Alle afleveringen
357 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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Sweden’s Secret Army
23 oktober 2026 · 49 min
Sweden joined NATO in 2024. What took them so long? Historian Johan Wennström, author of The Stay Behinds: Sweden’s Cold War Guardians, joins Aaron MacLean to uncover how Sweden secretly collaborated with NATO for decades while remaining publicly neutral for fear the Soviet Union would invade Finland if they did. With Russia threatening Europe again, Wennström discusses the history of Sweden’s balancing act, how it built an army of sleeper cells, and whether NATO membership risks giving countries a false sense of security. Lees meer
03:13 The Soviet Threat
08:00 Was Sweden Neutral?
15:52 Sweden in World War II
20:10 Sweden’s Military Might
20:50 Building the Resistance
25:11 Legalizing a Secret Army
28:35 Soviet Invasion Plans
33:05 The Resistance Leaders
37:09 Is Europe Prepared?
41:09 Was NATO a Mistake?
42:41 The Case for Deterrence
44:29 Preparing for Defeat
This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
This episode of School of War is also brought to you by Stratolaunch, a leading pure-play hypersonics company. Stratolaunch helps the U.S. and its allies move new hypersonic technologies from concept to capability, faster and cheaper. Learn more about how Stratolaunch is accelerating the future of hypersonics at Stratolaunch.com.
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Can Ukraine Win Without America?
19 oktober 2026 · 44 min
Russia is losing ground in eastern Ukraine and suffering mounting casualties. So why is the White House handing Vladimir Putin a lifeline? Retired Australian Army major general Mick Ryan, author of the newsletter Futura Doctrina, joins Aaron MacLean to examine the links between the Iran war and Ukraine, and explains why Ukraine’s battlefield successes aren’t translating into political advantage. Putin’s best hope, Ryan argues, is getting Donald Trump on his side: “He’s tried everything else and it hasn’t worked.” Could Washington give Putin what his army can’t? Lees meer
03:07 Ukraine and Iran
05:58 Putin’s American Lifeline
08:04 Rising Diesel Prices
11:22 Ukraine’s Starlink Dependence
13:30 Satellite Speed Limits
18:00 Russia’s Jet-Powered Drones
19:40 Ukraine Without America
22:34 Stalled Peace Talks
25:39 Economic Warfare Against Iran
31:08 Ukraine’s Counteroffensive
36:40 Adapting on the Battlefield
39:14 China’s Lessons From War
This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
This episode of School of War is also brought to you by Stratolaunch, a leading pure-play hypersonics company. Stratolaunch helps the U.S. and its allies move new hypersonic technologies from concept to capability, faster and cheaper. Learn more about how Stratolaunch is accelerating the future of hypersonics at Stratolaunch.com.
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The Making of Xi Jinping
16 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 7 min
During the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese Communist Party purged Xi Jinping’s father and subjected him to 16 years of persecution and imprisonment—so how did the current president of China emerge more devoted to the party than ever? “It’s like a comic book villain origin story,” says Aaron MacLean. Today, Joseph Torigian, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of The Party’s Interests Come First: The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping, joins School of War to explore the strange and dark story of China’s current president, the brutality of Mao’s China, and how it all shaped the power dynamics in Beijing today. Lees meer
03:24 – The Xi Family and Communist Loyalty
08:14 – Why Xi Jinping Never Abandoned the Party
10:05 – China's Revolutionary Origins
13:23 – The Books That Shaped Xi Jinping
18:34 – Why China Embraced Communism
22:13 – Xi Zhongxun's Rise and Near-Execution
29:21 – Mao's Loyalty Test
35:30 – The Great Leap Forward and Famine
45:14 – Xi Jinping's Brutal Childhood
47:38 – His Father's 16 Years of Persecution
52:11 – Mao and the Cultural Revolution
59:17 – The Xi Family's Tragedy
This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
This episode of School of War is also brought to you by Stratolaunch, a leading pure-play hypersonics company. Stratolaunch helps the U.S. and its allies move new hypersonic technologies from concept to capability, faster and cheaper. Learn more about how Stratolaunch is accelerating the future of hypersonics at Stratolaunch.com.
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When, Not If: The Baltics Prepare for War
13 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 4 min
In the Baltics, war with Russia is no abstraction. Putin could take Lithuania’s capital if he achieved surprise, the nation’s army commander told Aaron MacLean. This week, Aaron travels through Lithuania and Latvia to speak with Brigadier General Nerijus Stankevičius, Lithuanian defense Minister Robertas Kaunas, and Latvian foreign minister Baiba Braže about why Lithuania is amending its constitution to allow weapons of mass destruction on its soil, what schoolchildren are learning in their war-preparedness exercises, and what each country is doing now to make sure they’re ready if war comes. Lees meer
02:58 — Brig. Gen. Nerijus Stankevičius
04:25 — Russia Could Take Vilnius
06:03 — How Lithuania Would Fight
09:58 — “Never Again”
14:14 — Robertas Kaunas, Lithuania’s Defense Strategy
17:28 — Drones, AI & the Eastern Flank
22:31 — Nuclear Deterrence
23:58 — Preparing the Whole Country
29:16 — A Message to Putin
31:29 — Baiba Braže, Latvia on the Front Line
36:12 — Drones Over Latvia
37:28 — Joining Latvia’s National Guard
40:30 — Russia’s “Sub-Conventional” War
48:46 — What If Russia Wins in Ukraine?
55:54 — Can Russia Be Pressured Into Peace?
This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
This episode of School of War is also brought to you by Stratolaunch, a leading pure-play hypersonics company. Stratolaunch helps the U.S. and its allies move new hypersonic technologies from concept to capability, faster and cheaper. Learn more about how Stratolaunch is accelerating the future of hypersonics at Stratolaunch.com.
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Rebuilding America’s War Machine
9 oktober 2026 · 50 min
America is running low on munitions, its shipyards can’t keep pace, and the materials its weapons depend on too often run through China. Michael Cadenazzi is the Pentagon official charged with turning that around, putting billions of dollars behind the factories, materials, and supply chains that make America’s military power possible. He joins School of War to explain how the Pentagon plans to ramp up weapons production, attract private investment, and break decades of bad habits in how the Pentagon does business. Cadenazzi is confident America can still mobilize its industrial might for a major war, but he warns that waiting until the shooting starts would be “way more expensive in blood and treasure.” The race to rearm is on, and the question is whether America can win it before the next great-power war begins. Lees meer
03:40 – America's Industrial Decline
06:15 – Dependence on China
09:12 – Pentagon Spending
12:40 – Rare Earth Production
16:59 – Defense Supply Chains
20:41 – Weapons Manufacturing
23:26 – High-End Weapons vs. Mass
28:01 – Blood and Treasure
31:56 – Private Investment
34:58 – Outproducing China
41:29 – Pentagon Equity Stakes
45:00 – Managing Investments
This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
This episode of School of War is also brought to you by Stratolaunch, a leading pure-play hypersonics company. Stratolaunch helps the U.S. and its allies move new hypersonic technologies from concept to capability, faster and cheaper. Learn more about how Stratolaunch is accelerating the future of hypersonics at Stratolaunch.com.
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What Happened Inside Russia’s Plague Lab?
8 oktober 2026 · 36 min
A young researcher in Siberia has died under mysterious circumstances, raising questions about a potential lab leak. Russia won’t say how it happened. Marshall Billingslea, former Special Presidential Envoy for Arms Control, says Moscow has scrubbed news reports, had officials walk back talk of an outbreak, and kept the World Health Organization in the dark. He joins School of War to fill in what the Kremlin won’t, taking us inside Russia’s expanding bioweapons program and the institute at the heart of the mystery, which defectors say ran a covert effort to weaponize the disease and make it resistant to antibiotics. He also explains how Moscow thinks about using these weapons, how China is building a program of its own, and why the most frightening of them pose a risk even nuclear weapons don’t. Lees meer
2:32 — Mystery at a Russian Plague Lab
5:29 — Russia’s Bioweapons Program
7:14 — Weaponizing Plague
10:39 — How Russia Would Use Bioweapons
13:01 — Smallpox and Ebola
15:07 — Controlling the Spread
16:40 — “Your Vaccines Wouldn’t Have Worked”
18:20 — A Soviet Bioweapons Defector
20:30 — Why Bioweapons Bans Are Hard to Verify
24:58 — Irkutsk and Wuhan
29:48 — Another Pandemic?
