School of War
Nebulous Media
Nebulous Media
This podcast seeks to learn what war teaches. There has been a steady decline in the study of military history and its associated theoretical discipline, strategy.This podcast seeks to fill that gap through in-depth interviews on military and diplomatic history. Our guests have included former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Cold War historian John Lewis Gaddis, and former China Select Committee chairman Mike Gallagher. We discuss the battlefield commanders, diplomats, strategists, policymakers, and statesmen who have had to make wartime decisions in the ancient and modern eras. The subject of an episode may be an historical battle, campaign, or conflict; the conduct of policy in the course of a major international incident; the work of a famous strategist; the nature of a famous weapon; or the legacy of an important military commander or political leader. Aaron MacLean is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute. He has worked as a foreign policy advisor and legislative director to Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and spent seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps. Visit our Substack for episode transcripts Follow along on Instagram
7h ago
Eric Cline, professor of Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies and of Anthropology at The George Washington University and author of 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed , joins the show to break down the collapse of the Bronze Age civilization and why it matters today. ▪️ Times 02:57 Writing History for All 04:51 The Three Age System 10:32 Tin: The Oil of the Ancient World 11:37 Archeology in the Future 13:22 Bronze Age Society 21:02 The Beginning and End of History 26:07 The Sea Peoples 32:36 The Collapse 35:00 The Mystery of the Exodus 40:53 Resilience and Regeneration Post-Collapse Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod , and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more content on our School of War Substack
3d ago
Elliott Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela and Iran from 2019 to 2021, joins the show to discuss events in the Caribbean. ▪️ Times 01:56 Venezuela Through Multiple Administrations 06:05 Maduro 11:53 Trump to Biden 17:56 U.S. Military Capabilities 24:05 Political Justifications 30:11 The Venezuelan Opposition 35:56 Machado in Hiding 41:27 Worst Case Scenarios Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod , and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more content on our School of War Substack
Dec 12
Nadia Schadlow, former Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy and senior fellow at Hudson Institute, joins the show to breakdown what strategic depth is and why the concept remains relevant. ▪️ Times 02:37 Unhinged, Frenetic Times 03:36 What is Strategic Depth? 07:50 A Lack of Space 12:50 Territory and War 14:55 How to Increase Time 23:18 Allies and Forward Defense 30:29 How Do You Get Freedom of Choice? 36:57 Keeping and Maintaining Strategic Depth Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod , and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more content on our School of War Substack
Dec 9
Roya Hakakian, author of Assassins of the Turquoise Palace and Journey from the Land of No , joins the show to discuss the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini, and how these events have shaped the world. ▪️ Times 02:56 Life Before the Revolution 11:02 Antisemitism in Revolutionary Iran 21:56 Khomeini’s Rise to Power 22:32 The Global Left and the Soviet Union 29:49 A Catastrophe of the 20th Century 37:21 The State of the Iranian Regime 42:19 The Revolution is Alive and Well 52:01 The Future of Iran and Its Leadership Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod , and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more content on our School of War Substack
Dec 5
Frank Gavin, Giovanni Agnelli Distinguished Professor and Director of the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins University SAIS and author of Thinking Historically: A Guide to Statecraft and Strategy , joins the show to discuss the promise and perils of using history to guide today’s statecraft. ▪️ Times 02:20 Political Science vs. History 05:37 The Importance of Historical Thinking 08:13 Historical Interpretation 11:22 Counterfactuals 14:26 The Misuse of History in Policy Making 17:19 Thinking in Time 22:27 Errors When Thinking Historically 31:57 Putin’s View of History 40:01 Philosophical Understanding 47:05 Does History Have a Direction? 53:34 A Checklist for Historical Thinking Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod , and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more content on our School of War Substack
Dec 2
Michael Pack, President and CEO of Palladium Pictures LLC and director of The Last 600 Meters: The Battles of Najaf and Fallujah , joins the show to discuss his remarkable documentary of the Iraq war and the Marines and battles that it portrays. ▪️ Times 01:59 The Journey of Creating 'The Last 600 Meters' 06:24 Censored 10:55 Combat and Valor 21:06 Political Decisions and Military Strategy 26:02 The Human Experience of War 36:29 The Hell House 40:24 Beyond the Battlefield 45:42 Full Metal Jacket 50:45 The Withdrawal from Afghanistan: A New Perspective Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod , and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more content on our School of War Substack
Nov 28
Andrew Lambert, Laughton Professor of Naval History in the Department of War Studies, King's College London and No More Napoleons: How Britain Managed Europe from Waterloo to World War One , joins the show to discuss how the British Empire maintained the balance in Europe between the fall of Napoleon to the summer of 1914. ▪️ Times 02:59 Studying the Problem of War 06:20 British Perspectives of the European Coast 11:33 The French Likelihood of Invading Britain 21:40 The Scheldt River Estuary 30:33 Marlborough, Wellington, and Eisenhower 36:48 The 19th Century and the Rise of Steampower 47:35 Divided attention and British Mistakes of 1914 54:40 The Failure of British Strategic Off-Shore Balancing Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod , and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more content on our School of War Substack
Nov 25
John Lee, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, joins the show to discuss the Trump administration’s efforts to bring the war in Ukraine to an end, and what it all means facing China in the Pacific. ▪️ Times 01:56 Strategic Implications of the War 03:24 The 28-Point Peace Plan 09:49 Challenges of Negotiating Peace 15:19 The Russia-China Connection 19:48 Nuclear Deterrence and Arms Control 29:30 Linking Ukraine and Taiwan 35:18 Ukraine War as a Chinese Proxy Conflict Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod , and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more content on our School of War Substack
