School of War - Nebulous Media

Latest Episodes:

Ep 97: Edward Luttwak on the IDF and the War in Israel Nov 07, 2023

Show notes

Edward Luttwak, strategist and co-author of The Art of Military Innovation: Lessons from the Israel Defense Forces, joins the show to talk about the research and development methods of the IDF and events on the ground in Israel.

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Times

• 01:51 Introduction

• 03:05 R&D the IDF way

• 21:30 Evaluating Israel’s strategy

• 25:30 Stopping the clock

• 29:51 Downside of discipline

• 34:07 Macro-innovation

• 39:26 Iran

• 43:21 Qatar

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Ep 96: Vincent O’Hara and Trent Hone on Naval Combat at Night Oct 31, 2023

Show notes

Vincent O’Hara and Trent Hone, naval historians and co-editors of Fighting in the Dark: Naval Combat at Night, 1904-1944, join the show to talk about how naval warfare was transformed by technology that made possible night combat at sea.

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Times

• 02:01 Introduction

• 03:35 Night combat pre-19th century

• 06:02 Why do we fight at night?

• 09:30 Getting close in

• 13:47 Different approaches

• 19:28 German naval thinking pre-WWI

• 22:05 Jutland and after

• 27:09 Theory vs. experience

• 32:04 Japanese success at night

• 37:59 The Italian navy

• 40:52 Long range torpedoes

• 45:27 Changes in command expectations

• 49:44 Dealing with technological changes today

• 52:36 Is the U.S. Navy the “best”?

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Ep 95: Richard Goldberg on the War in Israel & American Strategy Oct 24, 2023

Show notes

Rich Goldberg, senior advisor at Foundation for Defense of Democracies and co-host of Jewish Insider’s Limited Liability podcast, joins the show to talk about the war in Israel, Iran’s objectives, and America’s.

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Times

• 01:41 Introduction

• 02:22 Sit Rep 10/23

• 12:05 Confused messaging from Washington

• 20:21 Too clever by half

• 24:54 Owner operated proxies?

• 32:40 What does Iran want

• 35:51 Volatile Israeli politics

• 40:52 Dancing to the enemy tune

• 42:51 The cost of being America’s ally

• 44:25 Deterrence

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Ep 94: Jonathan Schanzer on the War in Israel & Hamas Oct 17, 2023

Show notes

Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, joins the show to talk about the state of the war in Israel, the history of Hamas and its campaign to eradicate the Jewish state, and Israel’s plans to end the cycle forever.

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Times

• 01:41 Introduction

• 02:24 The situation today

• 04:55 Gaza’s terrain

• 09:27 Focusing on the north

• 12:51 Gaza in Arab politics

• 18:41 Iranian support

• 25:41 Walls can work both ways

• 29:00 Israeli objectives

• 35:56 Strategic goals and military means

• 41:38 Dancing to an Iranian tune

• 46:01 Working against the clock

• 49:06 Staying informed

To read the WSJ article discussed today click here

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Ep 93: Michael Doran on the War in Israel & Ghosts of 1973 Oct 10, 2023

Show notes

Michael Doran, senior fellow and director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at the Hudson Institute, joins the show to talk about Iran-backed Hamas’ savage attack on Israel, how we can expect Israel to act in Gaza, prospects for escalation, and the echoes of 1973.

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Times

• 02:33 Introduction

• 03:16 10/7

• 08:51 Potential Israeli objectives in Gaza

• 20:18 A regional war?

• 27:20 Iranian objectives

• 34:28 Intelligence failures, operational catastrophes

• 42:11 Redeployments

• 44:45 Parallels with the Yom Kippur War

• 51:07 America and Israel today

To read the article discussed today click here

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Ep 92: Cliff May on Defending Democracies Oct 03, 2023

Show notes

Cliff May, founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, joins the show to talk about the neo-imperialism of America’s adversaries and what defending democracy requires.

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Times

• 02:22 Introduction

• 02:39 Taking on Jon Stewart

• 06:50 Starting in the Soviet Union

• 12:26 Policy activism

• 20:11 Foundation for Defense of Democracies

• 26:31 Ending tyranny

• 34:53 The people have to want it

• 41:05 Are we misleading ourselves?

• 43:23 Cracks in the Axis of Tyrannies

• 47:26 Chinese imperialism

• 52:35 Understanding ourselves abroad

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Ep 91: Paul Rahe on Sparta’s Grand Strategy Sep 26, 2023

Show notes

Paul Rahe, Charles O. Lee and Louise K. Lee Chair in the Western Heritage at Hillsdale College, and author of Sparta's Sicilian Proxy War: The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta, 418-413 BC, joins the show to talk about proxy wars, the strategy of Sparta, and the role of regimes in the shaping of foreign policy.

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Times

• 01:37 Introduction

• 06:43 Donald Kagan

• 08:32 The Spartan point of view

• 11:59 Why change the perspective?

• 17:30 Sparta’s goals

• 24:59 Why does Sparta matter?

• 31:56 “Putin’s completely irrational”

• 33:56 Is Realism dangerous?

• 39:17 Why do the Athenians go to Sicily?

• 44:35 Alcibiades

• 47:06 Could the Athenians have won?

• 49:11 The significance of victory

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Ep 90: Andrew Krepinevich on Military Revolutions Sep 19, 2023

Show notes

Andrew Krepinevich, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and author of The Origins of Victory: How Disruptive Military Innovation Determines the Fates of Great Powers, joins the show to talk about how to interpret and think about military revolutions of the past and how that can help us forecast the shape of war in the future.

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Times

• 01:35 Introduction

• 02:50 Andy Marshall

• 07:45 A diagnostic outlook

• 10:11 The military technical revolution

• 19:14 How do military revolutions work?

• 24:49 Playing catch-up

• 27:35 The MRAP question

• 33:34 The pace of change

• 42:17 Mass and main force

• 46:12 What are we not doing that we need to be?

Here is a link to the article referenced in the episode - Hudson Institute - Archipelagic Defense 2.0

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Ep 89: Mick Ryan on Ukraine, Taiwan, and Future War Sep 12, 2023

Show notes

Mick Ryan, Major General (retired) in the Australian Army and author of White Sun War: The Campaign for Taiwan, joins the show to talk about the war today in Ukraine, the potential war in Taiwan, and the changing character of war itself.

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Times

• 02:22 Introduction

• 05:49 China on Australia’s radar

• 11:56 Ukrainian progress

• 17:26 Timeframe

• 24:00 “We’re helping them tread water. We’re not helping them swim.”

• 27:37 What is China learning from Ukraine?

• 35:20 Can China pull off its own Operation Neptune?

• 41:12 Looking to the past

• 44:35 White Sun War

• 51:23 Everything new is old

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Ep 88: John H. Maurer on Alfred Thayer Mahan (New Makers of Modern Strategy #10) Sep 05, 2023

Show notes

John H. Maurer, the Alfred Thayer Mahan Professor of Sea Power and Grand Strategy at the Naval War College and contributor to New Makers of Modern Strategy, joins the show to talk about Mahan and his relevance today.

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Times

• 01:30 Introduction

• 02:06 Mahan struck from the syllabus

• 06:30 Early writings

• 09:19 Looking out at the world

• 12:17 Six elements of seapower

• 15:01 Arming for peace

• 20:35 Corbett

• 22:54 The 18th century

• 29:49 A political scientist

• 35:10 Where might one go wrong?