32:45 — China and North Korea
This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
This episode of School of War is also brought to you by Stratolaunch, a leading pure-play hypersonics company. Stratolaunch helps the U.S. and its allies move new hypersonic technologies from concept to capability, faster and cheaper. Learn more about how Stratolaunch is accelerating the future of hypersonics at Stratolaunch.com.
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Michael Oren: October 7 and the Cost of Defending Israel
6 oktober 2026 · 45 min
Three years after October 7, the deadliest terror attack in Israeli history looms large over the Jewish state’s upcoming election. Former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren says whomever takes the helm next is unlikely to “remove a single soldier from Lebanon, from Gaza, from Syria.” Today, Oren joins School of War to discuss Israel’s “80 percent” consensus on national security, why he thinks Hezbollah “cannot be destroyed militarily,” and the deepening political divide between religious Zionists and ultra-Orthodox Jews over the Jewish state’s future. Lees meer
3:33 How October 7 Changed Israel
8:54 The Ultra-Orthodox Draft Fight
13:52 Israel’s Election and the Draft
17:17 Why the Ultra-Orthodox Don’t Serve
19:17 Oren's Path to the IDF
24:45 How Israel Defeated Hezbollah
26:50 Israel’s New Security Consensus
29:58 Can Iran Survive the Blockade?
32:40 What Comes Next in Gaza?
34:52 Hunting the October 7 Terrorists
37:02 Why Michael Oren Chose Israel
41:11 What Happens if Iran’s Regime Falls?
This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
This episode of School of War is also brought to you by Stratolaunch, a leading pure-play hypersonics company. Stratolaunch helps the U.S. and its allies move new hypersonic technologies from concept to capability, faster and cheaper. Learn more about how Stratolaunch is accelerating the future of hypersonics at Stratolaunch.com.
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What the Dutch Empire Reveals About America Today
2 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
How do you fight a superpower you can’t afford to stop trading with? The Dutch faced that problem at the start of the 17th century in their war against Spain, and their answer was the Dutch West India Company, a business built to wage war. Alexander Bick, a historian who served on the National Security Council under Barack Obama and Joe Biden, joins School of War to discuss his new book, Minutes of Empire. He explains how the company helped secure Dutch independence and why the Dutch kept trading with Spain while fighting it, taxing certain exports to “plow that money back into the military,” and what that reveals about America’s tangled relationship with China. All of which raises a question about Donald Trump’s foreign policy: Is America reviving an older style of empire? Lees meer
02:52 — The Rise of the Dutch Republic
06:25 — How Dutch Trading Companies Began
09:47 — Shareholder Profits vs. National Strategy
11:59 — Who Invested in the Company?
14:33 — Challenging Spain in the New World
19:19 — The Costs of Conquering Brazil
22:49 — Who Ran the West India Company?
31:58 — Business Failure, Strategic Success
39:36 — The Dutch Legacy in Britain
43:16 — America and Trading with the Enemy
49:13 — Biden and Trump: What Changed?
55:30 — Trump, Venezuelan Oil, and Empire
This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
This episode of School of War is also brought to you by Stratolaunch, a leading pure-play hypersonics company. Stratolaunch helps the U.S. and its allies move new hypersonic technologies from concept to capability, faster and cheaper. Learn more about how Stratolaunch is accelerating the future of hypersonics at Stratolaunch.com.
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How the Middle East Got So Screwed Up, with Simon Sebag Montefiore
29 september 2026 · 1 uur 15 min
“Let’s whisper it,” said historian Simon Sebag Montefiore. “The Trump blockade is working.” It can be hard to parse the state of play in the Middle East amid escalating rhetoric, but history gives us the necessary perspective to call balls and strikes in the present day. Today, the author of The Cauldron: The Making of the Modern Middle East joins School of War to discuss the forces that created the modern Middle East, why he thinks Trump’s strategy in Iran is working, and the growing rivalry between Israel and Turkey. “There is a real danger that Erdoğan will talk himself into a war with Israel,” he warns. Lees meer
05:22 — The Middle East Is Not Monochrome
09:49 — Four Eras of the Modern Middle East
11:45 — The Problem With Nation-States
18:30 — Why 1979 Changed the Middle East
25:22 — Can Iran’s Revolution Survive Regime Change?
34:28 — Iran, Hormuz, and the Nuclear Question
39:57 — Could Iran’s Regime Reach a Breaking Point?
44:42 — Why Iran’s Regime Is Built for War
50:46 — Trump, Soleimani, and the 12-Day War
52:28 — Can the Iran Blockade Work?
54:23 — Israel’s Post–October 7 Grand Strategy
1:04:56 — Israel, Turkey, and Erdoğan’s Neo-Ottoman Ambitions
This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
This episode of School of War is also brought to you by Stratolaunch, a leading pure-play hypersonics company. Stratolaunch helps the U.S. and its allies move new hypersonic technologies from concept to capability, faster and cheaper. Learn more about how Stratolaunch is accelerating the future of hypersonics at Stratolaunch.com.
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America’s Aging Shipyards Are a Crisis Waiting to Happen
25 september 2026 · 47 min
If America wants to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty, it needs to build more warships. China currently dominates global shipbuilding—producing vessels at a scale the United States can no longer match. Alex Wong, an executive at South Korean shipbuilding giant Hanwha Group and a former Trump administration national security adviser, thinks he has the solution. Today, Wong joins Aaron MacLean to discuss how the United States lost its shipbuilding capacity, how South Korean technology and investment could help revive American shipyards, and what it will take to rebuild the country’s naval industrial base. “America doesn’t have 20 years” to regain its maritime dominance, he warns. Lees meer
02:23 — America’s Shipbuilding Crisis
05:44 — How America Lost Its Shipbuilding Industry
09:43 — Why Commercial Shipbuilding Matters to the Navy
12:28 — America vs. China’s Shipbuilding Capacity
13:54 — Rebuilding America’s Shipyards
16:16 — Robots and the Future of Shipbuilding
23:52 — Rebuilding America’s Shipbuilding Workforce
29:11 — Building Ships for Golden Dome
30:11 — Can America Build Enough Ships?
32:46 — Replacing Ships in Wartime
34:54 — Trump, Kim Jong Un, and North Korea
43:06 — Taiwan, Korea, and a Two-Front Crisis
This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
This episode of School of War is also brought to you by Stratolaunch, a leading pure-play hypersonics company. Stratolaunch helps the U.S. and its allies move new hypersonic technologies from concept to capability, faster and cheaper. Learn more about how Stratolaunch is accelerating the future of hypersonics at Stratolaunch.com.
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The Middle East After America?
22 september 2026 · 49 min
Could Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey form a “Muslim NATO?” Pakistan has the nuclear arsenal, Saudi Arabia has the wealth, and Turkey has the NATO-trained military—“you put these three together and it becomes a pretty formidable force,” says CBS News senior foreign correspondent Imtiaz Tyab. Today, he joins School of War to discuss whether the pact could really become an effective alliance, what the effort reveals about America’s changing role in the Middle East, and what five years of Taliban rule have meant for Afghanistan: “I’ve never seen the Taliban more confident,” he said. Lees meer
02:14 — Reporting From Afghanistan
05:42 — The War in Afghanistan
11:29 — A More Confident Taliban
13:09 — Life Under Taliban Rule
16:13 — Afghanistan’s Secret Girls’ Schools
20:26 — Letters From Afghan Girls
25:30 — Afghanistan Under the Taliban
28:47 — A Girl’s Plea to the World
30:07 — The Pakistan-Saudi-Turkey Alliance
31:47 — A “Muslim NATO”?
