War on the Rocks
Episodes
No, Man: It's an Island
13 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Islands have taken on a greater prominence when we talk about the risk of war, especially in Asia. In the Indo-Pacific, islands, reefs, and rocky outc...
Fission in Hamburg
30 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
As the world changes, is the nuclear strategy landscape changing or staying remarkably consistent? We had a nice chat about such in lovely Hamburg, co...
Veterans in Congress Come Together 'For Country'
23 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Have you heard of the 'For Country' caucus? In a political moment defined by acrimony above all else, this caucus brings together members of Congress ...
The Army's New Approach to People
16 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How could symphonies inspire the Army to change the way it selects leaders? The answer might surprise you. Gen. James C. McConville, the Army's 40th c...
The (War)Games We Play
02 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If you read War on the Rocks, you've noticed there's a lively debate over the state of wargaming in the Department of Defense. After senior leaders p...
Max Brooks: The Unreleased Interview
25 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A few years ago, Ryan recorded a boozy interview with Max Brooks...and then never released it. Who knows why, but it's a fun conversation that you'r...
A Conversation with Sen. Tom Udall about War Powers
18 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan sat down for a conversation Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico to talk about an issue that matters a lot to them and should matter a lot to you: war po...
The (Four) Stars and the State: Civil-Military Affairs in 2019
11 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What is the proper role of retired general and flag officers in American politics? This is a question that has been debated for a long time, but thing...
Kings, Presidents, Editors, and People with Tapeworms
04 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
"Only kings, presidents, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to use the editorial 'we.'" This line, often attributed to Mark Twain (it w...
The Sense in Syria's Senselessness
27 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. special operations forces in advance of a Turkish offensive into northeastern Syria continues to ro...
Your Ideas Matter: The Making of Marine Strategic Planning and the Future of War
07 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Maybe you've already heard about the Marine commandant's new planning guidance. Maybe you haven't. If you care about how strategy at the service leve...
Ask Me No Questions, and I'll Tell You No Lies
29 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Every summer, the War on the Rocks crew travels to Beaver Creek, Colorado, where the Clements Center hosts its summer seminar -- an intimate gathering...
How is the Air Force Adapting to Great Power Competition?
03 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan caught a flight with Gen. David Goldfein, the chief of the Air Force, who broke down how his service is preparing for a new era of great power co...
The Unmasking of Ned Stark and the Future of Air Force Leadership
13 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Almost exactly one year ago, an Air Force colonel using a pseudonym -- 'Ned Stark' -- penned an article for War on the Rocks . This cri de coeur ...
Fresh Voices on Grand Strategy
17 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It's time to rejuvenate America's national debate on grand strategy. And that's just what we try to do in this latest episode, which was recorded at t...
Civil-Military Relations Gone Wild?
18 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Debates over civil-military relations have reached a fever pitch since the 2016 presidential campaign and the beginning of the Trump administration. M...
With the Caliphate Crushed, What's Next?
25 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
With the last slivers of Syrian territory being wrested from the grasp of the Islamic State, where does the war against this tenacious terrorist organ...
Mayhem and Misadventures in the Middle East
11 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Middle East is the region that keeps on giving, and taking away. How has the American approach to the use of force evolved in Syria and Iraq? And ...
Ready to Compete? America's Military and Technological Edge
04 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
About a year after the National Defense Strategy was launched, what progress has been made when it comes to America's edge against its great power r...
No Good, Very Bad Ideas in National Security
17 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Bad ideas. How much trouble do they cause in national security? How do they disrupt or hinder the protection and advancement of American interests? Wh...
Full Steam Ahead: Naval Competition with China
20 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
With a new era of great power competition upon us, the U.S. Navy is in the midst of developing its future fleet. The good people up at the U.S. Naval ...
Jaw-Jaw: Will Xi's Third Revolution Last?
27 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What is Xi Jinping's "revolution" in Chinese politics? How did he amass the power to enact his ambitious agenda? Is he in danger of being toppled? Or ...
Jaw Jaw: China is a Funny Sort of Revisionist Power — A Conversation with Dean Cheng
13 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What is the future of U.S.-Chinese relations? Will a rising China seek to overturn the U.S.-led international order? What is China doing inside the fi...
Net Assessment: The China Hand
18 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week's Net Assessment podcast featured a deep-dive into the Vice President's early October speech on the competition with China. Largely drowned ...
Two Editors Go Nuclear on Each Other: A Conversation with Gideon Rose
16 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Can two great power publications peacefully co-exist? Or are they fated to clash? And what if you throw nuclear weapons into the mix? Gideon Rose and ...
Introducing Net Assessment
04 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when a libertarian, a conservative hawk, and a constitutional powers specialist walk into a podcast studio? 'Net Assessment' happens. Wel...
