School of War
This podcast seeks to learn what war teaches. There has been a steady decline in the study of military history and its associated theoretical discipline, strategy.This podcast seeks to fill that gap through in-depth interviews on military and diplomatic history. Our guests have included former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Cold War historian John Lewis Gaddis, and former China Select Committee chairman Mike Gallagher. We discuss the battlefield commanders, diplomats, strategists, policymakers, and statesmen who have had to make wartime decisions in the ancient and modern eras. The subject of an episode may be an historical battle, campaign, o...
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Ep 274: Lawrence Freedman on Strategists and Ukraine
<p>Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King’s College London and author of On Strategists and Strategy: Collected Essays, 2014-2024, joins the show to talk about a lifetime among strategists, and to give an update on the war in Ukraine.</p> <p>▪️</p> <p>Times</p> <p>02:34 Essay writing</p> <p>07:49 Michael Howard </p> <p>18:42 Colin Gray</p> <p>23:06 Timeless aspects of strategy</p> <p>26:00 The goal of SDI</p> <p>36:40 Tactics </p> <p>41:20 Differences between tactics and strategy</p> <p>45:01 Ultimate objectives </p> <p>50:08 Sensible uses of nuclear weapons </p> <p>52:24 Thatcher</p> <p>53:59 Harsh winter in Ukraine<...
Ep 273: Matthew Kroenig on China’s Nuclear Test
<p>Matthew Kroenig, Professor in the Department of Government and the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, joins the show to talk about the new nuclear age the world is entering.</p> <p>▪️</p> <p>Times</p> <p>03:27 Secret Chinese testing</p> <p>07:35 Seismic monitoring and de-coupling</p> <p>11:40 U.S. testing plan </p> <p>15:30 Why might we need more nuclear weapons?</p> <p>18:01 New START</p> <p>21:23 How many nukes are needed?</p> <p>27:04 If deterrence fails </p> <p>30:20 Limits, if any</p> <p><br></p> <p>Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @Schoolo...
Ep 272: Beatrice Heuser on Why Leaders Make Bad Decisions
<p>Beatrice Heuser, Distinguished Professor at the Brussels School of Governance in the Free University of Brussels and author of Flawed Strategy: Why Smart Leaders Make Bad Decisions, joins the show to discuss decision-making and strategic thinking.</p> <p>▪️</p> <p>Times</p> <p>02:58 Economists and strategy</p> <p>07:59 Acting rationally vs logically</p> <p>15:00 Mirror imaging </p> <p>20:01 How should we study strategy?</p> <p>27:17 Denial</p> <p>32:18 Strategic intelligence failures</p> <p>36:15 Hidden causes</p> <p>38:57 Everyone does it</p> <p><br></p> <p>Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast</p> <p><br></p> <p>Find...
Ep 271: Geoff Ball on the Future of America’s Infantry
<p>Geoff Ball, U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer, staff director for the Naval Academy’s Leadership Education and Development Division and Executive Editor of The Connecting File, joins the show to discuss the radical changes and surprising continuities in how America’s grunts will fight.</p> <p>▪️</p> <p>Times</p> <p>02:25 The Connecting File</p> <p>06:22 How is the infantry doing?</p> <p>14:10 Companies of the future</p> <p>23:22 Information and trust </p> <p>29:57 Innovative spirit</p> <p>33:30 Light Armored Recon </p> <p>39:05 Drone battalions</p> <p>42:24 Learning the right lessons from Ukraine</p> <p><br></p> <p>Follow alo...
Ep 270: David Shedd on China’s Spies
<p>David Shedd, former Acting Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and author of The Great Heist: China’s Epic Campaign to Steal America’s Secrets, joins the show to discuss Chinese spy craft.</p> <p>▪️</p> <p>Times</p> <p>02:05 Early days</p> <p>06:49 CIA</p> <p>09:28 Sandinistas and revolutionaries </p> <p>15:14 IC preparation </p> <p>18:35 A great awakening</p> <p>26:11 Industrial espionage </p> <p>30:50 National Intelligence Estimate</p> <p>34:11 The MSS</p> <p>44:19 The culture of the 18th Bureau </p> <p>50:17 Battlefield consequences </p> <p>55:20 Counterarguments</p> <p><br></p> <p>Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @Scho...
