While naval historians and strategists have tended to focus on commerce raiding and ship-on-ship or fleet-on-fleet operations, naval history also includes many examples of wartime raiding and maritime security operations. In this episode of The Strategy Bridge Podcast we talk about naval irregular warfare in early America with Dr. Benjamin Armstrong. He is an active duty naval officer and Assistant Professor of War Studies and Naval History at the US Naval Academy. Armstrong is the author of the book Small Boats and Daring Men: Maritime Raiding, Irregular Warfare and the Early American Navy.

Throughout the 19th century the U.S. Army alternated between a small regular force scattered at isolated forts and large forces built quickly to fight major wars. In his book Preparing for War, Dr. J.P. Clark breaks the officer corps down into four generations between 1815-1917 whose ideas about professionalism and how to prepare for war were shaped by their institutions, experiences and culture. Clark is an active duty military officer who taught history at West Point and served as a strategic advisor at the Pentagon and British Ministry of Defense.

Over the past several years there has been a renewed interest in using gaming as a method to investigate national security decision making, explore policy and strategy options, and gain experience as practitioners. In this episode of the Strategy Bridge Podcast, we talk with Elizabeth Bartels about how wargames are designed, the differences in approaching gaming as an art and a science, and how games are used to think creatively about global competition. Bartels is a PhD candidate studying national security policy gaming at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. 

Nick Prime, PhD from King's College London and a Smith Richardson Fellow at Yale, discusses J.C. Wylie's influential book 'Military Strategy.' Prime unpacks Wylie's life, highlighting his pivotal contributions during WWII and his innovative concepts like 'centers of gravity.' The conversation dives into the nature of strategy, emphasizing adaptability over rigid definitions, and explores the relevance of Wylie's ideas in historical conflicts like Vietnam and Iraq. The intertwining of military philosophy and game theory also gets a thought-provoking examination.

From July 1966 to January 1970, Nigerians fought a civil war which led to the deaths of more than half a million people. Looking back at the American attempts to understand what was happening offers an opportunity to assess how intelligence analysts responded to a foreign policy challenge. In this episode we talk with Judd Devermont about the American intelligence community’s biases in its analysis of the Nigerian Civil War and its influence on American policy. Devermont is the director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He has worked at the CIA, National Security Council, and in the office of the Director of National Intelligence. His article “The US intelligence community's biases during the Nigerian civil war” was published in African Affairs. Devermont is the host of the podcast “Into Africa.” The Strategy Bridge is a non-profit organization focused on the development of people in strategy, national security, & military affairs. To learn more about the strategy bridge journal, podcast, and events visit thestrategybridge.org.

In 1983 Soviet leaders interpreted a series of American actions leading up to Exercise ABLE ARCHER as real steps toward a nuclear attack. In this episode we talk with Dr. Bob Hamilton about how Soviets and Americans misunderstood each other and almost started a nuclear war. Hamilton is an Professor of Eurasian Studies at the U.S. Army War College and a retired Army colonel. He is the author of the article “ABLE ARCHER at 35: Lessons of the 1983 War Scare.” 

The decision to go to war is one of the most important a country can make. In a democracy that debate can involve activist groups both for and against the war. In this episode of the Strategy Bridge Podcast, we talk with Dr. Michael Kazin about the American anti-war movement during WWI. Kazin is a professor of history at Georgetown University and a co-editor of Dissent Magazine. He is the author of War Against War: The American Fight for Peace 1914-1918. The Strategy Bridge is a non-profit organization focused on the development of people in strategy, national security, & military affairs. To learn more about the Strategy Bridge journal, podcast, and events visit thestrategybridge.org.

As the United States industrialized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the U.S. Navy worked to adapt to a maritime environment shaped by the development of new technologies and ship types. This effort led to the redefinition of what it meant be a naval officer and new thinking about doctrine, tactics, and strategy. In this episode of the Strategy Bridge podcast we talk with Trent Hone about how the American Navy transitioned from a traditional institution to a modern learning organization. Hone is the author of the book Learning War: The Evolution of Fighting Doctrine in the US Navy, 1898-1945.

From the 1890s through the end of WWI, Germans recruited African soldiers to serve in the Schutztruppe, the colonial army in German East Africa. Known as the askari, they were drawn from various ethnic groups whose backgrounds made them desirable in the Germans’ eyes for military service. In this episode we talk with Dr. Michelle Moyd about the askari, their way of war, and what motivated them to be agents of German imperialism. Moyd is an associate professor of history at Indiana University and a former U.S. Air Force officer. She is the author of Violent Intermediaries: African Soldiers, Conquest, and Everyday Colonialism in German East Africa. The Strategy Bridge is a non-profit organization focused on the development of people in strategy, national security, & military affairs. To learn more about the journal, podcast, and events visit the Strategy Bridge website.  

In this episode of the Strategy Bridge Podcast we talk with Dr. Aparna Pande about Indian foreign policy and how it has been influenced by ancient philosophers, the example of Indian empires, the institutions of the British Raj, and the ideas of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Pande is the director of the Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia at the Hudson Institute and is the author of From Chanakya to Modi: Evolution of India's Foreign Policy. The Strategy Bridge is a non-profit organization focused on the development of people in strategy, national security, & military affairs. To learn more about the journal, podcast, and events visit the Strategy Bridge website.