Defense One Radio: Recent Episodes
Defense One staff
A show about the technology, strategy, media and business trends defining the future of national security.
An Army researcher unpacks new initiatives to expand research into human performance.
Guest:
- Lt. Col. David deGroot, director of the U.S. Army Heat Center at Fort Benning, Ga.
See also Patrick Tucker's related recent reporting on the topic, here.
Guest:
- Matthew Delmont, professor of history at Dartmouth College and an award-winning author of several books including Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad, and his latest, Until the Last Gun Is Silent: A Story of Patriotism, the Vietnam War, and the Fight to Save America's Soul.
Guests:
- Peter W. Singer, strategist at New America and the author of multiple books on technology and security, including Wired for War, Ghost Fleet, Burn-In, and LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media;
- And August Cole, non-resident senior fellow at the Scowcroft Center on Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council, and associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute working on AI and future warfare. With Singer, he is the co-author of Ghost Fleet and Burn In.
Both authors have teamed up again for a new monthly series on Defense One called "Fictional Intelligence," which explores the future of technology and warfare through the lens of short speculative fiction. The first story, "Mission ahead, heavens above," was published in February.
A scholar of civil wars warns against repeating the past mistakes from U.S. military interventions abroad.
Guest: Monica Duffy Toft, director of the Center for Strategic Studies and a professor of international politics at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; her essay "Can the US 'run' Venezuela? Military force can topple a dictator, but it cannot create political authority or legitimacy" was published earlier this month in The Conversation.
CFR's Paul Stares unpacks the latest annual survey of foreign policy experts bracing for what might lie ahead.
Guest:
- Paul Stares, General John W. Vessey senior fellow for conflict prevention and director of the Center for Preventive Action at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Read the 2026 Preventive Priorities Survey results published this week at CFR here.
The former Army Ranger explores how AI might reshape drone warfare, America's tech race with China, Russia's war in Ukraine, and much more.
Guest:
- Paul Scharre, executive vice president at the Center for a New American Security and author of several books, including "Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence," and "Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War."
The Virginia Republican discusses the Pentagon's acquisition reforms, the defense secretary's legislative-affairs bottleneck, and his priorities for the upcoming spending bills.
Guest: Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, in conversation with Defense One Executive Editor Bradley Peniston.
A veteran of the National Security Council shares what the movie got right and wrong on U.S. missile defense and nuclear command and control.
Guest: Jon Wolfsthal, Director of Global Risk at the Federation of American Scientists.
A celebrated historian shares years of research into the quiet and not-so-quiet struggles of millions of American veterans returning home from World War II.
Guest:
- David Nasaw, historian, two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and author of "The Wounded Generation: Coming Home After World War II."
The EU's ambassador to the U.S. underscores the importance of the bloc's $910 billion defense plans known as Readiness 2030.
Guest:
- European Union Ambassador to the United States Jovita Neliupšienė.
Our editors explore the vibe, the headlines, the aircraft, the drones, and the other news coming out of the Air Force Association’s big annual conference at National Harbor, Maryland.
Guests:
- Tom Novelly, Defense One senior reporter covering air and space warfare;
- And Lauren C. Williams, Defense One senior editor.
A researcher unpacks recent adaptations in drone technology after more than three years of Russia's ongoing Ukraine invasion.
Guests:
- Sam Bendett, advisor in Russia Studies at the Virginia-based research organization CNA;
- And Patrick Tucker, Defense One science and technology editor.
A Munich-based developer with a new air-to-air counter-drone system shares insights into Europe's growing defense industry and recent lessons from Russia's Ukraine invasion.
Guest:
- Jan-Hendrik Boelens, co-founder and CEO of Alpine Eagle.
A researcher uses his work with U.S. special operations forces to explain a new neuroscientific approach to intuition, imagination, emotion, and common sense.
Guest:
- Angus Fletcher, Professor of Story Science at Ohio State University’s Project Narrative. His latest book is called, "Primal Intelligence: You Are Smarter Than You Know," from Penguin Random House.
Guest:
- Patrick Tucker, Defense One science and technology editor.
