Ep 190: Michael Doran on “Restraint” and the Middle East
Michael Doran, senior fellow and director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at Hudson Institute, joins the show to discuss “restraintism” as a factor in Trump’s choices in the Middle East.
▪️
Times
• 01:46 Introduction
• 02:20 What is it?
• 05:01 Left, right, center
• 06:56 Syria ’07
• 11:47 Iraq Study Group
• 17:21 Populist expression
• 27:34 Balance
• 30:20 Obama v Trump
• 34:56 Oscillation
• 42:16 Back to JCPOA?
• 45:49 Snapback
• 47:44 Syria ’25
• 52:09 Iran and Turkey
Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast
Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack
--------
54:59
Ep 189: Andrew Roberts on October 7th and Antisemitism
Lord Andrew Roberts, the Bonnie and Tom McCloskey Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution and chair of the 7 October Parliamentary Commission Report, joins the show to discuss October 7th revisionism, the potency of antisemitism, and the strange effort to reinterpret World War II.
▪️
Times
• 01:56 Introduction
• 02:35 Why?
• 03:48 No room for debate
• 05:34 Not “accidental”
• 16:13 Cooper’s conclusions
• 20:13 Peace with Hitler
• 22:53 Destroying the foundation
• 25:06 Free speech
• 27:39 Gaza endgame
Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast
Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack
--------
31:33
Ep 188: Jonathan Horn on MacArthur and the Battle for the Philippines
Jonathan Horn, former White House speechwriter and author of The Fate of the Generals: MacArthur, Wainwright, and the Epic Battle for the Philippines, joins the show to discuss the defeats, victories, and legacies of Douglas MacArthur and Jonathan Wainwright, the highest-ranking American POW of WWII.
▪️
Times
• 01:56 Introduction
• 04:36 Arthur MacArthur
• 09:33 The Philippines
• 16:13 Wainwright
• 18:20 War Plan Orange
• 27:06 Crisis
• 32:34 MacArthur leaves
• 35:20 Bataan and surrender
• 43:18 Captivity
• 48:34 Postwar
Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast
Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack
--------
53:18
Ep 187: Richard Fontaine on the “Reverse Kissinger”
Richard Fontaine, CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and co-author of No Limits? The China-Russia Relationship and U.S. Foreign Policy, joins the show to discuss Beijing-Moscow cooperation and the prospects of the U.S. driving a wedge between them.
▪️
Times
• 02:05 Introduction
• 02:21 Sino-Soviet split
• 06:20 Spheres of influence
• 09:17 Domination
• 13:20 Stabilizing effect
• 22:15 Xi & Putin
• 28:19 Pacific expansion
• 35:20 More resources
• 41:06 America in, Russians out, Germans down
Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast
Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack
--------
46:53
Ep 186: Walter Russell Mead on Trump, Strategy, and Mercantilism
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 talk about the role of economic issues in Trump’s strategic views.
▪️
Times
• 01:34 Introduction
• 04:09 Mercantilism & physiocracy
• 08:50 Silicon Valley
• 14:01 Coalitions
• 16:26 How things worked
• 22:52 Post-war policy & China
• 33:17 Tariffs
• 42:50 Executive overreach
• 45:53 The dollar
Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast
Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack
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 transcripts
Follow along on Instagram
Italia