40:33 — The Abraham Accords
44:27 — Testing the New Defense Pact
This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
This episode of School of War is also brought to you by Stratolaunch, a leading pure-play hypersonics company. Stratolaunch helps the U.S. and its allies move new hypersonic technologies from concept to capability, faster and cheaper. Learn more about how Stratolaunch is accelerating the future of hypersonics at Stratolaunch.com.
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Why John Boyd Still Matters
18 september 2026 · 1 uur
John Boyd was one of the most influential military thinkers of the 20th century, and the intellectual godfather of the U.S. Marines’ military strategy. Today, as artificial intelligence continues to transform battlefields in Ukraine and the Middle East, author and retired Marine officer Ian Brown argues that Boyd’s ideas are more relevant than ever. Today, Brown joins Aaron MacLean to discuss how Ukraine is harnessing Boyd’s concept of narrative warfare, what Boyd can teach us about conflict in the age of AI, drones, and precision strikes, and his new book co-authored with Frans P. B. Osinga, Snowmobiles and Grand Ideals. Lees meer
2:20 Who Was John Boyd?7:25 What Boyd Learned From Dogfighting15:37 From Air Combat to the OODA Loop23:49 Is the OODA Loop Really About Speed?29:33 What Do Blitzkrieg and Insurgency Have in Common?36:44 Surfaces and Gaps41:25 Why Did the Marine Corps Embrace Boyd?48:25 The Marine Corps’ Warfighting Doctrine50:25 Does Modern Warfare Challenge Boyd?53:18 Information as a Weapon53:53 Boyd’s Ideas Meet Drone Warfare54:55 From Nagorno-Karabakh to Ukraine
This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
This episode of School of War is also brought to you by Stratolaunch, a leading pure-play hypersonics company. Stratolaunch helps the U.S. and its allies move new hypersonic technologies from concept to capability, faster and cheaper. Learn more about how Stratolaunch is accelerating the future of hypersonics at Stratolaunch.com.
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What War Teaches Us—If We Survive It
15 september 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
People think retired Army Major John Spencer lost part of his ear in combat. He didn’t; he lost it in a fight behind a bar that cost him his spot in the Army Rangers. Spencer went on to serve repeatedly in combat and become one of the country’s leading experts on urban warfare. He joins Aaron MacLean to discuss his origin story and other anecdotes from his new book, Twenty Times I Almost Died, as well as why he thinks the U.S. “is clearly winning” the war in Iran. Lees meer
3:30 War With Iran
9:43 Battle of Hormuz
10:42 Wartime Stockpiles
12:32 The Stakes of Failure
15:34 Losing His Ear
23:34 Losing the Rangers
25:51 Resilience
28:58 Invading Iraq
33:59 Common Sense in Combat
39:08 The IED Trap
44:25 Battle of Marjah
51:01 Gangs of BaghdadThis episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
This episode of School of War is also brought to you by Stratolaunch, a leading pure-play hypersonics company. Stratolaunch helps the U.S. and its allies move new hypersonic technologies from concept to capability, faster and cheaper. Learn more about how Stratolaunch is accelerating the future of hypersonics at Stratolaunch.com.
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‘We Are Going to War’: H.R. McMaster Remembers 9/11
11 september 2026 · 57 min
Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster was on the phone with the Pentagon when the plane struck the building on September 11, 2001. “I thought, Okay, we are going to war,” he recalls. Twenty-five years after 9/11, McMaster joins Aaron MacLean to discuss the wars that followed. Drawing on his experience as a wartime commander and national security adviser, McMaster explains why he considers Afghanistan a self-defeat, how American withdrawal helped enable the rise of ISIS in Iraq, and why he thinks the latest Iran ceasefire was “a big mistake.” Lees meer
4:39 McMaster on 9/11
7:27 Adapting to Iraq
12:33 Lessons From Iraq
15:13 Counterinsurgency’s Legacy
21:19 The Post-9/11 Wars
23:23 Afghanistan’s “Self-Defeat”
25:07 When America Leaves
29:53 Sustaining Afghanistan
32:14 Defending the Afghan Mission
35:37 The Axis of Aggressors
44:41 Trump’s Messaging About the War
49:07 Politics in the Military
This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
This episode of School of War is also brought to you by Stratolaunch, a leading pure-play hypersonics company. Stratolaunch helps the U.S. and its allies move new hypersonic technologies from concept to capability, faster and cheaper. Learn more about how Stratolaunch is accelerating the future of hypersonics at Stratolaunch.com.
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Ten-Minute Warning: The Hypersonic Threat
8 september 2026 · 44 min
A Chinese hypersonic missile targeting either U.S. coast would leave room for “about 10 minutes of warning time.” Zachary Krevor, CEO of Stratolaunch, is building vehicles to help the Pentagon learn to detect, track, and intercept this threat. Today, Krevor joins School of War to explain how China and Russia have outpaced the U.S. in hypersonic weapons testing, why AI-enabled missile “swarms” may be on the horizon, and what it will take for America to defend itself against them. Lees meer
2:32 What Makes a Weapon Hypersonic?
4:47 The Real-Life Top Gun: Maverick
6:14 From Model Airplanes to Hypersonics
9:09 Why America Stopped Investing in Hypersonics
10:55 Two Types of Hypersonic Weapons
14:09 Glide Bodies vs. Cruise Missiles
15:44 Surviving the Heat of Mach 5
20:20 Testing America’s Hypersonic Technology
23:20 China and Russia’s Hypersonic Advantage
25:24 How to Stop a Hypersonic Missile
29:09 The Coming Age of Hypersonic Swarms
40:38 Can Golden Dome Stop Hypersonic Weapons?
This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
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What to Expect When You’re Expecting Great Power Conflict
4 september 2026 · 55 min
When it comes to world superpowers, Cambridge historian Brendan Simms argues there are only four that matter—and two of them are fading. Today, Simms joins Aaron MacLean to argue that Britain still belongs among the world’s leading powers; why its place among them is “by no means guaranteed”; and why Hitler is no longer the absolute evil against which people define themselves. Lees meer
4:08 The Four R’s of Great Power
4:29 Defining Great Power
8:09 Iran’s Regional Power
11:44 The Great Powers Return
15:39 The Cold War
17:44 Europe Wakes Up
21:45 American Unipolarity Ends
25:16 Britain’s Great-Power Claim
35:47 The New World Order
38:26 Realism’s Blind Spots
42:07 Losing Postwar Optimism
45:53 A “Post-Hitler World”
This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
This episode of School of War is also brought to you by Stratolaunch, a leading pure-play hypersonics company. Stratolaunch helps the U.S. and its allies move new hypersonic technologies from concept to capability, faster and cheaper. Learn more about how Stratolaunch is accelerating the future of hypersonics at Stratolaunch.com.
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Shot Down over Serbia: General Goldfein’s Incredible Story
1 september 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
The story of Air Force General David Goldfein, who miraculously survived after his plane was shot down over Serbia in 1999, has since become military legend. Today, he joins School of War to recount the harrowing rescue mission that saved him, how he stayed alive behind enemy lines, and the lessons his remarkable career offers about leadership, airpower, and preparing America for the next war. Lees meer
2:43 An Air Force Family
3:25 Rejected by the Air Force Academy
6:39 Becoming an F-16 Pilot
8:12 What Makes a Great Fighter Pilot?
