School of War - Nebulous Media

Latest Episodes:

Ep 78: Hew Strachan on Clausewitz (New Makers of Modern Strategy #7) Jun 20, 2023

Show notes

Hew Strachan, Bishop Wardlaw Professor at the School of International Relations at the University of St. Andrews and a contributor to New Makers of Modern Strategy, joins the show to talk about Carl von Clausewitz.

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Times

• 02:10 Introduction

• 04:31 Serious-minded

• 09:43 On War

• 11:54 Deconstruct to construct

• 15:19 Distinctions in war

• 24:07 The American embrace of Clausewitz

• 28:00 Context is everything

• 32:14 Politics by other means

• 36:24 Clausewitz the Marxist

• 40:05 Absolute and Total

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Ep 77: Iskander Rehman on Sully, Richelieu, and Mazarin (New Makers of Modern Strategy #6) Jun 13, 2023

Show notes

Iskander Rehman, Ax:son Johnson Fellow at the Kissinger Center at Johns Hopkins SAIS and contributor to New Makers of Modern Strategy, joins the show to talk about French grand strategy during the 16th and 17th century rivalry between the Bourbons and Habsburg Spain.

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Times

• 02:41 Introduction

• 04:35 A nagging curiosity

• 06:59 Sully at the start

• 13:27 The genesis of a struggle

• 21:19 French internal cohesion

• 26:51 Naval power

• 29:28 Religious factions and Richelieu

• 32:14 The 30 Years War and France

• 36:22 The fruits of disorder

• 41:44 Defender of the faith

• 44:41 Mazarin

• 49:48 Hegemonic France

• 53:56 Rapid-fire lessons

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Ep 76: Levi Roach on the Normans Jun 06, 2023

Show notes

Levi Roach, Associate Professor of Medieval History at the University of Exeter and author of Empires of the Normans: Conquerors of Europe, joins the show to talk about the rise, violent spread, and ultimate normalization of the group of Viking raiders know as the Normans.

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Times

• 01:25 Introduction

• 01:53 Who were the Normans?

• 06:40 Transformations

• 11:41 Parallel outbursts

• 14:35 “If a Frank is your neighbor, he’s not your friend”

• 16:01 Towards 1066

• 22:20 Dukes and kings

• 26:34 Hastings

• 31:42 William’s victory

• 36:13 Rule by castle

• 39:26 Siege and counter-siege

• 41:27 Normans in the Mediterranean

• 47:24 “Noteworthy, not unique”

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Ep 75: Toshi Yoshihara on Sun Tzu (New Makers of Modern Strategy #5) May 30, 2023

Show notes

Toshi Yoshihara, Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, author of Mao’s Army Goes to Sea, and contributor to the New Makers of Modern Strategy, joins the show to talk about Sun Tzu and Mao’s strategic thought.

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Times

• 02:14 Introduction

• 02:33 Who was Sun Tzu?

• 05:38 Spring and Autumn

• 08:27 Legitimizing the text

• 11:18 Rational analysis

• 13:51 Clausewitz versus Sun Tzu

• 20:28 A dangerous optimism

• 24:40 Shih

• 29:59 Mao in ’49 and ’50

• 34:11 Chinese intervention in Korea

• 38:36 The origins of Chinese sea power

• 43:11 Amphibious operations

• 47:33 D-Day without any advantages

Andrew Rhodes Map D-Day Invasion compared to potential Taiwan Invasion

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Ep 74: Mark Moyar on Vietnam (New Makers of Modern Strategy #4) May 23, 2023

Show notes

Mark Moyar, the William P. Harris Chair of Military History at Hillsdale College, author of Triumph Regained: The Vietnam War, 1965-1968 and contributor to New Makers of Modern Strategy, joins the show to reconsider the history of the Vietnam War.

