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The future fight won’t be won by those with the biggest budgets, most polished strategies, or largest armies. It will be won by those who can translate breakthrough technology into usable capability at speed and scale. Ryan was joined by Horacio Rozanski, the CEO of Booz Allen, to talk about the role his company is playing in this race. Having reoriented Booz Allen into a technology integrator, he shares the cultural and organizational challenges of turning Booz Allen into a company of builders, the bets being made on emerging technologies, and how his personal journey — from immigrant to Booz Allen intern to CEO — shapes how he sees change. This is a special cross-posted episode of Cogs of War, our show on defense tech and industry. Click here to subscribe using your podcast app of choice: https://pod.link/1818133762
In the wake of summits in Alaska and Washington, the war in Ukraine has become as much about competing diplomatic positions as it is about hard realities on the front. Ryan sat down with Dara Massicot and Mike Kofman to discuss what Putin really walked away with, how European leaders are trying to shore up Kyiv’s position, and whether the conversation over security guarantees could reshape the balance of the conflict. Along the way, they dig into the debate over territorial concessions, battlefield attrition, and what all of this means for Ukraine’s ability to endure. This episode is supported by Legion. Trusted by special operators and the Defense Department, Legion builds secure, agentic AI for the most sensitive environments — on local servers, in isolated networks, or in government clouds — without ever training on customer data. Learn more at: https://warontherocks.com/legion
We're diving into a major development at the intersection of tech, trade, and national security: the U.S. government’s decision to allow NVIDIA's H20 chips back into the Chinese market. Brad Carson (former defense official and member of Congress) of Americans for Responsible Innovation and Liza Tobin (former CIA and National Security Council staffer) of Garnaut Global join Ryan to explore what this reversal says about America’s approach to protecting its tech edge, whether NVIDIA's justifications hold water, why normal Americans should care about this, and what it could mean for the future of AI and semiconductor strategy. This episode also features a short clip from our new, free show, Cogs of War. You can listen to this exciting new show on defense tech and industrial issues on your podcast app of choice.
In a time of rapid change and global danger, how should the warriors of the future be educated? Ryan sat down with Vice Adm. Peter Garvin, president of the National Defense University, to tackle this question — one that cuts to the core of American military power. Garvin offers a frank assessment of how professional military education needs to evolve to prepare leaders for a world defined by great-power rivalry, disruptive technologies (including and especially AI), and dynamic battlefields.
Fresh from his latest research trip to Ukraine's battlefields, Michael Kofman joins Ryan for an insightful discussion on the shifting dynamics at the front, the role of drones in Ukraine's defensive strategy, and the adaptation of Ukrainian military command structures in real time. They explore the political turmoil gripping Ukraine, including contentious reforms targeting anti-corruption agencies, and delve into evolving Western efforts for supplying arms to Ukraine. Their conversation also tackles the implications of President Trump's growing frustration with Putin and provides a clear-eyed assessment of Senator Graham's proposed Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, and what it might mean (or, not mean) for the future of the conflict. Kofman goes into many of these issues further in his show, "The Russia Contingency," so don't miss out on becoming a member. Join at warontherocks.com/membership
Does the United States need a new playbook — or just fewer plays? In this charged episode, big ideas collide over how to sequence American power across the Middle East, Europe, and the Indo-Pacific. Ryan is joined by A. Wess Mitchell (Marathon Initiative), Stacie Pettyjohn (Center for a New American Security), and Justin Logan (Cato Institute) for a scintillating debate over the future of U.S. strategy.
Mike Kofman and Ryan brought out the mics to discuss the pressing issues in the war between Ukraine and Russia. They focused on drones, the state of the front, manpower, Putin's approach to Washington, and the contested policies around continued aid from the United States to Ukraine. This episode features meaty excerpts from an episode of The Insider, featuring an interview with Jakub Jajcay talking about his article, "I Fought in Ukraine and Here’s Why FPV Drones Kind of Suck" as well as an episode of The Russia Contingency featuring a two part conversation with Stephen Kotkin, the leading historian of Russia and authoritarianism. If these excerpts leave you wanting more, you can listen to them by becoming a member: https://warontherocks.com/membership. Our prices are going up soon so today is the perfect day to join.
