School of War

Major General Mick Ryan, Australian Army (retired), Senior Fellow for Military Studies the Lowy Institute and author of the Futura Doctrina Substack, joins the show to break down the latest on Ukraine, from the battlefield to the White House.  ▪️ Times    •       01:05 Introduction     •      02:06 The front     •      06:23 Fortress belt        •      08:38 ROI      •      10:55 Shifting feelings            •      14:41 A realistic settlement          •      20:53 After Alaska     •      23:15 Boots on the ground     •      25:45 Unpredictability          •      28:49 A different vibe      •      31:31 Stop the killing Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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.  ▪️ 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  Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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.  ▪️ 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 Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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.  ▪️ 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 Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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. ▪️ 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 Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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.   ▪️ 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 Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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.   ▪️ 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 Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Will Somerindyke, Chairman of Regulus Global and CEO of UNION, joins the show to discuss rebuilding the U.S. defense industrial base. ▪️ 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 Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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. ▪️ 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 Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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. ▪️ 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 Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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. ▪️ 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 Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Arnold Punaro, retired USMC Major General and author of If Confirmed: An Insider's View of the National Security Confirmation Process, joins the show to talk about his infantry service in Vietnam and his experiences serving in Washington DC. ▪️ Times      •      01:35 Introduction     •      05:40 5 weeks     •      10:51 Officer training       •      13:18 3/7     •      16:37 Jungle fighting           •      23:25 Wounded         •      31:32 Payback      •      36:35 Bad situation     •      40:10 Getting home      •      45:46 The Senate     •      49:28 Getting the facts     •      54:00 Service Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Daniel Samet, the George P. Shultz Fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute and author of U.S. Defense Policy toward Israel: A Cold War History, joins the show to breakdown the origins of the important, if at times contentious, U.S.-Israel relationship. ▪️ Times      •      01:30 Introduction     •      02:28 1948     •      05:44 Arabist strategy       •      08:13 11 minutes     •      10:37 Looking for friends           •      15:40 Soviet-Arab relations     •      19:25 Republicans         •      25:16 Kennedy      •      29:29 Strong friends     •      32:02 Nuclear program      •      37:33 6 Day War     •      43:19 Mistake?     •      47:41 Kissinger Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcripts of episodes on our School of War Substack

Scott Boorman, Professor of Sociology at Yale University and author of Three Faces of Sun Tzu, joins the show to discuss the world and ideas of Sun Tzu. ▪️ Times      •      01:48 Introduction     •      02:10 “Know your enemy”     •      05:18 The Protracted Game       •      09:59 Text and application     •      16:05 Warring states           •      21:14 Chinese thinking     •      24:58 Net assessment      •      29:05 Cunning     •      32:02 Omissions      •      37:05 Memorization          Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

Jonathan Schanzer, executive director at FDD, joins the show to break down his time on the ground in Israel at the beginning of the war and what may come with the Israel-Iran ceasefire in place. ▪️ Times      •      01:27 Introduction     •      02:10 Extraction     •      05:50 Different       •      09:25 In the shelter     •      12:03 Damage taken           •      16:18 Stress     •      17:45 Getting out     •      24:57 Road ahead     •      30:40 Iranian risks     •      32:10 Hamas          Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack