Tom Karako, Senior Fellow and Director of the Missile Defense Project at CSIS, joins the show to discuss what President Trump’s executive order on missile defense portends. ▪️ Times • 01:15 Introduction • 02:08 Dawn of missile defense • 05:50 Ups and downs • 10:40 Arguments against • 14:50 Capabilities • 18:45 A layered defense • 22:20 Cost • 26:42 Tried and tested • 28:21 A “Pearl Harbor” Pearl Harbor Follow along on Instagram or YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode ...
Jan 31, 2025•31 min
Eric Chewning and Thomas Moore of HII join the show to discuss America’s military shipbuilding challenges, and their potential solutions. ▪️ Times • 01:32 Introduction • 01:55 Origins • 07:08 An eroded defense industrial base • 10:20 Shipbuilding in 2025 • 17:11 Deindustrialization • 21:46 Learning curves • 27:00 Contract economics • 32:26 Japan and South Korea • 37:39 Thinking about the whole problem • 39:03 Manned and unmanned • 42:25 Force protection • 45:06 Soft kills and hard kills Follow a...
Jan 28, 2025•48 min
Diana Mara Henry and Gabe Scheinmann join the show to discuss the new book I Am André: German Jew, French Resistance Fighter, British Spy, which charts the astonishing, brave, and tragic World War II career of ‘André’ Joseph Scheinmann. ▪️ Times • 01:50 Introduction • 03:01 The story of a fighter • 09:26 Born in Munich • 11:87 Citizen without a country • 17:08 Liaison to the High Command • 21:46 MI6 • 25:20 Spycraft • 30:27 London and capture • 36:31 Interrogation • 42:52 Max and Regina • 46:40 ...
Jan 24, 2025•1 hr 5 min
Evan Mawdsley, Honorary Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow and author of Supremacy at Sea: Task Force 58 and the Central Pacific Victory, joins the show to discuss the successful 1944 U.S. naval campaign through the Central Pacific in World War II. ▪️ Times • 01:36 Introduction • 02:27 The Central Pacific • 11:15 Carrier air power • 14:31 Embracing the task force • 20:00 Replenishment at sea • 24:28 A campaign for airbases • 27:56 Limiting loss • 33:38 Spruance & Mitsc...
Jan 21, 2025•50 min
Dmitry Filipoff, associate research analyst at the Center for Navy Analyses, joins the show to discuss the U.S. Navy surface component and the grave challenges it faces. ▪️ Times • 01:19 Introduction • 02:09 Lessons from the Red Sea • 06:35 Friendly fire • 10:55 Depletion • 13:45 2027 • 18:07 How do fleets fight? • 21:47 Scope and scale • 24:57 “Catastrophic destruction” • 29:00 The first few hours • 34:30 Scripted exercises • 37:15 Managing the chaos • 41:34 Failing constructively Follow along ...
Jan 14, 2025•46 min
Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow, China Studies, at the National Bureau of Asian Research and author of Mapping China's Strategic Space, joins the show to discuss how to better understand the geopolitical premises of China’s strategic elites. ▪️ Times • 01:36 Introduction • 02:04 Strategic space • 05:05 Mao’s strategic vision • 11:12 Origin points • 17:10 Geopolitical dimensions • 20:25 Finding answers • 26:35 Encirclement • 33:55 Core interests • 38:56 China’s end goal • 45:37 Multilaterali...
Jan 07, 2025•54 min
Dan Blumenthal and Kyle Balzer, co-authors of The True Aims of China’s Nuclear Buildup for Foreign Affairs, join the show to discuss the geopolitical implications of China’s increasing and diversifying nuclear arsenal. ▪️ Times • 01:24 Introduction • 02:40 China’s buildup • 05:05 American perception • 07:28 What is nuclear strategy? • 11:49 Geopolitical vision • 16:28 Shaping the world order • 18:41 Restoring American credibility • 25:10 Imagining failure • 30:24 Prospects Follow along on Instag...
Dec 24, 2024•34 min
Rachel Kousser, professor of Classics and Art History at the City University of New York and author of Alexander at the End of the World, joins the show to talk about the violent, brilliant, complex career of Alexander the Great. ▪️ Times • 01:27 Introduction • 01:59 Early years and conquest • 05:45 Pragmatic opportunist • 09:20 Persepolis burning • 11:48 Darius • 14:36 Alexander in the field • 19:30 Understanding the geography • 25:56 Dreamer • 29:50 “A war of choice…” • 32:57 Building somethin...
Dec 20, 2024•46 min
Shyam Sankar, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Palantir Technologies, joins the show to explain the broken Defense Department acquisition process and how he believes it can be fixed. ▪️ Times • 01:24 Introduction • 01:39 Employee #13 • 03:14 Palantir • 06:22 Monopsony • 11:18 Messy and chaotic • 14:40 Dual purpose companies • 17:18 The buying process • 23:50 Pushback • 25:59 Competing efforts • 27:37 Heretics and heroes • 31:22 Thinking about future war • 35:05 A changing...
Dec 17, 2024•39 min
Mark Dubowitz, chief executive officer of Foundation for Defense of Democracies, joins the show to break down the collapse of the Assad regime and the implications for Israel, Turkey, and Iran. ▪️ Times • 01:23 Introduction • 02:49 What happened? • 05:04 Rebels • 08:17 Risk assessment • 11:30 Factions • 17:10 Extremists and radicals • 19:15 “Our enemies lie to us…” • 24:19 Defensive reshuffle • 29:11 Nuclear Iran • 34:59 A powerful message • 42:40 Striking power • 47:27 A new “Ring of Fire” Foll...
Dec 11, 2024•52 min
Host Aaron MacLean recently embedded with the Israeli Defense Forces and saw firsthand Israel’s war with Iranian proxy groups Hezbollah and Hamas. What lessons can Americans learn from Israel’s year of fighting for its survival? ▪️ Times • 03:28 The North • 04:26 Metula • 07:45 Yishai • 10:00 Realities and misconceptions • 18:06 Stalemate • 22:33 Shaping the fight • 40:00 Reconnaissance-strike complex • 46:38 Dotan Razili • 50:50 Iron Dome in action • 54:43 Sarit Zehavi • 1:11:01 Hezbollah defea...
Dec 10, 2024•1 hr 18 min
Michael Leggiere, Professor of Humanities at the University of Florida and editor of War Studies Journal 1, joins the show to discuss the sad state of military history in higher education. ▪️ Times • 01:17 Introduction • 02:48 Military history in academia • 03:53 PME • 05:22 What is “new” military history? • 11:55 “History shouldn’t be a mystery” • 17:55 The Journal • 20:45 Suggested pieces • 24:32 Napoleon • 26:58 Lee Follow along on Instagram or YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of...
Dec 06, 2024•29 min
Mackenzie Eaglen, senior fellow at AEI and author of Keeping Up with the Pacing Threat: Unveiling the True Size of Beijing’s Military Spending, joins the show to discuss the dire situation the U.S. defense budget is in. ▪️ Times • 01:22 Introduction • 02:48 Keeping up • 05:26 China’s spending • 10:01 Equipment costs • 13:46 “Stealing our stuff” • 18:25 5 alarm fire • 20:32 U.S. budget truths • 24:50 BCA 101 • 31:32 Today or tomorrow • 39:23 Defense is cheaper, not better • 43:21 Solutions Follow...
Dec 03, 2024•49 min
Thomas Barfield, Professor and Chairman of the Anthropology Department at Boston University and author of Shadow Empires: An Alternative Imperial History, joins the show to discuss empire. ▪️ Times • 01:15 Introduction • 03:20 Understanding Afghanistan • 05:15 Classifying empires • 09:59 Failures and features • 12:24 Borders • 15:30 Exogenous empires • 21:36 Brits and Athenians • 26:40 Vulture empires • 32:21 Taking responsibility • 37:15 Empires of nostalgia • 44:50 Vacuum empires • 51:05 Ameri...
Nov 26, 2024•59 min
Rebeccah Heinrichs, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and author of Duty to Deter: American Nuclear Deterrence and the Just War Doctrine, joins the show to make the moral argument for why the United States should modernize and grow its nuclear arsenal. ▪️ Times • 01:15 Introduction • 01:48 A net good • 04:50 Tactical nuclear weapons • 10:25 The argument of disarmament • 14:03 Cold War strategy • 19:53 Capability and will • 26:06 Downside of “no first use” • 32:03 The nuclear triad • 37:20 Ru...
Nov 19, 2024•45 min
Randall Schriver, Chairman of the Board at The Project 2049 Institute, and Dan Blumenthal, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, join the show to discuss a road map for economic competition—and warfare—between the U.S. and China. ▪️ Times • 01:55 Introduction • 02:30 Planning for economic warfare • 06:27 Endstate • 10:18 Leadership • 12:21 NSDD • 14:59 Starting points • 17:10 Decoupling • 20:03 Where is the stuff coming from? • 23:50 Degrading the Chinese economy • 27:33 A dream of...
Nov 12, 2024•48 min
Watch this episode on YouTube. Frank Cohn joins the show to talk about his life: fleeing Hitler’s Germany, his return as a U.S. soldier tasked with hunting Nazi’s, his service in Vietnam, and more. ▪️ Times • 01:55 Introduction • 02:15 A Nazi in the classroom • 05:47 Martin and Ruth • 17:35 Leaving Germany • 19:22 New York City • 22:50 Pearl Harbor • 30:47 Back to Europe • 35:30 Nazi Hunter • 39:48 POW for a moment • 42:32 The Dutch lady • 50:40 Camps • 52:30 Crossing the Elbe • 59:20 Interrogat...
Nov 08, 2024•1 hr 27 min
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 differe...
Nov 05, 2024•44 min
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 return...
Oct 29, 2024•55 min
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...
Oct 22, 2024•31 min
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 Fo...
Oct 18, 2024•1 hr 17 min
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 ...
Oct 15, 2024•42 min
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 tra...
Oct 11, 2024•52 min
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 Susta...
Oct 08, 2024•46 min
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...
Oct 01, 2024•37 min
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? ...
Oct 01, 2024•41 min
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...
Sep 27, 2024•53 min
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 Fi...
Sep 24, 2024•45 min
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 Instagra...
Sep 20, 2024•48 min
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 complexe...
Sep 17, 2024•55 min