Horns of a Dilemma: Vietnam's Indelible Legacy: How the War Changed National Security Policymaking
21 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Half a century later, the Vietnam War continues to shape U.S. foreign policy, from its debates over foreign intervention to the institutions of its mi...
Training the Military for the Next War
13 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How should the U.S. military prepare for the conflicts of the future? Military threats in the cyber, digital, and information domains present new trai...
A Chat with the Chief: Gen. David Goldfein on the People and Future of the U.S. Air Force
29 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Ryan sat down with Gen. David Goldfein, the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force. We had an in-depth, candid conversation about his s...
The 100th Episode: Is a Major War Coming?
31 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The War on the Rocks podcast celebrates its 100th episode with a blockbuster group of close friends of the site. The entire episode is an attempt to...
A Soldier Showing Us the Hidden Face of War
19 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
While on a recent visit to Copenhagen, Ryan sat down with his old friend Martin Tamm Anderson. Martin, who recently left the Danish Army, met Ryan in...
A Conversation With Clint Watts on Influence and Information in the Social Media Era
19 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How has our understanding of Russian influence operations evolved since the 2016 election? Just a few days before Trump was elected president, Clint W...
The Muslim Brotherhood's Convoluted Relationship with the West
14 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Martyn Frampton (@FramptonM) of Queen Mary University, is one of the most talented historians of his generation. He recently sat down with Ryan in Was...
Counterterrorism With Partner Countries: Promise or Peril?
07 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Partner cooperation is crucial when it comes to fighting terrorism, but it's also complex. Stephen Tankel, assistant professor at American University...
The Future of Force
04 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Recently, two enterprising young scholars spearheaded a major conference that ended up being sponsored and hosted by CSIS and the Kissinger Center at ...
American Exceptionalism, Transatlantic Ties, and European Autonomy in the Age of Trump
24 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How does America's role in the world look from across the Atlantic? Usha had an illuminating discussion in Paris with three French experts on U.S. fo...
Pakistan Beyond 70: Rivalries, its Neighbors, and the Great Powers
21 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Pakistan is 70 years old. To make the anniversary, Joshua White of SAIS foolishly asked Ryan Evans to moderate an esteemed panel of experts to discuss...
Ain't No Party Like a World Order Party
14 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Three talented scholars join Ryan in this episode to tackle questions about the future of the international order. Conversations about this topic ...
The Making of a Career Intelligence Official: A Conversation with Michael P. Dempsey
07 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan dropped in on Michael P. Dempsey late last week in New York City. He is a career intelligence official who served as the acting director of nati...
Strikes on Syria: The View From Paris
24 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A special dispatch from France: On Friday, April 13, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France launched punitive strikes on Syria following th...
Horns of a Dilemma: Even Cybersecurity is Bigger in Texas
30 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This is Horns of a Dilemma, the podcast partner to that journal, which features the thinkers and leaders resident at the various institutions of the U...
A Big Debate About a Little Nuke
14 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Why are so many people at odds over low-yield nuclear weapons? Well, it turns out, this debate touches on a megaton of interesting questions, includin...
Horns of a Dilemma: The Last Republicans?
08 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In the second episode of our new podcast series, "Horns of a Dilemma," William Inboden interviews Mark Updegrove, president and chief Executive of the...
Introducing "Horns of a Dilemma" with a Conversation on National Security
02 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This is the first episode of "Horns of a Dilemma," a new series brought to you by the Texas National Security Review, featuring the leaders and thinke...
Fear Not the Blue-Haired Soldier?
19 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Does the future of warfare demand the U.S. military change its standards for everything from fitness to personal appearance? This question opened up a...
The Big Cyber Spectacular
14 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In our latest episode, Usha Sahay and Ryan Evans were joined by Thomas Rid, Michael Sulmeyer, and a mystery guest (ok, ok, it's Corinna Fehst) to talk...
To Compete with China, Can America Get Out of Its Own Way?
07 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Two key strategy documents released by the Trump administration signal the United States is finally gearing up for a new era of great power competitio...
Grand Strategy from Obama to Trump
31 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How did President Barack Obama leave America's strategic position when he left office? How is President Donald Trump doing so far? What is the role of...
Satire and Terror: A Conversation with the Editor-in-Chief of Charlie Hebdo
19 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan spent a week in France earlier this year and was fortunate to meet with Gérard Biard, the editor-in-chief of Charlie Hebdo, the ever-irreverent ...
The Adventures of Intel in Trumpland
22 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Weeks before Donald Trump took office, Ryan convened a group of professionals from in and around the intelligence community to talk about the incoming...
Storming Rome with Mike Duncan
08 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
History podcasting mastermind Mike Duncan joined Ryan for a few drinks in Washington for our latest episode. Rome is what brought them together — m...
