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, strate...
Rachel Kousser, professor of Classics and Art History at the City University of New York and author of Alexander at the End of the World, joins the show to talk about the violent, brilliant, complex career of Alexander the Great.
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Times
• 01:27 Introduction
• 01:59 Early years and conquest
• 05:45 Pragmatic opportunist
• 09:20 Persepolis burning
• 11:48 Darius
• 14:36 Alexander in the field
• 19:30 Understanding the geography
• 25:56 Dreamer
• 29:50 “A war of choice…”
• 32:57 Building something new
• 34:36 Breaking point
• 38:00 King with consent
• 41:48 Harnessing strength
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45:57
Ep 165: Shyam Sankar on a Defense Reformation
Shyam Sankar, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Palantir Technologies, joins the show to explain the broken Defense Department acquisition process and how he believes it can be fixed.
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Times
• 01:24 Introduction
• 01:39 Employee #13
• 03:14 Palantir
• 06:22 Monopsony
• 11:18 Messy and chaotic
• 14:40 Dual purpose companies
• 17:18 The buying process
• 23:50 Pushback
• 25:59 Competing efforts
• 27:37 Heretics and heroes
• 31:22 Thinking about future war
• 35:05 A changing selection criteria
• 36:47 “The future is software defined”
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Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack
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39:18
Ep 164: Mark Dubowitz on Syria’s Collapse
Mark Dubowitz, chief executive officer of Foundation for Defense of Democracies, joins the show to break down the collapse of the Assad regime and the implications for Israel, Turkey, and Iran.
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Times
• 01:23 Introduction
• 02:49 What happened?
• 05:04 Rebels
• 08:17 Risk assessment
• 11:30 Factions
• 17:10 Extremists and radicals
• 19:15 “Our enemies lie to us…”
• 24:19 Defensive reshuffle
• 29:11 Nuclear Iran
• 34:59 A powerful message
• 42:40 Striking power
• 47:27 A new “Ring of Fire”
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51:33
Ep 163: School of War Goes to Israel—Lessons from a Savage Year
Host Aaron MacLean recently embedded with the Israeli Defense Forces and saw firsthand Israel’s war with Iranian proxy groups Hezbollah and Hamas. What lessons can Americans learn from Israel’s year of fighting for its survival?
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Times
• 03:28 The North
• 04:26 Metula
• 07:45 Yishai
• 10:00 Realities and misconceptions
• 18:06 Stalemate
• 22:33 Shaping the fight
• 40:00 Reconnaissance-strike complex
• 46:38 Dotan Razili
• 50:50 Iron Dome in action
• 54:43 Sarit Zehavi
• 1:11:01 Hezbollah defeated
• 1:12:58 “Knowing but not understanding”
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1:17:48
Ep 162: Michael Leggiere on Military History on Campus
Michael Leggiere, Professor of Humanities at the University of Florida and editor of War Studies Journal 1, joins the show to discuss the sad state of military history in higher education.
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Times
• 01:17 Introduction
• 02:48 Military history in academia
• 03:53 PME
• 05:22 What is “new” military history?
• 11:55 “History shouldn’t be a mystery”
• 17:55 The Journal
• 20:45 Suggested pieces
• 24:32 Napoleon
• 26:58 Lee
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Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack
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.
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