Read Tucker's recent reporting on the topic below:
Related reading:
- “New Golden Dome details emerge from industry day,” Tucker reported on August 14;
- "Pete Hegseth Doesn’t Want to Talk About Golden Dome," former Naval War College professor Tom Nichols wrote for The Atlantic on August 8;
- “Lockheed Martin aims to test a missile-killing satellite by 2028,” also via Tucker, reporting August 5;
- "Effects of Lower Launch Costs on Previous Estimates for Space-Based, Boost-Phase Missile Defense," May 5, via the Congressional Budget Office with an estimated total price tag for Golden Dome somewhere between $831 billion to $542 billion;
- See also, "Trump wants a Golden Dome over America. Here's what it would take," via NPR's Geoff Brumfiel, reporting April 22.
Watch the futuristic, satirical news clips from 1987's "Robocop," via YouTube, here.
And you can find a trailer for the 1985 film, "Real Genius," also via YouTube, here.
Guest:
- Journalist and writer Kevin Maurer, whose work focuses on U.S. special operations forces around the world.
Read Maurer's report for Rolling Stone, “Here's What Trump's Mexico Invasion Plan Could Look Like.”
Panelists:
- Susanne Hake, General Manager of U.S. Government Business for Maxar Intelligence;
- Greg Little, Senior Counselor at Palantir Technologies;
- Sarah Pearson, Director of Commercial Engagement at the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU);
- David Rothzeid, Principal Investor at Shield Capital;
- And moderator Lauren Williams, Senior Editor at Defense One.
View more of this year's Tech Summit discussions on YouTube here.
Panelists:
- Derek M. Tournear, Ph.D., Director, Space Development Agency;
- Bill Vass, CTO, Booz Allen;
- And Frank Konkel, Editor-in-Chief, Government Executive.
View more of this year's Tech Summit discussions on YouTube here.
Speakers:
- Christian Brose, President and Chief Strategy Officer, Anduril Industries;
- And Patrick Tucker, Defense One’s science and technology editor.
View more of this year's Tech Summit discussions (registration required) here.
Panelists:
- Air Force Maj. Gen. Mark Piper, Deputy Director of Operations at North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD);
- Masao Dahlgren, fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Missile Defense Project;
- Doug Loverro, president of Loverro Consulting;
- And Patrick Tucker, Defense One’s science and technology editor.
View any of this year's Tech Summit discussions (registration required) here.
Guests:
- Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov in conversation with Defense One’s Patrick Tucker on the sidelines of the GLOBSEC 2025 conference in Prague.
Defense One is media partner for this year's 20th edition of the GLOBSEC Forum in Prague.
Guests:
- Philippe Lavigne, a retired French general, was Chief of Staff of the French Air and Space Force from 2018 to 2021, then NATO's transformation chief for three years.
As media partner for this year's 20th edition of the GLOBSEC Forum in Prague, Defense One is sharing a series of special pre-conference interviews exploring the future of defense, technological innovation, the changing battlefield and geopolitical upheaval.
Guests:
- Brandon Tseng, co-founder and president of Shield AI, in conversation with Defense One's Patrick Tucker.
As media partner for this year's 20th edition of the GLOBSEC Forum in Prague, Defense One is sharing a series of special pre-conference interviews exploring the future of defense, technological innovation, the changing battlefield and geopolitical upheaval.
Guests:
- Col. Joshua Gaspard, commander of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, based in Vicenza, Italy.
Learn more about exercises Swift Response and African Lion 2025 here and here, respectively.
Guests:
- Marine Lt. Gen. Roger B. Turner of the III Marine Expeditionary Force, and the 3D Marine Division's Maj. Gen. Christian F. Wortman, in conversation with Defense One's Jennifer Hlad.
You can view our other 2025 State of Defense interviews here.
Guests:
- Command Sergeant Major JoAnn Nauman, Command Senior Enlisted Leader of Army Special Operations Command, in conversation with Defense One's Meghann Myers and Ben Watson.
Related reading:
- "Army establishes new fitness test of record to strengthen readiness and lethality," published April 21, 2025;
- "Setting Higher Close Combat Standards for the Army Combat Fitness Test," via RAND researchers, published Dec 20, 2024;
- And "Independent Review of the Army Combat Fitness Test," also via RAND, published Mar 23, 2022.
Guest:
- U.S. Army chief of staff Gen. Randy George, interviewed by Defense One’s Patrick Tucker.