12:36 Information Overload in Combat
15:28 Goldfein’s First Combat Mission
19:57 Training for Confidence Under Fire
21:37 A Leadership Lesson from the Gulf War
24:32 Shot Down Over Serbia
28:51 Surviving Behind Enemy Lines
31:48 The Race to Rescue Goldfein
36:22 Guiding the Rescue Helicopter
44:50 The Impact on His Family
48:53 Witnessing the Attack on the Pentagon
51:19 Digitizing the American Military
This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
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Our Foreign Policy Divide Began with the Korean War
28 augustus 2026 · 41 min
More than 75 years after the Korean War, its lessons endure—and divisions over isolationism and American power continue to shape the discourse around modern global conflicts. Dane J. Cash, historian and author of The Forgotten Debate: The Korean War and the Roots of America's Ideological Divisions, joins School of War to explain how the left’s hawk-dove divide during the Korean War foreshadowed the neoconservative break from the liberal consensus during the 1970s and why the political battles of the early Cold War continue to splinter America today. Lees meer
2:10 America Before the Korean War
3:08 The Debate Over Containment
4:15 Multilateralism vs. Unilateralism
5:29 Did Acheson Invite the War?
8:23 Why North Korea Attacked
8:55 Conservative Criticism of Truman
11:10 Liberal Divisions Over Korea
13:30 The Roots of Neoconservatism
17:14 Truman’s Lonely Middle Ground
19:51 The Right’s Foreign Policy Split
22:05 Taft, Eisenhower, and the GOP
22:58 MacArthur’s Moment
25:31 China Enters the War
30:37 Herbert Hoover’s Foreign Policy Revolt
33:51 Stalemate, POWs, and Ukraine Parallels
This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
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Inside America’s Fight for Drone Dominance
25 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 11 min
The U.S. military needs more drones, and it needs to build them without Chinese parts. Today, Defense Innovation Unit Deputy Director Travis Metz joins School of War to discuss how America can build drones quickly, cheaply, and on U.S. soil; what America can learn from Ukraine’s drone war; and the Pentagon’s new billion-dollar effort to upgrade its aging military technology. Lees meer
2:23 - Why America Is Behind on Drones
4:32 - The Drone Dominance Program
6:51 - Breaking Dependence on China
10:23 - The Different Types of Drones
13:34 - Ukraine’s Mid-Range Strike Revolution
16:00 - Cheap Drones at Long Range
18:47 - AI, Autonomy, and Electronic Warfare
21:47 - How Drone Dominance Works
24:33 - Building an American Drone Industry
33:55 - Lessons From Fort Benning
39:19 - Cheap and Expendable Drones
42:01 - Testing Drones for Different Missions
50:14 - The Next Phase of Drone Dominance
55:09 - How Many Drones Does America Need?
1:02:49 - Recreating Ukraine’s Innovation Cycle
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When Terrorists Become the Heroes to Young Americans
21 augustus 2026 · 42 min
In prerevolutionary Russia, it was not uncommon for children to dream of becoming terrorists when they grew up. “It was a respected profession,” says Northwestern University professor Gary Saul Morson, who now sees troubling parallels between modern-day America and an era in Russia when terrorism became fashionable and radicals came to see violence as an expression of moral virtue. Today, Morson joins School of War to discuss what Fyodor Dostoyevsky understood about the terrorist mind, why good people can be persuaded to support terrible acts, and what America loses when it stops teaching the history of communism in schools. Lees meer
3:09 America and Revolutionary Russia
3:47 The Rise of Modern Terrorism
4:38 When Terrorism Became a Respected Profession
6:10 Why Terrorists Had So Much Power
6:22 Why Russian Liberals Failed to Oppose Terrorism
7:26 The Danger of Celebrating Political Violence
9:36 Dostoevsky’s Radical Youth
11:31 Dostoevsky’s Arrest and Mock Execution
13:15 Understanding the Psychology of Revolutionaries
14:29 How Dostoevsky Predicted Totalitarianism
17:55 Why Communism Was Worse Than the Czars
20:11 Why Liberals Must Oppose Extremism
22:02 The Psychology of Left-Wing Totalitarianism
24:53 What Young People Don’t Know About Communism
28:16 How Good People Come to Support Evil
34:06 What Left and Right-Wing Extremists Have in Common
36:17 How Do We Fight Political Extremism?This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
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Senator McCormick Thinks That America’s Military Is Stuck in the Past
18 augustus 2026 · 46 min
Pennsylvania senator Dave McCormick, a West Point graduate, Desert Storm veteran, and former CEO of Bridgewater Associates, is concerned about America’s wealth gap, which he says is approaching “a version of capitalism I don’t think we want.” Today, McCormick joins School of War for a candid conversation about why the right needs a better answer to socialism, lessons in modern warfare from his recent closed-door meeting with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky, and why he regrets his 2002 LA Times op-ed supporting the Iraq War: “I was completely wrong.” Lees meer
02:01 — From Desert Storm to Princeton
05:05 — Nine Months Traveling the World
06:58 — The “End of History” and the Return of Socialism
08:00 — Can America Remain the World’s Superpower?
09:47 — Is the U.S. Military Stuck in the Past?
12:27 — What Ukraine Is Teaching America About Modern Warfare
13:41 — Rebuilding America’s Defense Industrial Base
17:15 — America’s AI Race With China
22:56 — How AI Will Transform American Jobs
24:03 — Wealth Inequality and the Future of Capitalism
25:56 — Why Socialism Is Appealing to Young Americans
30:52 — The Fight Over AI Data Centers
35:05 — Iran and the Future of the Middle East
41:17 — McCormick: “I Was Completely Wrong” About Iraq
44:08 — Balancing Iran With the Threat From China
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Tanks vs. Drones
14 augustus 2026 · 58 min
Is the tank obsolete? As drones and precision strikes transform modern battlefields, some have predicted that armored vehicles may soon meet the fate of the cavalry charge. Today on School of War, Colonel Jose A. Reyes and Lieutenant Colonel David “Cam” Smith of the 1st Cavalry Division make the opposite case. Drawing on their experience operating and commanding tanks, they join Aaron MacLean to explain how armored vehicles are adapting to an increasingly drone-centric battlefield—and why the future of warfare may still belong to the cavalry. Lees meer
3:18 — Reyes and Smith’s Backgrounds
8:40 — The History of Tanks and Maneuver
11:15 — Is the Tank Obsolete?
12:43 — “The Tank Is Alive and Well”
15:17 — Combined Arms at Every Echelon
20:12 — Transforming Armored Warfare
27:02 — The Battlefield Data Problem
30:01 — Ukrainian Innovation and Battlefield Data
33:25 — Electronic Warfare and FPV Drones
38:13 — Cheap Drones and the Cost of Defense
42:44 — Armor and the Problem of Attrition
43:49 — The Future of Unmanned Armor
46:51 — Unmanned Resupply and Medevac
48:25 — Casualty Evacuation in Ukraine
52:16 — What the Army Needs Next
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Boris Johnson on Why Europe and America Still Need Each Other
11 augustus 2026 · 58 min
As war in Ukraine grinds towards its fifth year and tensions strain the transatlantic alliance, former British prime minister Boris Johnson says he remains convinced that the West has the power to prevail: “Putin has got to lose.” Today, Johnson joins School of War to discuss how the West can bring the Russian president to the negotiating table, why Europe’s dream of “strategic autonomy” is a “sham, a snare and a delusion,” and why he believes predictions of American decline and Chinese dominance have it backward. Lees meer
02:20 — When Boris Johnson Knew Putin Would Invade Ukraine
05:46 — Why Europe Didn’t Believe an Invasion Was Coming
09:12 — Did Boris Johnson Stop a Ukraine-Russia Peace Deal?
11:19 — Could Ukraine Trade Land for Peace?
13:43 — What Johnson Saw on Ukraine’s Front Lines
17:06 — How Economic Warfare Could Pressure Putin
18:00 — “Putin Has Got to Lose”
20:00 — The Growing Divide Between America and Europe
22:19 — Can Britain Still Defend Itself?