Gen. Christopher Todd Donahue, who leads U.S. Army Europe and Africa as well as Allied Land Command, joined Ryan for a discussion at WOTR HQ. For the first five minutes, they chat about his Army story, his time in the Ranger Regiment, before discussing how the Army Transformation Initiative is unfolding in Europe, from maneuver brigades, new technologies, command-and-control, drone and counter-drone operations, and more. Donahue previews how the U.S. Army has deliberately identified lessons from the war in Ukraine and how the Army fits into the joint fight.
War on the Rocks is launching a new show called "The Iran Reckoning with Afshon Ostovar." It's a members-only show but this first episode is free for all. Join us as renowned Iran scholar Afshon Ostovar takes you inside one of America's most complex and consequential adversaries. In this episode, Ryan introduces you to Afshon and his background (about the first 20 minutes) before discussing the ongoing war between Iran on one side and Israel and the United States on the other, and the unstable ceasefire that we currently find ourselves in. Much like the "The Russia Contingency with Michael Kofman," this show will feature Afshon's discussions with fellow experts and analysts. Become a member today to listen to them all: https://warontherocks.com/membership
Gen. Jim Rainey, the commander of Army Futures Command, joins Ryan to share how emerging technologies are set to transform the way America’s soldiers will fight and win. He also shares some key insights about the Army Transformation Initiative.
Lt. Gen. Andrea Tullos joined Ryan at WOTR HQ to talk about her experience and insights into professional military education, both for the joint force and especially the Air Force. She shares what Air University, which she commands, has been doing to optimize its mission for competition with China, the pacing threat, and a high intensity fight where sanctuary areas are scarce if they exist at all. Tullos also explains how Air University and the LeMay Center feed into Agile Combat Employment — the Air Force's vision for rapid, dispersed deployment of combat power to increase survivability and adaptability — as well as Air University's plan for "agile learning." "We as an Air Force, owe you education and training, and so we should be pouring into you episodically and consistently throughout your career. And some of it should be on-demand. We have unbelievably talented, inquisitive learners coming in the door and they shouldn't have to wait to get access to content until they have a certain number of years in service or time in grade. They should be able to go online and access that content at the point of need."
Israel's strikes against Iran's military and nuclear infrastructure, as well as its key military and security leadership, shocked the world. How did we arrive here? What did the Israeli strikes accomplish? What options does Iran have? How did the Iranian-U.S. nuclear talks fail to forestall this? Will the United States become a party to the conflict? What about the Russian and Iraqi dimensions? Nicole Grajewski of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Rachel Brandenburg of the Israel Policy Forum joined Ryan to answer these questions and more. This episode was recorded the morning of June 17, and events are fast-moving, but this is still worth listening to in order to understand how we arrived here.
"Innovation adoption is a contact sport." As the chief technology officer of the Department of the Navy, Justin Fanelli is one of the leaders responsible for ensuring warfighters have access to bleeding-edge solutions. Listen to his conversation with Ryan Evans, recorded live at an event in Washington, DC — our first episode of Cogs of War, a new vertical on defense tech and the defense industry brought to you by War on the Rocks and supported by Booz Allen Hamilton. Subscribe to the Cogs of War feed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your podcast player of choice today.
Down in Tampa on the sidelines of SOF Week, Ryan spoke with Lt. Gen. Frank Donovan, vice commander of Special Operations Command, in front of a live audience about how America's special operators are leading the way on the the future of warfare, from great power competition to data and AI — or, how our guest puts it, from the seabed to low earth orbit.
We are sharing a free episode of Thinking the Unthinkable with you all due to fast-moving events between India and Pakistan. This episode features host Ankit Panda and guest Sameer Lalwani discussing the risks involved in a military conflict between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. This episode was recorded after the April 22 attack in Kashmir that prompted the current round of tensions and before India launched strikes on Pakistan, and digs into the risks in the event of an attack.
Ryan popped across the Potomac to the Pentagon to speak with Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George about the ambitious Army Transformation Initiative. Following a directive from the secretary of defense, the initiative aims to streamline the Army’s force structure, cut wasteful spending, and rapidly modernize its capabilities.
Michael Kofman and Dara Massicot join Ryan to unpack how the Trump administration's ambitious peace efforts have collided with reality. They dive into how strategic calculations, politics, military conditions, and societal developments have shaped diplomacy, assessing how various pressures and intentions could redefine — or derail — pathways toward ending the war.
