Kabul • 07:40 Leadership counts • 10:14 Zelensky • 16:20 How did Putin get Ukraine so wrong? • 19:49 Touch and go • 22:45 Draft confusion • 26:09 Battlefield evolution • 30:42 Countermeasures • 34:33 Washington’s tepid support • 38:11 Possible futures • 40:26 Trump Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack Buy the book here - Our Enemies Will Vanish: The Russian Invasion and Ukraine's War of Independence

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 from the jaws of victory • 18:24 An Iranian-American conflict • 22:44 Managing decline • 26:40 Lessons not learned • 33:00 The Iranian nuclear umbrella Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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 • 18:33 Reprisals • 21:37 Purity of arms • 27:09 Collateral damage • 33:41 International law • 35:48 Proportionality • 39:40 A dangerous ideology Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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 • 19:39 Achtung - Panzer! • 27:37 Guderian the Nazi • 33:42 Poland and France • 45:49 Russia • 50:50 Barbarossa bound to fail? • 54:48 Guderian the chameleon Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack Buy the book here - Hitler's Panzer Generals: Guderian, Hoepner, Reinhardt and Schmidt Unguarded

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 The conventional blitzkrieg • 19:26 Maneuver warfare • 25:01 Cannae • 29:07 Tactical success to operational failure • 34:07 Post-Vietnam U.S. military woes • 37:24 Active defense • 43:31 Skeptical of technology • 48:07 The Defense Reform Movement • 53:50 Iraqi Freedom Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack Buy the book here - The Blind Strategist: John Boyd and the American Art of War

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 • 13:15 Blackett and Fear, War, and the Bomb • 19:40 Counter-value vs counter-force • 37:33 Russian nuclear strategy • 42:44 Extended deterrence • 52:37 Pain tolerance Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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 • 09:38 Integrated deterrence • 13:33 Putin is committed to the bit • 15:36 If Russia wins, what’s it to the US? • 19:16 Options if Russia uses nuclear weapons • 24:06 The pendulum keeps swinging • 28:20 Washington’s confusion regarding Iran and Israel • 31:56 Red Sea adrift • 36:00 China and the rest • 40:01 Pacific flashpoints Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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 • 14:10 “Taiwan is the Saudi Arabia of chips” • 16:20 Military applications • 19:37 Battle damage assessment and AI tracking • 22:50 Autonomous weapons • 27:50 Legal, ethical, and control issues • 30:08 Battlefield applications • 32:43 Operational ability • 36:51 WMDs • 40:09 Countermeasures • 43:53 Transportable? • 46:40 AI and nuclear weapons Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack Buy the book here - Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

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 immense scale • 27:29 Doctrinal failure • 33:17 Inside the Russian mindset • 37:21 The myth of the “Clean Wehrmacht” • 40:20 The siege • 49:15 Who stays? • 51:18 How did the Germans fail? • 01:03:25 Staying vigilant Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack Buy the book here - To Besiege a City: Leningrad 1941–42

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 • 15:05 Soviet thinking • 19:20 Leveraging insight • 23:11 Potential outcomes • 28:35 “The Houthis have friends.” • 33:19 Danger and opportunity • 37:20 The terms of success change • 43:14 Solving the problem of the moment Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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 • 11:25 Targets of significance • 16:33 Atrophy • 22:18 Production problems • 27:46 Congressional oversight • 34:30 An unfocused military • 44:17 Not getting it done • 47:05 “Raw and abject stupidity” Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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 Highest percentage of casualties • 34:36 Mass vs mass • 37:20 A new battlefield • 42:49 “Almost nothing held up.” • 44:46 Robert Rosenthal • 48:57 Working with Tom Hanks • 53:51 Recreating air combat • 56:02 Gil Cohen, Greyhound, and Das Boot • 59:44 Narrative choices • 01:06:36 The stress of command Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack Buy the book here - Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany

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 Brothers 12:56 Finding the story 19:44 Masters of the Air 24:37 Core characters 30:12 Group level 32:11 Influences 37:38 Production challenges 40:25 Procedure as drama 43:50 Unique trauma 48:20 Casting Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack