Now that the offensive launched by Ukrainian forces is possibly in the process of petering out, Mike Kofman shares some of his exploratory thoughts on where Ukraine stands and what 2024 might look like.
Continuing our series of conversations about issues at the intersection of defense and capital, Ryan chatted with Raj Shah of Shield Capital last month in San Francisco. From his service in the Air Force flying F-16s to his time as an entrepreneur to the Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental to his current work in venture capital, Shah has been a critical player in trying to maintain and grow the U.S. military's technological advantages.
Ryan spoke with the commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric Smith, about a range of issues from his forthcoming planning guidance to the future of force design to personnel and safety and beyond.
Ryan sat down with Mike to discuss the Russo-Ukrainian war, Russia’s effort to seize the initiative before winter begins, Moscow’s turn to North Korea for artillery shells, the challenges the Ukrainian military may face next year, the Biden administration’s failure to provide certain weapons to Ukraine quickly, and the state of the Russian military. Mike and Ryan close with a conversation about the need to be forward-looking about the conflict, given that the Russian defense industry has increas...
Ryan sat down with John Amble of the Modern War Institute to unpack the challenges Israel is likely to face in Gaza; Israel's world-renowned urban warfare training facilities; comparisons with other battles in cities such as those that took place in the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Mosul; and how the initial Hamas attack overwhelmed Israel's preparations to defend itself. John and Ryan close by reflecting on how three Islamist militant groups have shocked the world and armies that were, on paper...
Welcome to a sneak peek of Thinking the Unthinkable , our newest members-only podcast. We are previewing this members-only podcast on this feed for free. This members-only show features in-depth analysis and insight on the perils of a new nuclear age and is hosted by Ankit Panda. Expect Ankit to challenge views on nuclear weapons, deterrence, and explore the future of arms control. This show will come out bi-weekly for War on the Rocks members. If you like what you hear, consider joining War on ...
Ryan sat down with Bruce Hoffman, the Shelby Cullom and Kathryn W. Davis senior fellow for counterterrorism and homeland security at the Council on Foreign Relations, to discuss Hamas' terror attack over the weekend. The conversation touched on the intelligence failure before the attack, Hamas' history of terror attacks in the region, the role of Iran, and the likelihood of a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. This conversation was recorded on Monday, Oct. 9, 2023.
Nick sat down with Evan Medeiros, Thomas Shugart and Emily Weinstein to take stock of where U.S.-Chinese relations stand today and where they might be going. Can President Biden’s diplomatic push pay off? How will Taiwan’s elections and Beijing’s internal shakeup change the equation? What lessons is President Xi Jinping actually learning from the invasion of Ukraine? And can the U.S. and China ultimately find a stable floor for their bilateral relationship or are they headed toward conflict?...
Nick and Mike sat down for an in-depth discussion of what it would take for Ukraine to achieve a true breakthrough against Russian forces. Mike also evaluated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s recent visit to Washington, D.C., Ukraine’s strike on Russia's Black Sea Fleet headquarters and the potential impact of ATACMS.
Ryan was happy to welcome back Lt. Gen. Brian Robinson and Lt. Gen. Andrea Tullos onto the show. These Air Force leaders lead Air Education and Training Command and Air University, respectively, the latter of which is a major component of the former. As such, they work together all the time (and aren't dueling, but fun title right?). In this episode, they speak to Ryan about what they and their teams are doing to ensure the U.S. Air Force is trained at the highest level possible in order to ensu...
Ryan sat down at the War on the Rocks office with Adm. Sir Antony Radakin, the professional head of the United Kingdom's military. The two discussed the United Kingdom's support for the Ukrainian military, the lessons learned from the conflict and the challenges Russia is now facing. The conversation then pivoted to the future of the British military, the plans for global force presence and Adm. Radakin's perspective on the status of AUKUS.
Nick Danforth sat down with Mike Kofman to discuss the state of the Ukrainain offensive three months in, as well as the challenges of assessing it. Mike also explained why he, as an analyst, was particularly pleased to have Yevgeny Prigozhin out of the picture. The two discussed Mike's recent co-authored piece with Rob Lee, " Perseverance and Adaptation: Ukraine's Counteroffensive at Three Months ," and how the findings were similar to Jack Watling and Nick Reynold's latest report for RUSI, Stor...
On this episode of the War on the Rocks podcast, deputy assistant to U.S. President Joe Biden, Joshua Geltzer, sat down with Nicholas Danforth to discuss the administration’s case for the reauthorization of section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act . They discussed the act's role in a changing threat environment, challenges in Congress and potential avenues to mitigate civil liberties concerns.
On this special preview of the Russia Contingency , Mike sat down with Stephen Kotkin, a senior fellow at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) and the Kleinheinz Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. The conversation touched on the latest news from the Ukrainian offensive, examined lessons learned from observing the conflict and explored the Ukrainian definition of victory in the war. Parts two and three of this conversation are available exclusively on the Russ...