Ep 269: Walter Russell Mead on Donald and Davos and Greenland, Oh My!
<p>Walter Russell Mead, Alexander Hamilton Professor of Strategy and Statecraft at the University of Florida's Hamilton Center and columnist for The Wall Street Journal, joins the show to discuss foreign policy in the Age of Trump.</p> <p>▪️</p> <p>Times</p> <p>03:15 An extraordinary week</p> <p>05:06 The Transatlantic relationship</p> <p>09:02 Turning to China </p> <p>16:10 Greenland</p> <p>27:03 Post-presidency Trump</p> <p>32:25 Harder now</p> <p>43:08 Zelenskyy</p> <p><br></p> <p>Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast</p> <p><br></p> <p>Find more content on our School of War Substack</p>
Ep 268: Seth Jones on America’s Defense Industrial Crisis
<p>Seth Jones, president of the Defense and Security Department and Harold Brown Chair at CSIS, joins the show to talk about how America has resurrected its defense industrial base in the past and why it should be doing so now.</p> <p>▪️</p> <p>Times</p> <p>02:55 The British in the 1930s</p> <p>05:58 Roosevelt’s decision</p> <p>09:48 Re-orientation </p> <p>13:59 The B-29</p> <p>16:00 Victory in Iraq </p> <p>27:54 Skunkworks</p> <p>31:30 Xi comes into power</p> <p>35:07 Disadvantages</p> <p>39:07 What needs to be done? </p> <p>44:28 Fighting for 5%</p> <p>47:43 Culture shift<br></p> <p>Follow al...
Ep 267: Michael Lurie on Israel’s New Laser Weapon
<p>Michael Lurie, CEO and President of Rafael USA, joins the show to explain how High Energy Lasers and Iron Beam will change missile & air defense, not to mention warfare itself, forever.</p> <p>▪️</p> <p>Times</p> <p>02:34 The evolution of missile defense</p> <p>05:09 Iron Dome & Iron Beam</p> <p>08:04 How do lasers work?</p> <p>15:16 Limitations</p> <p>20:07 Integrating systems </p> <p>25:28 Future applications </p> <p>30:09 Lessons from field testing</p> <p>40:15 American interest</p> <p><br></p> <p>Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast</p> <p><br></p> <p>Find more content on our Sc...
Ep 266: Blake Seitz & Mike Watson—Were the Founders Isolationists?
<p>Blake Seitz, Content Strategist at Palantir Technologies, and Mike Watson, Executive Director at The Alexander Hamilton Society, join the show to discuss America’s relationship with the world at the time of the Founding Fathers.</p> <p>▪️</p> <p>Times</p> <p>02:45 18th Century geopolitical landscape</p> <p>06:25 Yorktown</p> <p>11:17 Diplomacy of the Founders </p> <p>16:23 Bold rhetoric </p> <p>19:37 Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists</p> <p>25:45 Washington’s legacy </p> <p>32:42 The roots of isolationism </p> <p>36:38 Parallels and changes</p> <p>44:16 What does it mean to be an American? </p> <p>47:20 A grounding in history<br></p> <p>Read more - 1...
Ep 265: Mark Dubowitz on Is Iran Next?
<p>Mark Dubowitz, CEO of FDD, joins the show to bring us up to speed on widespread Iranian protests, the chances of American or Israeli intervention, and what intervention might achieve.</p> <p>▪️</p> <p>Times</p> <p>02:15 Will we strike?</p> <p>05:34 New Iran talks?</p> <p>07:03 Nuclear concessions? </p> <p>10:35 Intervention possibilities</p> <p>15:10 The Shah’s son and the Islamic regime</p> <p>24:28 How do these protests compare to the past?</p> <p>34:29 Public perceptions</p> <p><br></p> <p>Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast</p> <p><br></p> <p>Find more content on our...
