School of War - Nebulous Media

Latest Episodes:

Ep 276: Charlie Laderman on Regime Change in Iran Feb 20, 2026

Show notes

Charlie Laderman, associate professor at the University of Florida’s Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education, joins the show to discuss parallels between Reagan’s policy towards Cold War Poland and the crisis in Iran today.

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Times

02:45 Comparing Iran and Poland

05:56 Reagan’s plan

10:15 Reheating the Cold War

12:26 ’81 coup

15:53 Sanctions and pressure

20:19 Constant agitation

27:38 End of the Cold War

34:45 The violence of the Iranian regime

37:55 Structural differences

44:32 Exiled opposition

Read the article discussed in the episode - Freedom for Iran: Learning From U.S. Support for Polish Anti-Communists in the 1980s

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Ep 275: Michael Baumgartner on Marco Rubio’s Speech and the Future of Europe Feb 17, 2026

Show notes

Rep. Michael Baumgartner of Washington State’s 5th Congressional District joins the show to give his key takeaways from the Munich Security Conference.

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Times

01:34 Getting to Munich

05:22 European attitude

14:20 AOC and recalibration

17:50 Germany returns

23:59 Rubio’s speech

30:23 Ukraine

39:22 Iran and a “good” deal

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Ep 274: Lawrence Freedman on Strategists and Ukraine Feb 13, 2026

Show notes

Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King’s College London and author of On Strategists and Strategy: Collected Essays, 2014-2024, joins the show to talk about a lifetime among strategists, and to give an update on the war in Ukraine.

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Times

02:34 Essay writing

07:49 Michael Howard

18:42 Colin Gray

23:06 Timeless aspects of strategy

26:00 The goal of SDI

36:40 Tactics

41:20 Differences between tactics and strategy

45:01 Ultimate objectives

50:08 Sensible uses of nuclear weapons

52:24 Thatcher

53:59 Harsh winter in Ukraine

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Ep 273: Matthew Kroenig on China’s Nuclear Test Feb 09, 2026

Show notes

Matthew Kroenig, Professor in the Department of Government and the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, joins the show to talk about the new nuclear age the world is entering.

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Times

03:27 Secret Chinese testing

07:35 Seismic monitoring and de-coupling

11:40 U.S. testing plan

15:30 Why might we need more nuclear weapons?

18:01 New START

21:23 How many nukes are needed?

27:04 If deterrence fails

30:20 Limits, if any

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Ep 272: Beatrice Heuser on Why Leaders Make Bad Decisions Feb 06, 2026

Show notes

Beatrice Heuser, Distinguished Professor at the Brussels School of Governance in the Free University of Brussels and author of Flawed Strategy: Why Smart Leaders Make Bad Decisions, joins the show to discuss decision-making and strategic thinking.

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Times

02:58 Economists and strategy

07:59 Acting rationally vs logically

15:00 Mirror imaging

20:01 How should we study strategy?

27:17 Denial

32:18 Strategic intelligence failures

36:15 Hidden causes

38:57 Everyone does it

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Ep 271: Geoff Ball on the Future of America’s Infantry Feb 03, 2026

Show notes

Geoff Ball, U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer, staff director for the Naval Academy’s Leadership Education and Development Division and Executive Editor of The Connecting File, joins the show to discuss the radical changes and surprising continuities in how America’s grunts will fight.

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Times

02:25 The Connecting File

06:22 How is the infantry doing?

14:10 Companies of the future

23:22 Information and trust

29:57 Innovative spirit

33:30 Light Armored Recon

39:05 Drone battalions

42:24 Learning the right lessons from Ukraine

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Ep 270: David Shedd on China’s Spies Jan 30, 2026

Show notes

David Shedd, former Acting Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and author of The Great Heist: China’s Epic Campaign to Steal America’s Secrets, joins the show to discuss Chinese spy craft.

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Times

02:05 Early days

06:49 CIA

09:28 Sandinistas and revolutionaries

15:14 IC preparation

18:35 A great awakening

26:11 Industrial espionage

30:50 National Intelligence Estimate

34:11 The MSS

44:19 The culture of the 18th Bureau

50:17 Battlefield consequences

55:20 Counterarguments

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Ep 269: Walter Russell Mead on Donald and Davos and Greenland, Oh My! Jan 26, 2026

Show notes

Walter Russell Mead, Alexander Hamilton Professor of Strategy and Statecraft at the University of Florida's Hamilton Center and columnist for The Wall Street Journal, joins the show to discuss foreign policy in the Age of Trump.

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Times

03:15 An extraordinary week

05:06 The Transatlantic relationship

09:02 Turning to China

16:10 Greenland

27:03 Post-presidency Trump

32:25 Harder now

43:08 Zelenskyy

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Ep 268: Seth Jones on America’s Defense Industrial Crisis Jan 23, 2026

Show notes

Seth Jones, president of the Defense and Security Department and Harold Brown Chair at CSIS, joins the show to talk about how America has resurrected its defense industrial base in the past and why it should be doing so now.

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Times

02:55 The British in the 1930s

05:58 Roosevelt’s decision

09:48 Re-orientation

13:59 The B-29

16:00 Victory in Iraq

27:54 Skunkworks

31:30 Xi comes into power

35:07 Disadvantages

39:07 What needs to be done?

44:28 Fighting for 5%

47:43 Culture shift

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Ep 267: Michael Lurie on Israel’s New Laser Weapon Jan 20, 2026

Show notes

Michael Lurie, CEO and President of Rafael USA, joins the show to explain how High Energy Lasers and Iron Beam will change missile & air defense, not to mention warfare itself, forever.

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Times

02:34 The evolution of missile defense

05:09 Iron Dome & Iron Beam

08:04 How do lasers work?

15:16 Limitations

20:07 Integrating systems

25:28 Future applications

30:09 Lessons from field testing

40:15 American interest

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