John and David interview David Khandan, Executive Director of Austability. In this episode we look at this Aussie security company's approach to a range of issues from counter-terrorism, radicalisation, cyber as well as women & child protection.

Here is extra information on some of the names/terms used in this episode for those who may not be familiar with them:

Retired US Army Major Jim Gant, former Green Beret, also referred to as 'Lawrence of Afghanistan' for his Village Stability Operations (VSO) approach in which US Special Forces would embed themselves among Pashtun tribes in the hope of turning these tribes against the Taliban. Supporters of VSO (also called One Tribe at a Time) said this was the only tactic that worked in Afghanistan. Obama axed the program upon implementation of the US Status of Forces Agreement (signed by President Bush and actioned by President Obama) whereby the bulk of US forces would be withdrawn from Afghanistan.

Forensic linguistics, otherwise known as 'language and the law' seeks to understand how linguistic knowledge can be used to contextualise legal procedures.

Human Terrain System (HTS) - an American concept for integrating academics in the social sciences, especially anthropologists, into military units in the field for a better understanding of local populations and their motivation for action. The program started in 2005 but fell out of favour in the Pentagon in 2014 because of ongoing complaints about 'academic integrity' of those embedded scholars who could not return to academic work after their work with the military had ended; and, the idea of using academic knowledge to manipulate local opinion to favour the US military in its interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Emile Durkheim was a 19th Century French sociologist focussed on how rapidly changing and modernising societies could maintain their internal coherence once the old traditions and customs became irrelevant.

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John & David is joined by Special Guest Prof. Julian Lindley-French as they look deep into Russia's contemporary grand strategy. Was the fuss about Russian military exercise Vostok 2018 justified?

Here is extra information on some of the names/terms used in this episode for those who may not be familiar with them:

General Valery Gerasimov - Russian Chief of the General Staff

Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye (GRU) - Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

Запад (ZAPAD) - is the name given to routine Russian military manoeuvres that started during the Soviet Union (1973). The largest ZAPAD Exercise was conducted by the USSR in 1981. The latest ZAPAD Exercise was conducted last year (2017) to much media alarm. See STRATEGIKON Ep 36 feat SIA Chairman CDRE P.J. Tyrrell OBE RN (Ret'd)

AirLand Battle - A US military concept designed for the defence of Western Europe from Soviet aggression. It called for the close coordination of Western (ie US-European forces under the auspices of NATO) forces. Land units to manoeuvre aggressively against a Soviet ground attack while Western air power attacked rear echelon Soviet formations to disrupt their offensive operations

Exercise Saif Sareea (Swift Sword) - A British military exercise conducted with the armed forces of Oman. It is the largest out of area military deployment conducted by the UK. There has been three such exercises, 1986, 2001 and 2018

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In this podcast we consider some new research exploring psychological factors and tendinopathy. There is emerging evidence that, as per other musculoskeletal conditions and as you would expect, they do play a role. I discuss which ones appear to be most strongly linked with tendinopathies.

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In this episode John & David interview Prof Albert Wolf. Albert recently moved to the KRG from his last posting in Afghanistan. Here, we discuss issues surrounding KRG, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Israel.

Here is extra information on some of the names/terms used in this episode for those who may not be familiar with them:

Hashd al Shabi - also known as the Popular Mobilisation Units, largely Shia Iraqi, but has some Sunni, Christian and Yazidi Iraqis as well

Sairoon Alliance of the Shiite Iraqi leader, Muqtada al Sadr. Al Sadr's seat of power is in Shiite-majority Basra

Hadi al Amiri - a Shiite Iraqi politician (parliamentarian in Baghdad), formerly the head of the pro-Iranian Badr Organisation. He heads the Fateh Alliance electoral bloc. Al Amiri is a rival of Al Sadr

Golden Division (also referred to the Golden Brigade) - Iraqi special forces focussed on counter-terrorism missions. Their rise to fame came about through their role in liberating the Kurdish city of Mosul from ISIS rule (2016-17)

Basel 1 Rules - minimum capital requirements for banks

Dayton Agreement 1995 - put an end to the Bosnian War in the former Yugoslavia

JCPOA - Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (more commonly referred to as the Iran Nuclear Deal) est. 2015

OBOR - One Belt One Road - also known by the acronym (BRI) Belt and Road Initiative. The strategic transportation network formulated by the People's Republic of China (PRC) in order to overcome America's dominance of global maritime trade routes.

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Prof. R. Evan Ellis, US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute discusses the problems plaguing the South American country, Venezuela with John Bruni.

Here is extra information on some of the names/terms used in this episode for those who may not be familiar with them:

Venezuela: Population - 31 million.

Colectivos: groups of criminal paramilitaries that support the Venezuelan government. They have been around since the 1960s, espousing leftist ideology and claiming to support the Bolivarian Revolution. In reality, they use this as a mask for their criminal activity which includes extortion, murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking.

MUD: Mesa de la Unidad Democrática, est. 2008. Opposition to the governing Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela.

Bolivarian Revolution: A term used by Hugo Chavez to cash in on the spirit of 19th Century revolutionary figure Simon Bolivar who successfully led the wars for independence from Spain. Chavez's aim was to use socialism and Latin American nationalism as a catalyst to create an inter-American bloc.

Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah: Venezuelan politician (former Minister of the Interior & Justice) accused of acting as liaison to Hezbollah

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STRATEGIKON can also be found on the SAGE International Australia (SIA) website:
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If you are enjoying our podcast, please help us out by liking us on our various social media and podcasting platforms and by telling your friends and colleagues about STRATEGIKON.

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