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 ...
Mar 15, 2019•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 Macia...
Mar 08, 2019•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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, photogra...
Mar 01, 2019•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. Ha...
Feb 22, 2019•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 Dece...
Feb 15, 2019•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 e...
Feb 09, 2019•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 mili...
Feb 01, 2019•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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....
Jan 25, 2019•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 Colleg...
Jan 19, 2019•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Jan 18, 2019•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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....
Jan 10, 2019•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 resourc...
Jan 03, 2019•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 expe...
Dec 20, 2018•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 , Sti...
Dec 07, 2018•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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/wa...
Nov 29, 2018•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Nov 21, 2018•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 Twitt...
Nov 15, 2018•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Nov 14, 2018•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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.c...
Nov 08, 2018•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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....
Oct 30, 2018•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. S...
Oct 22, 2018•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 th...
Oct 15, 2018•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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....
Oct 08, 2018•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ,...
Oct 03, 2018•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 , Qan...
Sep 27, 2018•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 inform...
Sep 18, 2018•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 i...
Sep 10, 2018•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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/ ; an...
Sep 08, 2018•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 warcollegep...
Sep 04, 2018•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 wa...
Aug 27, 2018•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