The Hard Human Realities that Follow the War
31 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The bottom line of this episode is this: If you can identify with the experience of coming home from war or you want to better understand that experie...
Must the War Go On? Let's Talk About Iraq and the Kurds
23 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Kurds of Northern Iraq held an independence referendum, Iraqi federal forces seized Kirkuk, and the world wondered if we were on the precipice of ...
Nothing New Under the Sun? Ethics and Service in the Age of Trump
11 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Since Donald Trump began to close in on the Republican nomination for the race for the White House, people have been debating the ethical implications...
Outlawing War: Did it Work Better Than We Thought?
02 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan Evans had the pleasure to sit down with Oona Hathaway and Scott Shapiro, authors of the new book The Internationalists: How a Radical Plan to Ou...
Trump and Counter-Terrorism, Sixteen Years After 9/11
10 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It's been 16 years since the 9/11 attacks. We thought a good way to commemorate the anniversary would be to take stock of the terrorist threats facing...
Our Big Texas Launch Party: UT and WOTR Join Forces
14 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
You've read a bit about our alliance with the Texas National Security Network, brought to you by the University of Texas. Now you get to be a guest a...
So, Does the National Security Strategy Matter?
07 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The War on the Rocks podcast is back with a big episode and an all-star cast. Hal Brands and Alex Bick of SAIS, Will Inboden of the Clements Center ...
In Defense of the Blob
09 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"The blob" — an unflattering nickname for the U.S. foreign policy establishment coined by a senior Obama official — gets a bad rap these days. Fro...
Bombshell: Rage Against Alcibiades
01 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Loren, Radha, and Erin discuss the North Korean assassination (beware the perfume lady) and take questions from listeners (what is inter-se...
The Promise and Peril of Cyber Operations
28 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode, Ryan Evans sat down with Ben Buchanan of the Belfer Center at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and in fr...
Counter-Terrorism from Bush to Obama to Trump
22 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
How has counter-terrorism changed from 9/11 to today over three presidencies? To answer that question, Ryan Evans sat down with two guests with deep p...
Is the Winston Churchill Bust Weeping?
13 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, WOTR's Ryan Evans interviews John Bew about the state of the "special relationship" between the United States and the United Kingdom ...
Bombshell: Ain't No Party Like an America First Party
01 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Bombshell, we walk through the first week of the Trump administration. Sit down and listen to Radha Iyengar Plumb, Loren DeJonge Schulman...
You Can't Always Get the World Order That You Want
26 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Just an hour before Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, Ryan Evans sat down with Richard Haass in New York at the Co...
Introducing Bombshell: The Explosive First Episode
17 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Bombshell. This new bi-weekly series, brought to you by War on the Rocks, is hosted by three of your favorite Washington insiders who wil...
Is Asia's Golden Age Already Ending?
12 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If you follow international affairs, it often feels like you can't go to a lecture or read an article without being told that the world's economic and...
He's Just Not That Into You: Trump, Intel, and the American Presidency
05 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
One thing is clear about President-elect Donald Trump: He is skeptical of the U.S. intelligence community. With the aid of a bottle of bourbon, War on...
World Wars and the Craft of History
23 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the War on the Rocks podcast, editor-in-chief Ryan Evans sat down with Michael S. Neiberg, author of the new book, The Path to War:...
Emails and Influence: Investigating Russia's Attack on the U.S. Political System
31 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Revelations over emails are going to be roiling this election season to the very end. This is, in no small part, due to a series of targeted hacks and...
Around the World Over Drinks: The Middle East, Russia, and Big Issues for the Next President
30 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In an "around the world" edition of our podcast series, Ryan Evans convened a top-notch group to discuss everything from Cuba to the Middle East to Ru...
Civ-Mil Relations in the U.S. and Strategy Tales from Australia
23 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In the latest episode of our podcast, editor-in-chief Ryan Evans sat down with Gen. Jim Mattis and Kori Schake of the Hoover Institution to talk about...
Talking Turkey's Coup: Erdogan, a Fractured Military, and the Gulen Movement
19 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Ataturk Cultural Center in Istanbul was closed down during the Gezi Park protests in 2013. This former symbol of Turkey's revered founding father ...
What to Read About the History of Strategy this Summer
15 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
What big think books on strategy in history should you add to you shelf this summer? Our editor-in-chief, Ryan Evans, sat down with two authors of two...
The Long Game: How Will Obama's Foreign Policies Be Judged By History?
21 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Is Barack Obama's foreign policy "failing at nearly every turn," as Speaker Paul Ryan and many other Republicans contend? Or has the president actuall...
A Tale of Two Speeches: U.S.-Russian Relations Through the Lens of Munich
02 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
We're going to try something a little different with this episode of the podcast, and I think you're going to like it. If you listened to our last epi...