26:20 — JD Vance’s Critique of Europe
30:12 — Britain, Free Speech, and the Culture War
34:39 — Can Europe Achieve “Strategic Autonomy”?
39:07 — Why America Should Still Care About NATO
41:01 — The Fight Over the Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia
46:12 — Why Johnson Is Still Betting on America Over China
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Ted Cruz’s Plan to Bring Down Iran’s Regime—and Tucker Carlson
7 augustus 2026 · 31 min
As the American right and left are increasingly pulled toward their ideological extremes, many politicians have chosen to appease the loudest voices in their coalitions even when those voices flirt with or openly embrace antisemitism. Senator Ted Cruz says he’s done playing nice. “If we do not defeat this poison,” he warns, “I believe it will consume the Republican Party just like it has consumed the Democratic Party.” Today, Cruz joins School of War to discuss his strategy for bringing down Iran’s regime, what Tucker Carlson’s splinter from the mainstream right means for conservative politics, and the battle he believes will define the future of the Republican Party. Lees meer
02:08 - The State of Iran After the War
02:46 - Why Trump Struck Iran
04:13 - Why the MOU Was a Disaster
05:39 - The Post That Triggered an Iranian Bot Campaign
07:24 - Why Cruz Opposed the Iran Deal
08:57 - America’s Next Move in Iran
09:29 - Why the Goal Should Be Regime Collapse
12:01 - Cruz’s Strategy to Bring Down the Regime
13:08 - Why He Wants to Arm Iranian Protesters
15:22 - The Future of America’s Foreign Policy
16:27 - Is the Democratic Party Being Taken Over?
21:32 - The Rise of Antisemitism on the Right
22:50 - Why Tucker Carlson Is “Dangerous”
24:06 - “We Have to Defeat This Poison”
26:34 - Could Tucker Carlson Run for President?
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Ukraine’s Top Drone Commander on What the Pentagon Keeps Missing
4 augustus 2026 · 29 min
Yuri Fedorenko has spent four years turning a volunteer rifle company into the 429th “Achilles” Brigade, one of the most lethal units in Ukraine’s Defense Forces. Today, he joins School of War to discuss how the battlefield has evolved since Russia’s full-scale invasion: improvising with commercial drones in 2022, scaling a unit that now hunts targets at an unprecedented scale, what life is like on the front lines, and what the U.S. military can learn from his unit’s drone revolution. Lees meer
This interview was originally conducted in Ukrainian and has been translated and dubbed into English.
02:23 – Yuri Fedorenko on Returning to War
05:08 – Building a Volunteer Unit Overnight
07:37 – Discovering the Power of Drones
09:18 – The Birth of Achilles
11:14 – Ukraine's Drone Revolution
13:12 – How the Unmanned Systems Force Works
17:43 – Why Drone Forces Punch Above Their Weight
18:59 – Inside Russia's Rubicon Drone Unit
21:35 – Beating Rubicon
23:04 – Lessons America Must Learn From Ukraine
25:29 – Why the West Should Train in Ukraine
26:54 – Why 20th Century Warfare Is Obsolete
27:20 – Drones Alone Cannot Win Wars
28:14 – Ukraine's Final Message to America
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What It’s Really Like Inside Ukraine in 2026, with Aidan Stretch
31 juli 2026 · 50 min
For months, it was conventional wisdom among large swaths of the American right that Ukraine would inevitably have to cede its Donbas region to Russia to end the war. Now, with Russian morale flagging, “that assumption is just no longer true,” says Aidan Stretch, a CBS News international reporter based in Kyiv. Today, Stretch joins School of War to discuss the state of play on the battlefield, Laura Loomer’s recent change of heart about the war, and how drone warfare has transformed the very idea of the front line as we know it. Lees meer
02:36 - Is Ukraine Really Winning?
05:58 - Political Turmoil in Kyiv
06:51 - The Fedorov–Syrskyi Power Struggle
12:06 - The Protests That Changed Ukraine's Military
13:11 - Why Drapatyi Replaced Syrskyi
14:07 - Meeting President Zelensky
17:42 - Asking Zelensky if Ukraine Is Winning the War
20:00 - How Ukrainian Protests Force Political Change
24:29 - The Power of Ukrainian Civil Society
27:10 - Laura Loomer's Visit to Ukraine
28:50 - Ukraine's Military Innovation
30:48 - How Ukraine's Military Really Works
33:58 - Ukraine's Mobilization Challenge
37:24 - Why Drone Warfare Is Only the Beginning
41:34 - How the Middle East and Ukraine Wars Intersect
44:47 - Reporting From the Front Lines of Ukraine
This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
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The Dangerous Pause in Iran, with Mark Montgomery
28 juli 2026 · 40 min
Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, returns to School of War to analyze the latest military developments across the world. Why has the Iran war entered such a dangerous and uncertain phase? What role will the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea play in its next stage? And what do Iran and Ukraine reveal about the changing shape of global conflict? Lees meer
02:22 - Why the Iran War Suddenly Paused
04:44 - An Uneasy Ceasefire and Dueling Blockades
05:35 - The Challenge of Escorting Ships Through Hormuz
07:19 - Why America's Convoy Strategy Isn't Working
09:15 - The Navy's Readiness Dilemma
09:59 - Blockade vs. Convoy
12:08 - Why the U.S. Must Take More Risk at Sea
14:10 - America's Munitions Problem
15:05 - The Weapons Shortages Shaping the War
16:29 - America's Drone Defense Gap
21:11 - The Electronic Warfare Deficit
23:13 - The Red Sea and the Houthi Threat
26:15 - How Iran and Ukraine Are Connected
30:37 - Russia's Options for Escalation
35:04 - Is a Long Blockade Better Than Escalation?
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The Rise of the Navy SEALs, with Ben Milligan
24 juli 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
Ben Milligan, a former U.S. Navy SEAL, Bronze Star recipient, and author of By Water Beneath the Walls: The Rise of the Navy SEALs, joins School of War to discuss the origins and evolution of one of America's most storied special operations forces. How did the Navy SEALs grow out of the Underwater Demolition Teams of World War II? What does it take to become a SEAL? How did the Vietnam War shape the institution into the force we know today? And what role should the SEALs play as the U.S. military shifts its focus from the war on terror to great power competition? Lees meer
02:10 – Why Ben Became a SEAL
03:34 – Joining Before 9/11
05:17 – Inside BUD/S
09:17 – Who Makes It Through?
11:26 – What Elite Training Builds
14:29 – The Origins of the SEALs
23:18 – The Origins of UDT
27:10 – Korea Changes the Mission
38:06 – Birth of the SEALs
43:36 – Vietnam Transforms the SEALs
47:33 – The Capture-Kill Raid
49:50 – Lessons for the War on Terror
54:36 – Great Power Competition
56:13 – What Makes Special Operations "Special"?
59:31 – The Future of the SEALs
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How Trump Decided to Go to War with Iran, with Jonathan Swan
21 juli 2026 · 36 min
Jonathan Swan, a White House reporter for The New York Times, joins School of War to discuss the reporting behind his new book, Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, co-authored with Maggie Haberman. How does Donald Trump make geopolitical decisions? What drove him to join Israel’s war against Iran? How has his thinking on Ukraine evolved? And how does China fit into all of this? Lees meer
02:23 - Inside Regime Change
05:29 - Trump's View of the World
09:04 - Why Trump Sees Iran Differently
11:25 - Trump's Proxy Strategy
12:44 - Steve Witkoff's Worldview
13:43 - The Principles Behind Iran Policy
14:45 - North Korea vs. Iran
16:15 - Ron Dermer's Prediction
17:58 - Why the 12-Day War Matters
20:48 - Netanyahu's Case for War
25:20 - Trump's Inner Circle on Iran
28:01 - Trump's Turn on Ukraine
30:36 - Trump's Approach to China
31:55 - Taiwan and the China Challenge
33:16 - The Future of Trump's Foreign Policy
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This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System — the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at https://www.palantir.com/
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‘The Odyssey’ and the Search for Historical Truth, with James Diggle and John Underhill
17 juli 2026 · 1 uur 5 min
James Diggle, emeritus professor of Greek and Latin at Cambridge University, and John Underhill, professor of geoscience and energy transition at the University of Aberdeen, join School of War to discuss their decades-long search for the real Ithaca of Homer’s Odyssey. Based on their recent Antigone journal article, “In Search of Ithaca,” they explain why the island we’ve called Ithaca for centuries may actually be the wrong one. Can modern geology solve a 3,000-year-old mystery? Have we finally found the true home of Odysseus? And what would that mean for one of the greatest stories ever told? Lees meer
02:44 – The mystery of Homer's Ithaca
04:45 – Can Homer be treated as history?