On this episode, Nick sits down with Mike to discuss Ukraine's ongoing offensive. The conversation discussed the latest from Ukraine's three axes of advance. The two also covered the latest reports from both the Washington Post and the New York Times focused on the U.S. government's growing pessimism about the offensive, as well as how to judge Ukrainian military action. Mike also examined the latest news from the Black Sea, Russia's recent boarding of a ship operating in the area, and the feasi...
Ryan and Mike finally found themselves in the same locale after heavy travel and sat down for a in-depth conversation on Ukraine's offensive, how we got here, and what might be coming next.
Aaron sat down with Mike to discuss the Ukrainian counteroffensive and where things stand along the three axes of advance. The two discussed the state of the Ukrainian armed forces, the units committed to the fight, Russia's well-prepared defense and whether the offensive is at an inflection point.
To mark the tenth anniversary of War on the Rocks, Philip D. Zelikow did us the honor of interviewing Ryan on the origin story of War on the Rocks, where it's gone from there, and where it is going next.
On this special sneak peak of the Russia Contingency, Mike sat down with Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, to discuss the findings from their recent research trip to Ukraine. The conversation covered Russian defensive lines, the role that mines have played in stymying Ukraine's counteroffensive, and the broader challenges the Ukrainian military has with scaling offensive operations. To listen to part 2 of this episode, as well as a series of conversations about t...
On this sneak-peak episode of the Russia Contingency , Aaron sat down with Mike Kofman to discuss the state of the Ukrainian military's offensive, the different axes of advance and what the offensive may be able to tell observers about the direction of the conflict. Listeners will get to hear the first 20 minutes of the conversation. To hear the rest, which examined the recent debates in Russia about nuclear weapons use and looked back at Yevgeny Prighozin's mutiny, please consider becoming a Wa...
Aaron sat down recently with Kimberly Jackson, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for force readiness and Gen. David Berger, who is handing over the reins as commandant of the Marine Corps on the day that this podcast is published. The conversation focused on the article " Readiness Redefined: Now What? ," which was published on the site on June 12th. The three discussed how to think about readiness and how to fuse data to answer tough questions about where and when to take risks...
This episode comes to you from Ramstein Air Base, where Ryan spoke with Gen. James Hecker of the U.S. Air Force and Air Marshall Johnny Stringer of the Royal Air Force about what we can learn from airpower and spacepower almost a year and a half into the war in Ukraine.
In the first of a series of conversations on the topic of the defense industrial base and capital, Ryan is joined by Dan Gwak of Point72 and James Parker of Leonid. If you're a policymaker, founder, technologist, in finance, or a defense acquisitions professional this is a must-listen episode.
In today's episode, Mike looks at the slow progress of the Ukrainian offensive and what, if anything, it means for the course of the war. He also discusses Russia's defensive strategy and how grateful he is not to be in Yevgeny Prigozhin's head. Mike and Nick recorded this show on Friday, June 23rd before the Wagner insurrection began to escalate. We will have more podcasts and articles on the recent events in Russia in the coming days and weeks.
On this special edition podcast, listeners will get to hear the first 20 minutes of Unspent Rounds, a members-only War on the Rocks podcast that features interesting conversations with interesting people. On this episode, Aaron Stein spoke with Capt. Adam "AI" Solomon, an airfield operations flight commander. Adam was in charge of airfield operations and oversaw almost all aspects of flight operations during the evacuation from Kabul. The conversation explored the withdrawal, how it all went dow...
On Monday, Nick Danforth sat down with Mike Kofman to discuss the latest from the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive. In this episode, Mike details the advances of Ukrainian forces to date, as well as their challenges and potential objectives. He also weighs in on the value and limitations of ongoing Western military support and warns against the dangers of excessive and unfounded optimism.
On this special edition podcast, listeners will get to hear the first 20 minutes of Mike Kofman's members-only podcast, The Russia Contingency . Mike spoke last week with William C. Wohlforth, a faculty member in Dartmouth College’s department of government about Russia, its role in the world and American power in Europe. The 45-minute conversation explored in-depth the challenges of forecasting, analyzed Russian revisionism and explored the future of great power competition. To listen to the sh...
Following Russia's failed winter offensive, Ukraine appears to be preparing for its planned counter-offensive. Ryan sat down with Mike Kofman to discuss the state of Russia's armed forces, the current state of the Western-led effort to train and equip Ukrainian forces and the latest from the battle for Bakhmut. The conversation also touched on the role of the British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missile, Ukraine's ability to absorb the F-16, what exactly happened during the recent cross-border a...
This week, Ryan sat down at a cafe in Washington, D.C., with Hümeyra Pamuk and Nicholas Danforth to discuss the results of Turkey's May 14 election. They talked about the nature of President Erdogan's rule, the roots of his political longevity and what these elections mean for Turkey's future.
Ryan sat down with Mike Kofman at WOTR HQ in Washington, DC to talk about Ukraine's coming offensive; the manpower, materiel, and politics behind it; and lingering questions about Team Biden's theory of success. Are you a War on the Rocks member yet? If not, why not? Check it out at warontherocks.com/membership
