Colonel Peter Mansoor, U.S. Army (retired), General Raymond E. Mason Jr. Chair in Military History at The Ohio State University and authors of Redemption: MacArthur and the Campaign for the Philippines, joins the show to discuss the largest campaign of the Pacific War, the liberation of the Philippines. 

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Times

    •      01:08 Introduction

    •      01:30 Why West Point?

    •      06:11 Petraeus   

    •      09:55 A huge scale 

    •      11:25 War Plan Orange       

    •      16:25 Inevitable     

    •      20:07 The guerrilla war

    •      26:53 Mindanao & Luzon

    •      31:33 Leyte Gulf    

    •      37:52 A do or die campaign 

    •      40:04 Manila 

    •      44:34 Command responsibility 

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Joel Wuthnow and Phillip Saunders, both of the  U.S. National Defense University and authors of China's Quest for Military Supremacy, join the show to discuss the origins, organization, and strategic outlook of China’s military. 

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Times

    •      01:22 Introduction

    •      01:57 Origins

    •      06:58 Crisis control   

    •      08:48 PLA structure 

    •      13:05 1960       

    •      20:17 Horizontal escalation    

    •      24:34 By land or sea

    •      28:23 American resolve

    •      30:54 Xi    

    •      36:41 A lack of experience 

    •      44:10 Military diplomacy

    •      48:17 Reading list

    •      50:43 Be unpredictable

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Marc LiVecche, McDonald Distinguished Scholar of Ethics, War, and Public Life at Providence and author of The Good Kill: Just War and Moral Injury, joins the show to discuss Just War Theory and whether the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki fit in that framework. 

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Times

    •      01:23 Introduction

    •      01:30 Misspent youth

    •      07:51 Moral injury   

    •      13:27 Conflicting views

    •      19:15 Richard Frank       

    •      28:53 Right not moral     

    •      39:12 Not the same

    •      40:36 Gifts from heaven

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Stephen Platt, professor of Chinese history at UMass Amherst and author of The Raider: The Untold Story of a Renegade Marine and the Birth of U.S. Special Forces in World War II, joins the show to discuss the incredible life of Evans Carlson.

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Times

    •      01:48 Introduction

    •      02:50 American quirk

    •      08:14 China 

    •      10:18 Soviet policy 

    •      14:01 Nicaragua       

    •      16:29 Edgar Snow     

    •      21:11 FDR

    •      24:42 8th Route Army 

    •      31:52 Embargo   

    •      38:30 Raiders

    •      42:40 Makin Island

    •      46:30 Force multiplier    

    •      52:44 1946

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Lawerence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King’s College London and author of ‘The Age of Forever Wars’  in Foreign Affairs Magazine, joins the show to discuss why protracted warfare seems to be a mark of the era.  

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Times

    •      01:32 Introduction

    •      02:01 Aligning strategy 

    •      04:37 Mass 

    •      07:14 Iraq and Afghanistan 

    •      11:14 Al Qaeda       

    •      14:25 Survive     

    •      17:50 Results matter

    •      22:04 Trade-offs 

    •      27:23 Avoiding mistakes   

    •      32:13 Why does Putin continue?

    •      38:29 Concessions

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Steven Rabalais, litigator and author of General Fox Conner: Pershing's Chief of Operations and Eisenhower's Mentor,  joins the show to discuss the extraordinary influence of now-forgotten General Fox Connor on the outcome of WWI and Eisenhower’s career.  

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Times

    •      01:51 Introduction

    •      03:10 Growing up with history 

    •      05:47 A southern story 

    •      07:44 West Point struggles 

    •      12:07 A reader       

    •      14:50 Coastal artillery     

    •      20:46 Rocks and airplanes

    •      23:51 Mechanism of victory

    •      27:54 WWI logistics   

    •      32:47 Summer 1918

    •      46:03 Eisenhower

    •      51:24 Panama   

    •      01:01:58 Foreshadowing

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Will Somerindyke, Chairman of Regulus Global and CEO of UNION, joins the show to discuss rebuilding the U.S. defense industrial base.

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Times

    •      01:36 Introduction

    •      02:35 A navy family 

    •      05:51 Regulus 

    •      08:05 American made 

    •      10:45 155       

    •      14:44 Integration     

    •      16:53 Supply chains

    •      23:20 Demand

    •      28:27 Flexibility   

    •      31:40 Forging vs casting

    •      33:45 UNION

    •      37:27 Customers   

    •      40:07 Mindset

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Ryan McDermott, Army veteran of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and author of Downriver: Memoir of a Warrior Poet,  joins the show to talk about his combat experiences.

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Times 

    •      01:13 Introduction

    •      01:55 Seeking purpose 

    •      04:11 West Point  

    •      06:48 9/11 

    •      08:41 3rd Infantry Division       

    •      10:12 Platoon tactics    

    •      14:51 “Crossing tonight”

    •      18:08 Preparing for combat

    •      23:40 Tired  

    •      29:37 Baghdad

    •      35:51 Thunder Runs

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Bryan Clark, senior fellow and director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at Hudson Institute, joins the show to talk about how a war with China could play out.

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Times 

    •      01:51 Introduction

    •      02:00 Submariner

    •      10:10 Environmental conditions  

    •      12:40 State of play 

    •      20:04 Complacency      

    •      23:36 Hellscape     

    •      32:14 Cultural differences 

    •      37:20 Party control

    •      43:40 Degraded environment  

    •      48:02 Practice now

    •      51:45 Deterrence

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Paul Lay, Senior Editor of Engelsberg Ideas and author of Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of Cromwell's Protectorate,joins the show to talk about the turbulent age of the English Civil War, Cromwell, and the Protectorate.

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Times 

    •      01:45 Introduction

    •      02:00 17th century

    •      03:51 The Thirty Years War  

    •      12:40 Anti-Catholicism 

    •      15:24 Underlying causes      

    •      21:46 Cromwell     

    •      30:34 Thatcher 

    •      33:04 The Rump Parliament

    •      37:07 Western Design

    •      54:44 Reverberations

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