Catch our full State of Defense agenda and future events, here.
Guest:
- U.S. Space Force commander Gen. Chance Saltzman, interviewed by Defense One’s Audrey Decker.
Catch our full State of Defense agenda and future events, running through the end of March, here.
Guest:
- U.S. Air Force commander Gen. David Allvin, interviewed by Defense One’s Audrey Decker.
Catch our full State of Defense agenda and future events, running through the end of March, here.
Our annual State of Defense interview series begins with a commandant working to balance crisis response and modernization. Learn more about that series here.
Guest:
- U.S. Army Col. Joshua Glonek, commander 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.
Related reading:
- "How two units are learning from each other as the Army moves to modernize," from Sam Skove reporting in October;
- "Army embraces Ukraine-style warfare with new all-drone unit," also via Skove, reporting from Louisiana's Fort Johnson in September;
- And in reruns there is "Defense One Radio, Ep. 161: A trip to Louisiana with the Army’s new recon unit," featuring Skove speaking about his trip to Louisiana.
Maj. Gen. Joseph Kunkel discusses his how his service's modernization strategy will shape the future of air combat in an increasingly complex security landscape.
Guest:
- Air Force Maj. Gen. Joseph Kunkel, director of Force Design, Integration and Wargaming at Air Force Futures; he's interviewed by Defense One air warfare reporter Audrey Decker.
Related viewing:
- "AI in the Skies," January 28, 2025.
Patrick Tucker describes a Defense Department in transition as Russia's Ukraine invasion approaches the four-year mark.
Related reading:
- "Ukraine military-aid donors aim to set Kyiv up through 2027, Pentagon says," Tucker reported on January 7;
- And "Kyiv’s donors set production goals to regularize arms donations to Ukraine," he reported two days later.
We listen back on more than a dozen guests from conversations across 2024.
Guests (in order):
- Fabian Hinz, research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies;
- Bruce Hoffman, senior fellow for counterterrorism and homeland security at the Council on Foreign Relations, and co-author of "God, Guns, and Sedition: Far-Right Terrorism in America";
- Karolina Hird, analyst and Russia Deputy Team Lead at the Institute for the Study of War;
- Elliot Ackerman, co-author of "2054: A Novel";
- Mackenzie Eaglen, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where she works on defense strategy, defense budgets, and military readiness;
- Ankit Panda, Stanton Senior Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace;
- Chris Blattman, economist, political scientist, and Ramalee E. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies at the University of Chicago, and author of the 2022 book, "Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace";
- Mick Ryan, retired Australian Army major general, strategist, and author of “White Sun War: The Campaign for Taiwan";
- Dmitri Alperovitch, chairman of the Silverado Policy Accelerator, a geopolitics think-tank in Washington, and author of “World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the Twenty-First Century";
- Sam Skove, former Defense One staff writer;
- Mark Montgomery, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington and senior director of FDD's Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation;
- Peter Tamte, founder and CEO of Victura;
- And Brent Sadler, retired Navy captain and senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
Guests:
- Audrey Decker, aerospace reporter for Defense One;
- Patrick Tucker, science and technology editor at Defense One.
Related reading:
- Some Republicans remain unsold on Hegseth
- Russia in talks to send fighter jets to North Korea, INDOPACOM says
- ‘Multi-headed monster’: Biden, Trump officials address China-Russia-Iran coordination
- ‘Shock the system’: Startups and DOGE take over Reagan forum
- Defense officials hopeful incoming administration keeps funding cutting-edge tech
Guests:
- Brian Potter, Senior Infrastructure Fellow at the Institute for Progress and author of "Why Can't the U.S. Build Ships?" from September 2024;
- And Nicole Foy, ProPublica’s Ancil Payne Fellow, writing on immigration and labor; her report "An Immigrant Died Building a Ship for the U.S. Government. His Family Got Nothing" was published in October 2024.
And don't miss our complementary podcast episode, "How U.S. Navy shipbuilding sank so low."
