Cleo Paskal, non-resident senior fellow at FDD and author of Crossroads of Competition, joins the show to discuss China’s campaign for influence and control at the scene of America’s bloody island-hopping campaign in WW2.

▪️

Times 

    •      01:35 Introduction

    •      04:03 Pacific desert   

    •      07:45 Control  

    •      13:48 Post 1945

    •      22:43 Significance      

    •      24:31 Yap

    •      29:43 Divisions      

    •      32:18 Diplomatic maintenance

    •      35:54 Designs

    •      41:30 Strategic concerns  

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast

Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Mark Dubowitz, CEO of FDD, joins the show to breakdown last night’s spectacular Israeli strikes against the Iranian Regime and its nuclear program, and what comes next.

▪️

Times 

    •      02:00 Deception

    •      06:00 Targets   

    •      09:00 The Scientists  

    •      11:00 Complacency

    •      14:00 Israeli goals      

    •      19:00 Regime change

    •      23:00 Strikes and talks      

    •      29:00 Drones

    •      31:00 Counterpunch?

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast

Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Annie Jacobsen, journalist and author of Nuclear War: A Scenario, joins the show to discuss nuclear weapons and their use.

▪️

Times 

    •      01:20 Introduction

    •      02:50 Finding the music   

    •      07:02 Reporting 

    •      09:15 Hidden information

    •      11:22 The scenario      

    •      13:50 Launch on warning

    •      17:30 Villians      

    •      20:45 Annihilation    

    •      26:25 The Black Book 

    •      30:40 North Korea

    •      34:03 Interception      

    •      37:42 ICBMs  

    •      43:39 Deterrence

    •      49:29 Obama      

    •      52:50 Right to know      

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast

Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Stephen Rabe, historian and author of The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy: A Story of Resistance, Courage, and Solidarity in a French Village, joins the show to discuss one of the countless, incredible stories from D-Day. 

▪️

Times 

    •      01:18 Introduction

    •      01:25 Marine   

    •      02:50 Origins 

    •      06:48 Normandy

    •      09:29 507th      

    •      15:20 Training

    •      18:23 Overlord      

    •      21:21 The Villagers   

    •      25:20 A change in plans 

    •      30:07 HQ Battalion

    •      36:17 Armageddon      

    •      39:00 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division  

    •      44:01 Staying behind

    •      46:37 Return      

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast

Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Fred Kagan, senior fellow and the director of the Critical Threats Project at AEI, joins the show to discuss Ukraine’s drone operation targeting Russia’s strategic air assets. 

▪️

Times 

    •      01:46 Introduction

    •      02:25 What just happened?   

    •      07:48 Escalation risk 

    •      10:20 Control

    •      12:39 Implications      

    •      21:10 Stratagems

    •      24:04 Effects      

    •      30:40 Economic pressure   

    •      37:20 Continuing operations 

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast

Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Lt. Col. Zachary Griffiths & Maj. McKinsey Harb joined the show to discuss the U.S. Army’s new Field Manual 1, FM 1 -THE ARMY: A PRIMER TO OUR PROFESSION OF ARMS. 

▪️

Times 

    •      01:22 Introduction

    •      01:51 West Point   

    •      05:43 Culture shift 

    •      08:50 FM 1

    •      12:00 Ben Salomon      

    •      18:06 Warrior

    •      24:04 Tensions      

    •      31:05 Recruiting  

    •      35:18 Leader/follower 

    •      42:19 Mission command      

Rick Atkinson, historian and author of The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780, joins the show to discuss the causes, conduct, and epic consequences of the American Revolution.  

▪️

Times 

    •      02:08 Introduction

    •      02:21 Journalism   

    •      04:30 Mogadishu 

    •      09:30 Lessons

    •      12:49 Ideology      

    •      16:36 Diplomacy

    •      20:21 Boston      

    •      22:59 “Blows must decide”  

    •      28:05 British strategy 

    •      31:27 Washington     

    •      36:49 Franklin in Paris

    •      41:15 Friendless Britain      

    •      45:57 Legacy

    •      51:24 250th Celebration 

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast

Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Jonathan Hackett, former U.S. Marine Corps interrogator and author of Theory of Irregular War, joins the show to discuss America’s post-9/11 wars and how irregular warfare works. 

▪️

Times 

    •      01:12 Introduction

    •      01:30 A good interrogator  

    •      03:26 Afghanistan

    •      06:15 In the interrogation room  

    •      12:10 The Reid Technique    

    •      14:27 Galula

    •      17:10 A military solution      

    •      23:32 Voluntary acceptance  

    •      25:34 Irregular War 

    •      28:20 The war we have     

    •      31:33 COIN

    •      36:10 Speaking the language      

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast

Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Robert D. Kaplan, Robert Strausz-Hupé Chair in Geopolitics at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and author of Waste Land: A World in Permanent Crisis, joins the show to discuss the world’s current state of “permanent crisis”. 

▪️

Times 

    •      01:40 Introduction

    •      02:00 Far Rockaway 

    •      04:55 Balkan Ghosts

    •      08:20 Geography and technology  

    •      10:55 Weimar    

    •      13:43 Mediocrities

    •      17:44 Reading deeply      

    •      20:30 Shakespeare  

    •      23:20 Where to watch 

    •      26:59 Xi and Taiwan     

    •      28:39 Sacred honor

    •      31:22 Post-modern cities   

    •      33:28 AI and atrophy    

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast

Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Mick Ryan, retired major general in the Australian Army and author of 

The War for Ukraine: Strategy and Adaptation Under Fire, joins the show to discuss the evolving battlefield and cycles of change and innovation going on in Ukraine. 

▪️

Times 

    •      01:35 Introduction

    •      02:17 Touring the front 

    •      05:11 No place safe

    •      07:01 Change  

    •      11:24 Wire guided drones   

    •      15:31 Task organization   

    •      20:38 Drone defense     

    •      22:49 Is artillery dead?

    •      26:39 Rethinking procurement 

    •      30:34 2014     

    •      33:07 Putin’s objectives

    •      36:05 Formula for ceasefire   

    •      38:02 A just solution   

    •      39:41 Surprise is alive and well     

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast

Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack