Angry Planet

We are living on the precipice of a manufacturing revolution. 3D Printing is more than just a hobby your weird rich friends use to make guns, it’s the dawn of a new process of prototype and creation. Additive manufacturing, if you believe the hype, will make it easier to make everything. Including weapons of Mass Destruction. But how real is that threat and how close are we to making chemical weapons at home for fun and profit?Here to help answer that question is Grant Christopher. Grant is a senior researcher at Vertic, a London based think tank that works to strengthen verification of international agreements. He was part of the research team at CERN that discovered the Higgs Boson, and he’s the co-author of a research paper titled WMD Capabilities Enabled by Additive Manufacturing.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for tuning into this special podcast. Last week was a busy one for President Trump and the military. Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer was fired. Or did he quit? No, he was fired. Why? Because of how he handled controversy surrounding Navy SEAL and accused War Criminal Eddie Gallagher. That’s … that’s if he was actually fired, which he probably was.Here to help us untangle this mess is Pauline Kaurin. Kaurin is the Stockdale Chair in Professional Military Ethics at the US Naval War College and the author of The Warrior, Military Ethics and Contemporary Warfare: Achilles Goes Asymmetrical.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Refugees. People from countries in crisis fleeing oppression and death. America was once a beacon to the world’s tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free. But things have changed. In the last term of President Barack Obama the U.S. said it would accept 110,000 refugees. That number is now just 18,000. There’s a moral argument here, but also a compelling strategic one. The enemy of my enemy is my friend … but only if you let them be your friend.Here to help us sort this all out is Joe Coon. Coon did a tour of duty in Iraq as a Cavalry Scout for the U.S. Army National Guard. Now, he’s the Senior Vice President and co-founder of the Niskanen Center.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If there’s been a recent throughline or theme on this season of War College, it’s that war has changed. And it’s not just conflict, but the way we cover conflict. Increasingly, people are using open source intelligence and social media to study and report on the changing nature of conflict.Calbre Obscura is one of those people. He’s an independent arms researcher interested in non-state groups in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. He is extremely online, and he knows more about AK variants and homemade mortar rounds than anyone else in the world. Follow him online @CalibreObscura and visit his website at calibreobscura.com.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s the end of the world as we know it and I’m fine. It’s fine. It’s fine. Stop asking.Between the climate Apocalypse, tensions in the Middle East, the dissolution of decades old nuclear treaties, artificial intelligence, 3D printed weapons of mass destruction, immortal humans, CRISPR, and drone swarms, it feels like we’re closer to a science fiction apocalypse everyday. These days it’s not a question of when the end of human civilization comes but how. Mike Pearl has spent years obsessing over The Day it Finally Happens. That’s the title of his new book, which studies the various methods by which humanity could achieve mass extinction.Pearl is a journalist whose work has appeared in VICE, The Outline, The Awl, and the Hollywood Reporter. You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s anti-government protests in Hong Kong, Venezuela, and Russia. The civil war in Syria rages on and, thanks to Twitter, VK, Facebook, anyone can share their opinion about world events. Elements of both the left and right say that any anti-government protest in one of America’s rivals is a CIA plot and dictators such as Bashar Al Assad are good, actually. Is this information warfare or just shitposting? Here to help us figure that out is Idrees Ahmad. Ahmad is Lecturer in Digital Journalism at the University of Stirling and a contributing editor at the Los Angeles Review of Books. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, Vice, and The Atlantic.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on War College, Syrian journalist Loubna Mrie walks us through life in the early days of the Syrian revolution, how it turned into a nightmarish Civil War, and the consequences of US Withdrawal.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s war all over these days, but it’s different. War has, in fact changed, and the operators of the future are preparing for different challenges in different theaters. The bulk of US involved conflict is happening in the Middle East and North Africa, but the Pentagon is preparing for fighting in more traditional theaters.Marty Skovlund Jr. is a veteran of 1st Ranger Battalion, the Executive Editor of Coffee or Die Magazine and a frequent guest of the show. He’s been covering military training in Europe where he witnessed America’s special operation forces training alongside their European counterparts. The threat they think they might face? It’s decidedly Russian.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On September 14, explosions rocked oil infrastructure in Saudia Arabia. Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack and the early headlines stated that the rebel group had attacked the Kingdom with drones. As always, the truth of the attack is a little more complicated. It’s a story of cruise missiles, Iran, and open source intelligence. It’s also a story where how we know what we know is just as interesting as the story itself.With us today is to help untangle this is Fabian Hinz. Hinz is a Research Associate at James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey, CA. Hinz is also the author of an excellent post at Arms Control Wonk You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the past decade, unmanned aerial vehicles have been a cornerstone of America’s campaign against Islamic insurgents in the Greater Middle East. Predator and Reaper drones crisscross the globe firing hellfire missiles on U.S. enemies. Other countries have operational drone fleets, but few match the might and ubiquity of America’s.But journalists on the front lines in Iraq have seen a disturbing new trend - Islamic State using retail quadcopters to drop their own munitions with surprising accuracy. Mosul is the frontline in the fight against ISIS as well as the frontline in a new arm’s race. One that pits the tiny drones of the Islamic State against the budding anti-drone technology of the West.To be clear, Islamic State’s commercial quadcopters rigged with grenades and manufactured missiles is nothing compared to the power of a Predator firing off hellfire missiles with pinpoint accuracy. But that’s cold comfort to a civilian killed by a handmade explosive dropped by a quadcopter over the streets of Mosul.This week on War College, Wall Street Journal reporter Ben Kesling walks us through the drones of Islamic State. He’s back from the fighting in Mosul and saw his share of quadcopters as well as the innovative solutions coalition and Iraqi forces are using to fight against them.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.