School of War - Nebulous Media

Latest Episodes:

Ep 237: Toshi Yoshihara on China’s Subversive Strategies Oct 07, 2025

Show notes

Toshi Yoshihara, Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments and author of Mao's Army Goes to Sea: The Island Campaigns and the Founding of China's Navy, joins the show to discuss how the PLA took Beijing in 1949 by subversion, and how they may yet seize Taiwan.

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Times

• 01:53 Introduction

• 03:24 Peaceful liberation

• 07:19 Planning and preparation

• 10:36 Isolation

• 17:30 A tradition of manipulation

• 23:51 True believers

• 28:23 Helpless

• 34:55 Political warfare

• 41:53 Surprise

• 47:32 Holy Grail

• 50:51 Fault lines

• 57:44 What to read?

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Ep 236: Joshua Rovner on Grand Strategy Oct 03, 2025

Show notes

Joshua Rovner, Associate Professor in the School of International Service at American University and author of Strategy and Grand Strategy, joins the show to discuss the tension between pursuing military victory and securing a nation.

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Times

• 01:28 Introduction

• 01:35 MIT

• 05:03 Grand strategy

• 10:45 Peloponnesian War

• 18:05 Spartan strategy

• 22:34 Pericles

• 27:18 A terrible irony

• 32:43 Disastrous victory

• 41:35 British power

• 46:13 Atomic strategy

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Ep 235: Tyler Grey on Serving in Delta Force and the Warrior’s Journey Sep 30, 2025

Show notes

Tyler Grey, Delta Force veteran and author of Forged in Chaos: A Warrior's Origin Story, joins the show to discuss his experiences as a member of the U.S. Army’s most elite combat unit, his journey as a warrior, and the continuing struggle to understand post-traumatic stress.

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Times

• 01:30 Introduction

• 01:48 Bakersfield, CA

• 06:51 Predators and prey

• 10:48 Not a choice

• 17:11 Rangers

• 23:15 Elite infantry

• 28:37 9/11

• 33:43 Pakistan border

• 41:20 Sniper team

• 44:22 Luck and health

• 47:05 Master of the basics

• 51:36 Fallujah

• 54:29 Sadr City

• 01:06:16 Chaos of combat

• 01:10:01 Lost

• 01:14:26 “LTSD”

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Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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Ep 234: A. Wess Mitchell on Diplomacy Sep 26, 2025

Show notes

A. Wess Mitchell, former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, historian, and author of Great Power Diplomacy: The Skill of Statecraft from Attila the Hun to Kissinger, joins the show to discuss just what diplomacy is.

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Times

• 01:37 Introduction

• 02:08 Bad reutation

• 04:37 Misconceptions

• 09:35 A part of grand strategy

• 13:11 Not trickery

• 18:05 Attila the Hun

• 24:17 Appeasement

• 35:00 Other options

• 39:33 The State Department

• 44:22 Molding diplomats

• 47:31 Ukraine

• 52:47 Major risks

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Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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Ep 233: Mick Ryan on the Ukraine War’s Urgent Lessons Sep 23, 2025

Show notes

Major General Mick Ryan, Australian Army (retired), Senior Fellow for Military Studies the Lowy Institute and author of the Futura Doctrina substack, joins the show to discuss his latest piece, Translating Ukraine Lessons for the Pacific Theatre.

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Times

• 01:40 Introduction

• 02:18 Translation

• 04:03 Ground forces

• 08:40 Australian defense

• 11:25 Threats from the North

• 13:25 Chinese influence

• 16:46 The mask slips

• 19:51 What we don’t know

• 24:36 The Pacific

• 32:18 Information ops

• 37:31 Corrosive influences

• 40:15 Mass

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Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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Ep 232: Ran Baratz on the Gaza War and Israel’s ‘Postmodern’ Military Sep 19, 2025

Show notes

Ran Baratz, military historian and former senior Israeli official, and author of What's Wrong with the Postmodern Military?, joins the show to discuss operations in Gaza and problems with how the IDF officer corps thinks about war.

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Times

• 01:37 Introduction

• 02:27 Gaza

• 06:23 Diplomatic obstacles

• 12:27 Worse than you think

• 15:28 Paradigm shift

• 30:23 Real wars

• 38:49 Art of the general

• 43:51 War as policy

• 50:00 Netanyahu

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Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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Ep 231: Peter Rough on Russian Drone Incursions into NATO Sep 16, 2025

Show notes

Peter Rough, senior fellow and director of the Center on Europe and Eurasia at the Hudson Institute, joins the show to discuss the recent Russian drone incursions in Poland and Romania and what they mean.

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Times

• 01:08 Introduction

• 01:35 What actually happened?

• 05:30 Destructive decoys

• 07:27 European moods

• 11:23 Rightwing response

• 16:32 Strategic autonomy

• 23:52 Zapad

• 30:00 On/off switch

• 33:31 Where do we stand?

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Ep 230: Prit Buttar on the Great Soviet Offensive of 1944 Sep 12, 2025

Show notes

Prit Buttar, historian and author of Bagration 1944: The Great Soviet Offensive, joins the show to discuss the immense Russian campaign that broke the German Army on the Eastern Front.

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Times

• 01:48 Introduction

• 02:50 A war unto itself

• 08:02 Flanders

• 15:20 Maskirovka

• 24:35 Soviet intelligence

• 28:27 Bolshevism

• 30:22 Lebensraum

• 31:40 Bagration

• 36:14 Cracking the line

• 39:00 Warsaw

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Ep 229: Nadège Rolland on China’s Borderlands Sep 09, 2025

Show notes

Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow, China Studies, at the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) and principal investigator for the Mapping China's Borderlands: Dashboard, joins the show to discuss the shifting visions China has of its frontiers.

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Times

• 01:35 Introduction

• 02:34 What is “China?”

• 10:26 Sovereignty

• 19:30 Double translation

• 25:25 Capillaries

• 34:37 Imperial messaging

• 42:36 Prioritization

We also discuss Nadège’s 2020 report - China's Vision for a New World Order.

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Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

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Ep 228: Brad Bowman and Ryan Brobst on “Axis” Military Cooperation Sep 07, 2025

Show notes

Brad Bowman and Ryan Brobst, senior and deputy directors of the Center on Military and Political Power at FDD, join the show to discuss the military relationships between America’s major antagonists.

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Times

• 01:47 Introduction

• 02:40 Axis cooperation

• 08:02 Interoperability

• 11:19 Fighting all three

• 14:49 Potential

• 20:57 The arsenal

• 26:56 Progress

• 28:30 Budgeting

• 36:10 Will and capability

• 39:03 Harpoon Coastal Defense System