School of War
Nebulous Media
This podcast seeks to learn what war teaches. There has been a steady decline in the study of military history and its associated theoretical discipline, strategy.This podcast seeks to fill that gap through in-depth interviews on military and diplomatic history. Our guests have included former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Cold War historian John Lewis Gaddis, and former China Select Committee chairman Mike Gallagher. We discuss the battlefield commanders, diplomats, strategists, policymakers, and statesmen who have had to make wartime decisions in the ancient and modern eras. The subject of an episode may be an historical battle, campaign, or conflict; the conduct of policy in the course of a major international incident; the work of a famous strategist; the nature of a famous weapon; or the legacy of an important military commander or political leader. Aaron MacLean is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute. He has worked as a foreign policy advisor and legislative director to Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and spent seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps.Visit our Substack for episode transcriptsFollow along on Instagram
Episodes
Mentioned books
Sep 13, 2022 • 1h 2min
Ep 43: Eli Lake on the Bush administration in the Middle East
Eli Lake, host of The Re-Education and national security journalism fellow at the Clements Center, joins the show to talk about 9/11 and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. ▪️Times • 02:04 Introduction• 02:43 From Philly To The Middle East• 05:14 9/11• 07:49 The World Before • 09:20 No More Nation Building• 12:03 Neo-Cons Or Not• 18:09 Liberal Internationalists • 22:05 Early Mistakes• 29:08 Baking In Problems • 32:46 The Bonn Conference • 37:04 Capable Of Being Free• 41:04 Toppling Sadam - Right or Wrong? • 45:47 WMDs And Insurgency• 53:25 New Strategies • 56:51 The Surge • 59:01 The Loss Of Choice
Sep 6, 2022 • 1h 7min
Ep 42: Ian Easton on Xi Jinping and the CCP’s Grand Strategy
Ian Easton, senior director at the Project 2049 Institute and author of The Final Struggle: Inside China’s Global Strategy, joins the show to talk about Xi Jinping, the ideology that shaped Jinping and by which he rules, and why his vision for the world should not be dismissed. ▪️Times • 01:56 Introduction • 02:22 Interested In China • 05:01 Discovering Taiwan • 10:32 Perceptions Of The PRC • 13:11 How The Chinese Government Works • 17:47 Who Is Xi Jinping? • 23:42 The Tactics Of Ideology And Control • 26:29 The “Scourge Of The Corrupt” • 29:36 Authentic Socialism • 31:25 Does China’s Communism Matter? • 37:04 The Blending Of Communism And Nationalism • 43:04 Exporting Xi Jinping Thought • 49:19 Absolute Control • 52:41 Does Xi Jinping Have Rivals? • 56:04 Optimisim To Pessimism In Taiwan • 01:04:00 It’s Not All Dark
Aug 30, 2022 • 56min
Ep 41: Hal Brands and Michael Beckley on China
Hal Brands, Henry Kissinger Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University, and Michael Beckley, associate professor of political science at Tufts University, join the show to talk about how an armed confrontation with China could be coming more quickly than most expect. ▪️Times • 01:30 Introduction• 02:28 Danger Zone • 05:13 A Matter Of Timing• 07:55 A Thucydides Trap?• 13:07 Historical Analogies and 1914• 20:32 Getting To The Long Game• 25:37 Sleepwalking Into War?• 31:10 China’s Problems And Plans• 35:06 The “Lenin Trap”• 36:44 Why Does Taiwan Matter? • 40:27 Commitments And Capabilities • 44:37 What Will War Look Like? • 48:24 Cold War Lessons • 52:22 Getting Through The Danger Zone
Aug 9, 2022 • 56min
Ep 40: Michael S. Neiberg on Vichy France
Michael S. Neiberg, Chair of War Studies in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College, joins the show to talk American policy towards Vichy France.▪️Times • 01:21 Introduction • 02:15 Vichy France - An Overview • 06:38 A Phony War • 09:16 American Assumptions Pre-war • 13:09 Isolationism No Longer Works • 24:30 Roosevelt’s Policy • 28:45 Stress In The Anglo-American Alliance • 33:03 American Vision Of A Post-War World • 36:00 Vichy Unveiled • 39:01 Chaos In North Africa • 43:19 Vichy’s Shame • 51:57 de Gaulle
Aug 2, 2022 • 47min
Ep 39: Ocie Vest on the Marine Corps’ War in Afghanistan, Part 2 of 2