Four Key Leaders in Munich on the State of the World
16 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Munich Security Conference brings together leaders from all around the world to discuss defense, foreign policy, and strategy - the bread and butt...
Hacking Defense and Iraq's Controversial Security Groups
08 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
We have a two-parter for you in this episode. First, WOTR's Ryan Evans spoke with Steve Blank of Silicon Valley fame about his new course, "Hacking De...
Journalism, the Military, and America's Wars
25 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The relationship between journalists and the U.S. military is simultaneously intimate and distant. In the last several decades and the last two in p...
The Obama Administration and the Middle East: An Insider's View
12 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
WOTR's Ryan Evans sat down with Colin Kahl, the National Security Advisor to Vice Present Joe Biden, to talk about the mess of the Middle East and wha...
Fighting Russia in Europe and a Dose of Military Fiction
17 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We are trying something a little new with our podcast series. Segments! And music! In the first segment of our new podcast, Ryan Evans sits down with...
Ash Carter: The Interview
19 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
How will the U.S. military stay competitive? This is about far more than platforms, bombs, and guns. It is fundamentally about people. And with archai...
The Vatican's Cloak-and-Dagger War Against Hitler
02 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In histories of the Second World War, the Vatican has not fared well. Pope Pius XII has been condemned as "Hitler's Pope" and the Church castigated f...
Around the World: Episode 2
13 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
What's going on around the world? For our latest podcast, WOTR editor-in-chief Ryan Evans was joined by a great group to talk about Russia and its int...
Navigating the Islamic State Challenge
24 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Will McCants of the Brookings Institution and David Ignatius of The Washington Post sat down with Ryan Evans to chat about the topic of Will's new bo...
The State of Russian Strategy: Ukraine, Syria, and Beyond
22 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Dmitry Gorenburg, an occasional WOTR contributor and expert on Russian military affairs at the CNA Corporation, sat down with Ryan Evans to chat about...
NATSEC2016: A Podcast on the 2016 Elections and National Security
14 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Ah, the 2016 presidential election. Trump still leads the GOP field, Hillary has been challenged in the polls by Bernie Sanders and the shadow of Jo...
Hacking the Defense Industry
10 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Is the American defense industry ready for what is coming next? Can it adapt, survive, and thrive in an era of paradigm-changing new technologies? Can...
America, China, and Xi Jinping's Visit to Washington
08 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In the latest installment of our podcast, we gathered some top Asia wonks - WOTR Senior Editor Van Jackson of CNAS, Evan Montgomery of CSBA, Mira-Rapp...
A Relentless Conversation About JSOC
01 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
One organization has been behind America's most daring raids, from the deserts of Iraq and Syria to the hills of Pakistan to the jungles of South Amer...
PODCAST: Infantry Combat from Modern Ukraine back to World War I
26 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
TM Gibbons-Neff of The Washington Post (and formerly of the U.S. Marine Corps) and Dr. Bruce Gudmundsson of Marine Corps University joined WOTR's...
PODCAST: Drinking Through Naval History
14 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's podcast, navalists B.J. Armstrong and Scott Cheney-Peters joined Alex Hecht, the editor of the Molotov Cocktail channel, and Ryan Evans...
PODCAST: Around the World, Ep. 1
04 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
At War on the Rocks, we are re-vamping our podcast series. We will be holding one podcast a week. The first of each month will be 'round the world. We...
PODCAST: A Novelist and a Historian Walk Into a Bar
28 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In today's podcast, John Amble talks to August Cole of the Atlantic Council's Art of Future Warfare project and B.J. Armstrong, a historian and naval...
PODCAST: The war with China you've been waiting for
30 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
I had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with PW Singer and August Cole to talk about their new book, Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War. ...
VP's National Security Adviser on the Iran Deal: Colin Kahl Gives an Insider's View
11 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The deadline for a deal on the Iranian nuclear program is on June 30. Just weeks before the deadline, Colin Kahl, the National Security Adviser to Vic...
PODCAST: National Security and the Schoolhouse
20 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This is a very special Schoolhouse edition of the War on the Rocks podcast series. As many of you know, our Schoolhouse series is concerned with the i...
PODCAST: War on the Rocks goes to Istanbul
07 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Four members of the War on the Rocks squad ended up in Istanbul this week. What could go wrong? Afshon Ostovar of the CNA Corporation, Aaron Stein of ...
The Fog of Peace: Defense and Uncertainty
30 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Editor's Note: I was honored to attend Professor Patrick Porter's inaugural lecture, celebrating his appointment at the University of Exeter as the a...
The State of the World: A Conversation with Lawrence Freedman
29 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Yesterday, Lawrence Freedman of King's College London joined me for a conversation on the state of the world atop the ME Hotel's rooftop bar in centra...