06:19 – The Bronze Age world of Odysseus
09:25 – Why modern Ithaca doesn't fit Homer's description
12:02 – Robert Bittlestone's hypothesis
17:15 – The geology expedition begins
23:17 – The million-euro search for Ithaca
28:37 – Disproving the original theory
31:19 – The geological breakthrough
35:09 – The discovery that changes everything
37:22 – Homer never actually calls Ithaca an island
41:24 – Solving a 3,000-year-old mystery
46:22 – Telemachus' journey finally makes sense
50:54 – Would Robert Bittlestone have agreed?
57:43 – The hidden cave
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America’s Iran Problem Isn’t Going Away, with Mike Doran
14 juli 2026 · 52 min
Mike Doran, senior fellow and director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at the Hudson Institute, returns to School of War to examine why the war with Iran continues despite devastating military setbacks for Tehran. Is President Trump’s Iran strategy truly different from President Obama’s, or are the similarities overstated? What does the fight over the Strait of Hormuz reveal about the limits of American power? And what does this war tell us about the future of U.S. strategy in the Middle East—and its broader competition with China? Lees meer
01:22 - Recap of the Iran War
06:03 - Iran's Leverage
09:05 - MoU Misunderstandings
12:28 - The Crux of the MoU Dispute
15:42 - The Nuclear Status Quo
17:58 - Iran's Degradation Since October 7
21:13 - The Democrats' View
22:02 - The Right's View
23:25 - Trump's "Obama-Style" Rhetoric
28:10 - Should America Reimpose the Blockade?
28:53 - The Drone and Ballistic Missile Problem
31:10 - Drone Warfare Has Changed Everything
32:01 - The Vulnerability of America's Gulf Allies
37:21 - Is the MoU Still in Effect?
39:34 - Why Nobody Is Buying Iranian Oil
46:32 - China and the Bigger Picture
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Lindsey Graham: The Last of the ‘Three Amigos’ with Vance Serchuk
13 juli 2026 · 58 min
Vance Serchuk, executive director and Partner at the KKR Global Institute, and former senior national security adviser to Senator Joe Lieberman, was uniquely positioned to witness one of the most influential partnerships in modern American foreign policy: the “Three Amigos” of John McCain, Joe Lieberman, and Lindsey Graham. What made their partnership so effective? What vision did they share for America’s role in the world? And what does the end of the “Three Amigos” mean for the future of American foreign policy? Lees meer
02:21 - Lindsey Graham and the Three Amigos
10:42 - First Impressions of Lindsey Graham
13:20 - Lindsey Graham’s Sense of Humor
15:47 - Graham’s Spontaneity
21:44 - The Three Amigos’ Bond Through Travel
23:31 - Oversight on the Front Lines
24:56 - The Russian Threat
27:00 - The Three Amigos’ Shared Convictions
28:28 - Russia’s Invasion of Georgia
32:56 - Senator Graham’s Political Courage
33:27 - What Made the Three Amigos Different
37:24 - Graham’s Political Instincts
37:56 - Why the Three Amigos Worked
39:33 - The Power of Political Friendship
42:28 - Graham’s Work in the Trump Era
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How Choke Points Became Weapons of War, with Edward Fishman
10 juli 2026 · 45 min
Edward Fishman, senior fellow and director of the Greenberg Center for Geoeconomics at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins School of War to discuss his New York Times best-selling book, Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare. How has the United States turned the global economy into a strategic weapon? What are the strengths and limits of sanctions? And how are China, Russia, and Iran adapting to a new era of economic warfare? Lees meer
02:46 - Edward Fishman's background
04:26 - Understanding economic chokepoints
05:35 - The dollar as a strategic chokepoint
07:02 - Semiconductors as a strategic chokepoint
09:24 - The Iraq embargo and modern sanctions
11:05 - Airpower vs. economic warfare
12:14 - Are sanctions a "nuclear weapon"?
13:23 - America's sanctions strategy toward Iran
14:25 - Trump pulling out of the JCPOA
16:20 - The limits of economic warfare
18:00 - Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, and the MoU
20:44 - Shadow fleets and Iranian oil
22:54 - The evolution of Russia sanctions
27:59 - China and the economic arms race
29:53 - How nations mitigate economic chokepoints
34:20 - What makes a strategic chokepoint?
39:40 - Chokepoints beyond economics
41:05 - Can Iran institutionalize control over the Strait of Hormuz?
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Four Years Fighting Russia: An American Soldier’s Testimony
7 juli 2026 · 1 uur 22 min
David, a U.S. military veteran who has been fighting voluntarily alongside Ukrainian forces, joins School of War to discuss how four years on the front lines have transformed modern warfare. How has combat in Ukraine changed since Russia’s 2022 invasion? Why have first-person view drones become the defining weapon of the war? What misconceptions does the West still have about the Russian military? And what lessons must the United States absorb before its next major conflict? Lees meer
02:49 - David’s military history
05:56 - What brought David to Ukraine
07:37 - Russia's failed invasion of Kyiv
10:24 - How Ukraine turned the tide in 2022
17:04 - How Ukraine adapted to Russia's invasion
19:06 - America's role in Ukraine's early success
23:59 - How the battlefield has evolved since 2022
28:15 - Experiencing Russian artillery
37:22 - From artillery warfare to drone warfare
40:41 - Why FPV drones are terrifying
44:20 - The modern "gray zone"
49:26 - Why Russia is still a military threat
01:00:49 - What Ukraine must do to survive
01:11:41 - Is the U.S. military learning the right lessons?
01:15:55 - The future of warfare and America's defense industry
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The American Revolution Was a World War, with Richard Bell
3 juli 2026 · 48 min
Richard Bell, historian, professor at the University of Maryland, and author of The American Revolution and the Fate of the World, joins School of War to discuss how the American Revolution became a global conflict that stretched from Boston to the Caribbean, Europe, India, and beyond. How did George Washington's strategy force Britain to fight a world war? Why was France's intervention decisive to American victory? And what does the revolution reveal about the nature of coalition warfare? Lees meer
00:53 - Rick Bell's background
02:05 - The American Revolution was a global war
06:09 - What led to the Boston Tea Party
12:45 - Patriot motivations
14:38 - Who was Edmund Burke?
16:50 - Britain divided over the Revolution
20:47 - Why France backed the Patriots
23:45 - France and Spain vs. Britain
27:01 - The Caribbean: Britain's crown jewel
30:08 - The forgotten theater of the Revolution
35:49 - Washington's global coalition strategy
38:55 - Germany and the Hessian soldiers
41:50 - The Patriots' European officers
43:10 - The myth of guerrilla warfare
44:50 - Final thoughts
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One Battle of Hormuz After Another, with Sal Mercogliano
29 juni 2026 · 42 min
Sal Mercogliano, professor of history at Campbell University and host of the What’s Going on with Shipping YouTube channel, joins the show once again to discuss Iran's renewed attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Why is the ceasefire already beginning to unravel? What is Iran trying to accomplish by asserting control over the strait? And what could the long-term consequences be for global trade, energy markets, and freedom of navigation? Lees meer
02:11 - New arrangement in the Strait of Hormuz
05:19 - Humanitarian situation for sailors
06:53 - Jobs at sea and AI
08:05 - New rounds of violence
11:02 - Route options for ships
13:30 - Why did the ceasefire break down?