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Times

• 01:53 Introduction

• 04:30 Beginnings

• 08:43 Early success

• 12:23 Fallout from the coup

• 14:00 LBJ takes over

• 19:06 Domino theory

• 22:20 China and Vietnam

• 25:40 Buying time

• 28:23 Johnson and McNamara

• 34:22 Maintaining the shield

• 35:53 Westmoreland and attrition

• 41:42 South Vietnam

• 45:33 Parallels

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Ep 73: Carter Malkasian on Counterterrorism and Counterinsurgency (New Makers of Modern Strategy #3) May 16, 2023

Show notes

Carter Malkasian, chair of the Defense Analysis Department at the Naval Postgraduate School and contributor to New Makers of Modern Strategy, joins the show to talk about counterterrorism and counterinsurgency since 9/11.

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Times

• 01:39 Introduction

• 02:01 From academia to Garmsir

• 03:48 Center for Naval Analysis

• 05:45 Two faces of the same coin

• 08:51 Counterterrorism vs counterinsurgency

• 13:00 McChrystal and Petraeus

• 16:29 Types of insurgency

• 20:34 The Sunni Awakening and the Surge

• 24:32 Two different wars

• 30:51 Gilding the lily

• 37:46 The Obama Administration

• 41:42 ISIS

• 44:45 Withdrawal deadline

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Ep 72: Matthew Kroenig on Machiavelli (New Makers of Modern Strategy #2) May 09, 2023

Show notes

Matthew Kroenig, professor in the Department of Government and the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and contributor to the New Makers of Modern Strategy, joins the show to talk about one of the most influential strategic thinkers of all time, Niccolo Machiavelli.

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Times

• 02:21 Introduction

• 03:52 Teaching Machiavelli

• 05:38 Machiavelli’s relevance

• 07:49 Who was Niccolo?

• 10:00 A lasting effect

• 12:16 The Art of War

• 15:52 A bad reputation

• 19:58 A return to republic

• 22:25 The Prince

• 25:45 An early realist

• 30:35 Classical influences

• 35:12 Bullish on democracy

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Ep 71: John Gaddis on Strategy (New Makers of Modern Strategy #1) May 02, 2023

Show notes

John Gaddis, Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military & Naval History at Yale University and a contributor to New Makers of Modern Strategy, joins the show to talk about the foundations of strategic thought.

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Times

• 02:01 Introduction

• 02:42 Makers of Modern Strategy

• 05:21 Democracy and strategy

• 07:42 Do authoritarians do strategy better?

• 10:32 A guide for future action

• 14:19 Grammar and logic

• 17:42 Ecological sensitivity

• 21:00 Maintain credibility

• 23:25 NSC-68

• 28:04 Reactions

• 32:18 Self-correction

• 37:12 Tolerating contradictions

• 41:29 Robert Kagan

• 42:43 Intellectual humility

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Ep 70: Will Scharf on China’s Fentanyl War on America Apr 25, 2023

Show notes

Will Scharf, former federal prosecutor and candidate for Missouri Attorney General, joins the show to talk about how the Chinese Communist Party uses fentanyl as part of a broader strategy to pressure the United States.

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Times

• 01:16 Introduction

• 02:19 Law enforcement and policy

• 04:39 What is fentanyl?

• 06:53 Violent Crimes

• 09:00 Fentanyl’s strength

• 12:02 Fentanyl vs opium

• 13:24 Origins

• 17:52 China’s role

• 21:09 The Opium Wars

• 25:41 The Chinese enigma

• 34:13 What can we do?

• 38:02 The cartels

• 41:03 Cui bono?

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Ep 69: John Lisle on the OSS and "Dirty Tricks" Apr 18, 2023

Show notes

John Lisle, a historian of science and the American intelligence community and author of The Dirty Tricks Department, joins the show to talk about the World War Two-era Office of Strategic Services and its Research and Development Branch.

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Times

• 01:44 Introduction

• 02:10 “Wild Bill” Donovan

• 05:54 Donovan’s style

• 08:53 Stanley Lovell

• 12:35 An unconventional training process

• 16:40 Explosive pancake batter

• 19:24 Limpet mines and Java Man

• 23:33 A meaningful legacy?

• 27:34 Target: Werner Heisenberg

• 31:51 WMDs