Ocie Vest, retired Marine infantry officer, joins the show to talk about his experiences as a platoon commander in the Battle of Marjah and later as a combat leader in Nimruz Province, lessons learned in training and in combat, and how the war can continue after the fighting ends. Second of a two-part conversation.▪️Times • 01:27 Violent Months• 06:15 “Do Whatever Those Guys Do”• 09:42 Tactical Adaptation• 13:32 A Fighting Exit• 18:03 “That Sucked…Why’d We Want To Do That So Bad?”• 21:29 Dispersed Operations• 26:36 Nimruz Province • 30:43 Hope For The Future• 34:39 Leadership• 36:11 Medically Retired, Twice • 38:53 The Work Works• 45:47 “Now Its Up To Them”
Jul 26, 2022 • 1h 12min
Ep 38: Ocie Vest on the Marine Corps’ War in Afghanistan, Part 1 of 2
Ocie Vest, retired Marine infantry officer, joins the show to talk about his experiences as a platoon commander in the Battle of Marjah and later as a combat leader in Nimruz Province, lessons learned in training and in combat, and how the war can continue after the fighting ends. First of a two-part conversation.▪️Times • 01:46 Introduction • 02:24 Joining The Marines • 03:55 Quantico • 09:00 Becoming An Infantry Officer • 20:22 Camp Lejeune • 27:21 False Start • 35:06 Crossing The Line Of Departure • 40:49 On The Job Learning • 44:40 Marjah • 50:43 First Combat • 59:11 Sustained Combat • 1:02:45 Different Neighborhood, Different War
Jul 19, 2022 • 1h 1min
Ep 37: Alexander Watson on WWI’s Siege of Przemysl and the Making of Europe’s Bloodlands
Alexander Watson, Professor of History at Goldsmiths, University of London, joins the show to talk about the Eastern Front in World War One, and how the events of 1914/15 foreshadowed tragedies to come and the crisis in Ukraine today. ▪️Times • 01:43 Introduction • 02:40 WWI In The East • 05:29 Battlefield - Austria-Hungary • 10:10 The Austro-Hungarian Army • 13:28 Coveted Galicia • 17:44 1914 - A Primordial Soup • 19:02 The Siege Begins • 26:27 Przemysl’s Defensive Plan • 29:50 The Russians Take A Direct Approach • 36:08 Inside A City Under Siege • 40:19 Total Exhaustion • 44:45 Military And Human Consequences • 50:00 Birthplace Of The Bloodlands • 55:09 Strange EndsMaps Courtesy of United States Military Academy West PointEastern Europe, 1914 and Planned Army Concentration Areas in Central Europe, 1914 Operations on The Eastern Front to 20 September 1914
Jul 12, 2022 • 60min
Ep 36: Charlie Laderman on Hitler’s Decision to Declare War on America
Charlie Laderman, lecturer at King’s College London and co-author of Hitler's American Gamble, joins the show to talk about his latest book, which covers the crucial days between the attack on Pearl Harbor and Hitler’s perplexing declaration of war on the United States.▪️Times • 01:52 Introduction• 02:50 Wasn’t War Inevitable?• 07:12 Japan And Germany - Strange Bedfellows• 11:10 Hitler’s Blurred Vision• 14:45 Japan - Will They, Won’t They Attack • 15:51 Churchill’s Outlook• 22:58 Anti-Interventionist Sentiment• 26:57 Anti-Semitism• 31:18 Roosevelt Sees Things Clearly• 35:21 A War With Germany, Not Japan • 38:40 Catastrophic German Strategic Errors• 43:23 Hitler’s American Gamble • 49:15 Pearl Harbor Condemned The European Jews• 53:54 Alarmingly Relevant Parallels
Jun 28, 2022 • 38min
Ep 35: Brendan Simms and Steven McGregor on the Battle of Midway
Brendan Simms, Professor at the University of Cambridge, and his co-author, Steven McGregor, a U.S. Army vet, join the show to talk about their new book, The Silver Waterfall: How America Won the War in the Pacific at Midway.▪️Times • 02:12 Introduction • 02:30 Why Write About Midway? • 05:54 Strategic Situation In The Pacific • 08:26 Who Is Chester Nimitz? • 11:02 Small Scale Start To The Large Scale Fight • 14:20 Intelligence Breaches And Carrier Combat • 17:12 Dueling Carrier Doctrines • 22:09 Lt. Dusty Kleiss On The Day Of Battle • 24:45 Hide And Seek In The Pacific Ocean • 28:45 Finding The Kido Butai At Midway • 30:53 To Dive Bomb Or Not • 32:11 Never Call Me A Hero • 33:38 A Fine Days Work • 36:23 Preparation + Opportunity = Luck
11 snips
Jun 21, 2022 • 58min
Ep 34: Andrew Corbett on Britain’s Nukes
Andrew Corbett, author of Supreme Emergency: How Britain Lives With the Bomb, joins the show to talk about what it’s like commanding one of Her Majesty’s deadliest weapons, how deterrence policy actually works, and why Britain has the Bomb.▪️Times • 01:45 Introduction• 02:12 Why Join The Royal Navy?• 03:31 What’s In A Name?• 05:31 Day To Day Life • 10:33 Disorienting Conditions • 12:35 The Fighting Sub• 16:58 The Sound Of Silence • 21:50 The Nuclear Triad• 24:12 Developments Under The Sea• 26:05 The British And The Bomb• 30:12 Command By Sub-Committee• 32:23 Extreme Secrecy • 37:35 Morality In Nuclear Weapons • 45:04 Why Should The UK Have Nukes• 50:07 Who Shouldn’t Have Nukes • 54:46 Extended Deterrence