15:05 - Iran asserts control over the strait
16:10 - Why were these ships targeted?
19:08 - Strait of Hormuz as a strategic choke point
21:49 - What Iran learned from the Houthis
23:21 - Why energy prices haven't spiked
28:20 - Impact on developing nations
29:13 - The endgame in the Strait of Hormuz
33:22 - U.S. naval presence in the Gulf
36:26 - Iran's maritime protection racket
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Why Chimpanzees Go to War, with John Mitani
26 juni 2026 · 49 min
Dr. John Mitani, professor emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan and recipient of the Charles R. Darwin Lifetime Achievement Award, joins School of War to discuss the violent chimpanzee civil war he documented among the Ngogo chimpanzees in Uganda. What caused one of the world's largest chimpanzee communities to turn on itself? What does chimpanzee warfare reveal about the origins of human conflict? And what separates humans from our closest living relatives? Lees meer
02:39 - How Dr. Mitani became an ape researcher
04:02 - Why chimpanzees?
05:13 - Humans' closest living relatives
08:38 - The Ngogo chimpanzees
09:31 - The chimpanzee civil war begins
13:35 - Living among wild chimpanzees
17:09 - Territorial patrols and warfare
22:34 - Why the chimpanzee community split
26:26 - How chimpanzees fight
29:14 - The strategy behind chimp warfare
31:24 - Why full stomachs lead to war
33:10 - Land, food, and reproduction
37:27 - Infanticide and the mystery of female survival
39:26 - When civil war becomes permanent
41:13 - What chimpanzees teach us about human nature
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From Teenage Soldier to Commander in Ukraine, with Mamuka Mamulashvili
23 juni 2026 · 56 min
Earlier this year, Aaron MacLean visited Ukraine, where he met with Georgian Legion commander Mamuka Mamulashvili. What happens when a boy goes to war at 14 years old? What does a lifetime of fighting Russians teach you about how they operate? And what lessons should the West be learning from war in Ukraine? Lees meer
02:18 - Growing up in Soviet Georgia
03:53 - Russia's invasion of Abkhazia
07:59 - Capture and torture by Russian forces
10:24 - The First and Second Chechen Wars
13:49 - Killing a Russian soldier for the first time
17:32 - Force vs. diplomacy
18:14 - Georgia's wars with Russia
20:19 - The 2008 Russo-Georgian War
23:47 - Georgian support for Ukraine
24:39 - Mixed martial arts
29:53 - Founding the Georgian Legion
33:33 - The defense of Hostomel Airport
43:32 - How drones have transformed warfare
50:45 - Russian disinformation
52:27 - Why Ukraine will ultimately win
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Can Courage Save America? With Rye Barcott
19 juni 2026 · 49 min
Rye Barcott, co-founder and CEO of With Honor, veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, and author of Courage Can Save Us, joins School of War to discuss the meaning of courage, the enduring value of service, and the challenge of bridging America’s growing political divides. What separates courage from bravery? Can military service help heal a polarized America? And what does principled leadership look like in an age of distrust? Lees meer
01:28 - Murph challenge
03:08 - Rye's father and Vietnam
05:08 - Defining courage
07:57 - First to Fight
13:49 - Joining the Marines
14:22 - September 11th
17:42 - Bosnia, Africa, and Fallujah
19:16 - Marine commanders
23:52 - Life in Fallujah
26:05 - The With Honor mission
28:29 - America's polarization problem
30:05 - Veterans in politics
33:12 - The civil-military divide
37:23 - Courage in politics
41:57 - Congressman Jared Golden
44:19 - Senator Todd Young
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Reading Trump’s Iran Deal So You Don’t Have To, with Mark Dubowitz
18 juni 2026 · 56 min
Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, returns to School of War to discuss the newly released memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran. What does the deal actually say? What are its biggest strategic implications? And is it comparable to the JCPOA—or something worse? Lees meer
01:19 - Paragraph 1: Lebanon and Hezbollah
09:45 - Paragraphs 2–3: Sovereignty and the 60-day clock
11:24 - Paragraph 4: Lifting the blockade
16:37 - Paragraph 5: The Strait of Hormuz
23:48 - Paragraph 6: A $300 billion reconstruction fund
33:49 - Paragraph 7: Ending all sanctions
35:43 - Paragraph 8: Nuclear weapons and enrichment
39:12 - Paragraph 9: Maintaining the status quo
40:44 - Paragraph 10: Oil waivers and sanctions relief
43:48 - Paragraph 11: Releasing frozen funds
46:56 - Paragraph 12: Monitoring compliance
47:52 - Paragraph 13: Negotiating the final deal
50:59 - Paragraph 14: A UN Security Council resolution
51:13 - Squandering battlefield leverage
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Auditing the Iran War, with Eliot Cohen
16 juni 2026 · 46 min
Eliot Cohen, Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, author of The Strategist: How to Think About War and Politics; and co-host of the Shield of the Republic podcast, joins School of War to discuss the recent agreement between the United States and Iran. Did the United States and Israel accomplish their objectives against Iran? What does the conflict reveal about the U.S. military's readiness for future wars? And did Trump negotiate from a position of strength, or squander one? Lees meer
01:22 - Eliot Cohen on the war with Iran
03:34 - Judging Trump by outcomes
05:08 - A war 47 years in the making
06:45 - What we don't know about the air campaign
08:08 - Negotiating from strength?
09:10 - Trump's negotiating style
12:05 - Questions about America's conduct of the war
14:31 - The Strait of Hormuz becomes the objective
15:41 - Why the war ended when it did
17:25 - Trump and the nature of war
19:01 - Has Iran succeeded?
23:21 - The decline of the Iranian empire
28:09 - Why Trump got a bad deal
31:36 - Auditing the U.S. military
39:39 - Has warfare been transformed?
42:10 - What should America do next?
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The Start-Up Spirit Behind America's Founding, with Arthur Herman
12 juni 2026 · 49 min
Arthur Herman, senior research fellow at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas at Austin and author of Founder’s Fire: From 1776 to the Age of Trump, joins School of War to discuss how America’s Founding Fathers helped create a culture of innovation in technology, industry, and warfare. Who are the most important founders of the past and present? What lessons can they teach us about today’s revolution in warfare? And what makes American ingenuity so unique? Lees meer
02:45 - Defining founders
10:56 - Technology at America's founding
13:49 - Alex Karp and the founder mindset
14:45 - The creation of Springfield Arsenal
15:40 - Thomas Jefferson and American weapons
19:10 - Today's revolution in warfare
20:53 - AI on the battlefield
21:49 - Why a strong economy matters
24:40 - China's defense industry
26:32 - American industrial policy
29:11 - Lessons from Ukraine
31:29 - Declining competition in weapons manufacturing
33:38 - The burden of weapons regulations
37:50 - Elon Musk's founder mentality
41:52 - The future of American ingenuity
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Why a Weakened Iran Remains Dangerous, with Behnam Ben Taleblu
9 juni 2026 · 43 min
Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ (FDD) Iran Program and a senior fellow specializing in Iranian security and political issues, returns to School of War to discuss the latest round of fighting between Israel and Iran. Why did this latest wave of Iranian missile attacks feel different? Why does a weakened Iran seem emboldened? Where is the regime most vulnerable? And will politics in Washington prevent the U.S. from doing what is necessary to stop it? Lees meer
02:30 - Israel in Southern Lebanon
04:37 - Iran's Missile Barrage Against Israel
06:20 - FPV Drone Warfare in Lebanon
08:30 - A New Iranian Strategy?