In today's world, turbulence isn't temporary — it's the new normal. In this episode, Gen. (ret.) David Berger, former commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, shares why adaptability, resilience, and grit are not just desirable but essential traits for leaders in an uncertain and unpredictable age. Successful leaders must embrace disruption rather than waiting for stability to return, he tells Ryan. And after offering insights from his career as a Marine officer, including his experience planning and leading Force Design 2030, Gen. Berger shares what life has been like after hanging up the uniform.
Gen. Michael Claesson, Chief of Defense of the Swedish Armed Forces, joined Ryan during a visit to Washington to share how NATO has changed Sweden's armed forces as well as the details of their modernization, consolidation, and expansion efforts — on land, at sea, and in the air. They also discuss the challenges of mobilization in future wars defined by higher technology systems, training, working with industry, and how Sweden has learned from Russia's war against Ukraine. Claesson ends with his views on how he tries to shape Sweden's next generation of most senior military officers.
In this joint episode with the Net Assessment crew, recorded last week on "Liberation Day," Ryan joins Chris, Zack, and Melanie to talk about what's happening in the world as well as the future of Net Assessment, which is moving on to its forever home with the Stimson Center. If you would like to support Net Assessment, please consider donating to this special fund. https://www.stimson.org/support/ We also feature a trailer from a series of panels convened by former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, which you can listen to in full on his podcast, Defending Democracy. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defending-democracy-with-malcolm-turnbull/id1674095396
surprise surprise the Trump apologist is full retard
Yawn...
Protip: October 14th is the last day for windows 10 updates...
What relevance does an argument with the monkey have when you should have been speaking to the organ grinder. I heard Mike drop his Pokrovsk comment last week. A very late addition to his analysis, months behind Lindsey Graham, and years behind other other sources, but also one easily overshadowed by Musks 'Sanction 10 oligarchs' tweet. Priorities?
This aged like milk in only 2 days. You guys are carrying a lot of water for what is increasingly and more obviously a useful idiot for Russia acting as the perfect Manchurian Candidate. Halting of Cyber activities in the Pentagon vis a vis Russia, thuggish fealty theatre on live TV in the Oval Office and more every day. When will you guys actually discuss what a world would look like if you decide to side fully with Russia? Because it looks like Molotov-Ribbentrop 2.0 has already been signed.
lol America the greatest betrayer of allies since Nazi Germany
lol. lmao even.
I tried reading a Ukrainian article, and you were right, they discuss perspectives than go 'unacknowledged' in western media, even yourselves. It is though, as you might expect, a uniquely Ukrainian perspective and as such similarly incomplete. The nuances lost in translation also make it harder for me to filter the propaganda in the way I do with spoken and written English. Worth doing if you can't see a bigger picture, but otherwise of little real value. Слава Україні!
You didn't mention Syria. Pristina to Tartus denotes a shifting trend? Strategic dilemmas for the win. https://files.catbox.moe/vbo3ae.jpg
Its nice to be important but more important to be nice. You can do a fair amount of damage with nice. Trump will be nice.
Struggled to get through this episode bc of the guests' verbal tics (like) and vocal fry...
Watling implied that deriving high confidence from a low volume of data was 'error prone'. Maybe so, but regardless of volume decisions must be made. This podcast was low volume but my confidence remains high that you are deserving of my respect. As a man, not a chair. Keep it up.
Short and sweet, but more appetising. The confluence of these topics is lacking is so much 'reporting' and it's hard to tell the difference between warranted obfuscation, general ignorance, and enemy action. Maybe that's the point, but its very frustrating at times. Thanks for the coupon tip.
Thanks for sending me to All Quiet on the Second Front.
You limit the parameters to kinetics obfuscating the big picture. This gives you the appearance of being propaganda. I have this rule about not paying for propaganda. Broaden your scope to a more comprehensive picture like the one Tony Ratakin described and I could get interested. Until then, quit wasting my time.
We're not just massively squandering potential across our whole society, we're actively repressing it in many situations. I assume you're priority one and the rest of us are in a holding pattern, but if we have to wait another 5 years that pattern might burn in.
The parameters of the peace relate to the parameters of the war. If we limit our perspective of 'the' war to the 'battle' in Ukraine, can we expect to properly articulate 'the' peace?
Mike, I greatly respect your insights, nuance, objectivity and never miss a show to get a grasp of what is really happening in the R-U conflict. But if you could just take some more care pronunciating all (or even most) of the letters in a word... Sometimes I have to wind back several times... Otherwise: high quality podcast!
6:30 mark net default rate
Laboured point received, but already understood.