12:16 - Cover for Terror Proxies
14:14 - The Danger of a Weakened Iran
17:44 - The Nazi Germany Comparison
21:00 - The Wehrmacht's Last Stand
22:07 - Iran's Reaction to Pressure
25:09 - Targets in Iran and Israel
30:15 - Where Is Iran Most Vulnerable?
31:47 - The Iran-Iraq War Analogy
32:44 - Exploiting Divisions in Iran
35:09 - Political Obstacles to Maximum Pressure
38:17 - Trump's Record on Iran Policy
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The AI Arms Race: Can Our Intel Community Keep Up? With Anthony Vinci
5 juni 2026 · 56 min
Anthony Vinci—co-founder and CEO of Vico, an AI company that empowers judgment and analysis in finance and national security, and author of The Fourth Intelligence Revolution—joins School of War to discuss the technological evolution of spycraft. How does an intelligence officer operate in a world of rapidly advancing technology? What happens when machines begin to assist, or even replace, human judgment? And are we being spied on constantly? Lees meer
02:33 - The Job of an Intelligence Officer
03:43 - Technology and Intelligence Work
05:58 - Living Under Surveillance
07:43 - AI as an Intelligence Analyst
09:37 - The Origins of American Intelligence
10:15 - Who Was Wild Bill Donovan?
12:37 - The Modern Intelligence Community
14:25 - The Evolution of Spy Technology
16:39 - The Intelligence Gap Before 9/11
18:58 - A Mossad Chief's Critique
23:10 - The Fourth Intelligence Revolution
25:02 - AI and Autonomy
27:49 - Are We All Being Spied On?
30:05 - China's Political Warfare
34:00 - The COVID Intelligence Failure
39:59 - The Dangers of AI Language Models
48:37 - TikTok and Surveillance
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The Iran War and a New World Order in Asia, with Rep. Michael Baumgartner
2 juni 2026 · 39 min
Rep. Michael Baumgartner, who represents Washington’s 5th Congressional District, joins the show from Singapore at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue. What was the tone and significance of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s speech? How are the Asian economies fairing in lieu of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz? And what is the future of the American-led order in East Asia? Lees meer
03:07 - Tone of the Shangri-La Dialogue
05:30 - Asia and the Strait of Hormuz
09:35 - The UAE's Distance from Iran
11:47 - America's Role in Asian Security
13:06 - Asia's Reaction to Trump's China Summit
15:25 - The Diversity of Asia
16:54 - Pete Hegseth's Speech
19:07 - The CCP's Control of China
20:59 - Korean and Japanese Views on China
24:07 - Drones and Autonomous Warfare
24:50 - Vietnam's Reinvention
28:07 - Singapore-U.S. Relations
30:21 - Paused Arms Sales
34:00 - Iran and Electoral Politics
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The Secret Mission to Save Europe’s Jews, with Matti Friedman
29 mei 2026 · 56 min
Matti Friedman is an award-winning journalist and columnist at The Free Press. He joins the show to discuss his latest book, Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe. Whom were the Zionist Jews fighting on behalf of the British during World War II? What happened to the legendary Zionist figure Hannah Senesh? And how did a war story without battlefield success help give birth to a nation? Lees meer
01:45 - The scene in British Mandate Palestine
07:30 - British MI9 unit
07:38 - Jewish military units
08:41 - Rescue missions into Europe
14:21 - Secret meeting in Tel Aviv
17:29 - Palestinian Jews’ view of European Jewry
21:51 - Hannah Senesh
24:46 - Parachuting technology in WWII
26:44 - Sword of Honour trilogy
29:48 - Discrimination against Jewish agents in Europe
32:54 - Chaos at the end of WWII
34:13 - Hannah Senesh’s doomed mission
43:10 - The escape of Hannah’s mother
47:43 - The importance of heroes and myths
49:06 - Understanding Zionism
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The Democratic Party’s Worldview, with Jake Sullivan
26 mei 2026 · 1 uur
Jake Sullivan, former U.S. national security adviser under President Joe Biden, Kissinger professor of the practice of statecraft and world order at the Harvard Kennedy School, and co-host of The Long Game podcast, joins School of War to discuss geopolitics through the lens of today’s Democratic Party. Where do Democrats stand on China, Israel, Iran, and the war in Ukraine? Lees meer
02:29 - China summit recap
04:03 - President Trump’s goals in China
05:44 - Taiwan threat level
08:50 - Democratic Party position on China
14:16 - Avoiding war with China
16:39 - Nature of competition with China
18:39 - Role of AI in power struggle
23:44 - Critique of Trump’s Iran policy
27:17 - Democratic Party position on Iran
32:30 - Iran’s nuclear program
35:25 - Democratic Party position on Israel
45:15 - Russia-Ukraine conflict
51:12 - Democratic Party restraint policies
52:56 - Weapon systems assistance for Ukraine
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Niall Ferguson on Cold War II and the Rise of Anti-History
22 mei 2026 · 1 uur 21 min
Sir Niall Ferguson, Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and columnist at The Free Press, joins the show in front of a live audience to discuss the perilous moment we find ourselves in and how it all relates to history. What is the status of the Iran war? What is influencing President Donald Trump’s policymaking? How do we defeat a dangerous wave of “anti-history”? And are we on the brink of a world war, a cold war, or something in between? Lees meer
03:35 - Historical analogies for today
09:51 - Short war illusion
15:14 - We’re in a Cold War II
18:12 - Putin’s essay from 2021
19:50 - Russia-Ukraine war
25:29 - The American mythos of WWII
26:58 - Anti-history
30:04 - The life work of Bill Buckley
31:37 - Return of antisemitism and socialism
32:52 - President Trump’s worldview
36:37 - The war in Iran
47:45 - The new state of warfighting
53:53 - President Trump’s treatment of Ukraine
57:17 - Risks of Taiwan conflict
01:03:57 - Limits to air power
01:06:58 - Reversal of historical revisionism
01:12:30 - Story about Aaron’s father
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Grading Operation Epic Fury, with Christian Brose
19 mei 2026 · 52 min
Christian Brose, president and chief strategy officer of Anduril Industries and author of The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare, joins the show to help us evaluate American performance against Iran so far and discuss the state of defense innovation in America. What is on the cutting edge? Where are we falling behind? And what happens if the war comes home? Lees meer
Times:
01:58 - Audit of Operation Epic Fury
05:04 - Munitions and weapons shortages
08:30 - New lower-cost weapons
10:56 - The Barracuda cruise missile system
15:04 - Lessons from the battlefield
15:41 - Missile defense systems
21:47 - Software, data, and AI
24:39 - Homeland defense
27:02 - Containerization
28:05 - Industrial capacity
31:36 - Bringing Americans back into defense manufacturing
34:43 - The defense budget
39:02 - Anduril fundraising
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The New Middle Eastern Balance of Power, with Elliott Abrams
15 mei 2026 · 43 min
Elliott Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and chairman of the Vandenberg Coalition and the Tikvah Fund, joins the show to discuss Israel, Iran, and the new power dynamics in the Middle East. What new alliances have emerged since the chaos on October 7, 2023? How has the current war with Iran reshaped the region? With a storm of competing interests, fragile partnerships, and global stakes, can stability emerge, or is the Middle East heading toward an even wider conflict? Lees meer
02:10 - Israel today
04:02- Israeli airport security
05:58 - Netanyahu’s domestic political situation
09:07 - Bibi’s secret visit to the UAE
10:15 - American military aircrafts in Israel
12:01 - Israel-UAE relationship
15:57- October 7th Middle East aftermath
17:17 - Erosion of Iranian proxies
19:20 - Israeli-Saudi relationship
20:27 - Egypt’s global decline
22:24 - Turkey’s role
29:09 - Israel-Lebanon relationship
28:30 - Hezbollah factor
32:25 - How to handle Hamas
36:31 - Iran and the future of the Strait of Hormuz
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