Guests:
- Matthew Paxton, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America;
- Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va.;
- Ret. Navy Capt. Brent Sadler, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation;
- And Ret. Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Sources and additional reading:
- Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress (PDF);
- U.S. Navy budget materials;
- "Navy adds $1B to unconventional effort to boost sub production," by Lauren Williams, reporting Sept. 2024;
- Defense Department's 2024 Defense Industrial Base strategy;
- And "Restoring Our Maritime Strength: An agenda for the next president’s first hundred days," by Brent Sadler and Jerry Hendrix, writing in the National Review in late October.
A decorated Marine veteran and a video game maker revisit one of the bloodiest battles in U.S. military history.
Guests:
- Elliot Ackerman, author and contributing writer at The Atlantic;
- Peter Tamte, founder and CEO of Victura;
- And Defense One science and tech editor Patrick Tucker.
Sources and additional reading:
- "Goodbye, My Brother," by Elliot Ackerman, writing for Esquire on March 23, 2017;
- The video game "Six Days in Fallujah";
- "Ultra-Realistic Modern Warfare Game Features Awaiting Orders, Repairing Trucks," a satirical video produced in January 2011 by The Onion;
- "Virtual reality exposure therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): a meta-analysis," published August 2019 in the European Journal of Psychotraumatology;
- "Trauma, treatment and Tetris: video gaming increases hippocampal volume in male patients with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder," published April 2020 in the Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience;
- And "Putting the Gaming Experience at the Center of the Therapy—The Video Game Therapy® Approach," published June 2023 in Healthcare.
A retired U.S. admiral shares what he learned from a recent trip to the wartorn country.
Guest:
- Mark Montgomery, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington and senior director of FDD's Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation.
Defense One staff summarize the leading developments from this year's Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington.
Guest:
- Sam Skove, staff reporter;
- Patrick Tucker, science and tech editor.
Find Defense One's complete AUSA coverage here.
Audrey Decker explains some of the top developments out of this year's AFA conference outside Washington.
Guest:
- Audrey Decker, Defense One’s air warfare reporter.
Extra reading:
- China’s aggressive regional moves open doors for the US, PACAF chief says
- Air Force wants NGAD to cost no more than an F-35. Is that even possible?
- Lessons from Ukrainian F-16 crash will shape US training: Air Force general
- Air Force’s Ospreys will return to forward-deployment within 'weeks'
- Test B-21 flying up to twice a week, Northrop reports
Patrick Tucker unpacks findings from his recent trip to Prague for the 2024 Global Security Conference.
Related reading:
- "European officials vow to boost defense production, but some worry it won’t be enough," by Patrick Tucker, reporting August 30 from Prague;
- "The big loophole allowing Russia to access US chips? China," by Tucker again, reporting from Washington on September 11;
- And "EU competitiveness: Looking ahead," a report published this week by Mario Draghi, former president of the European Central Bank.
The Army just put a new unit loaded with cutting-edge tech to the test at Fort Johnson. Sam Skove explains what he saw during a recent week long demonstration.
You can read more from Sam's coverage of this Army exercise here.
We revisit some of the bigger takeaways from this year’s Farnborough International Airshow.
Guest:
- Dan Darling, vice president of market insights at Forecast International, a research and consulting firm owned by Defense One's parent company.
You can see all of our Farnborough Airshow coverage, here.
We conclude our 2024 Tech Summit coverage with an interview featuring DARPA Director Stefanie Tompkins.
Guest:
- Stefanie Tompkins, Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
You can see all of our interviews from the 2024 Tech Summit at Defense One's YouTube page, here.
Our 2024 Tech Summit coverage continues with a discussion about the future of hypersonic missile research and development.
Guest:
- Frank Peterkin, Principal Director of Directed Energy at the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Critical Technologies;
- And Jarret Lafleur, Senior Advisor to the Principal Director for Hypersonics for Strike Systems Strategy and Policy Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.
You can see all of our interviews from the 2024 Tech Summit at Defense One's YouTube page, here.
We’re sharing some of our notable exchanges from the 2024 Defense One Technology Summit, beginning with the Pentagon's Maynard Holliday.
Guest:
- Maynard Holliday, Performing the Duties of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Critical Technologies at the Defense Department.
You can see all of our interviews from the 2024 Tech Summit at Defense One's YouTube page, here.
What might an invasion of Taiwan look like, and how can allies help the island nation better defend itself?
Guest:
- Dmitri Alperovitch, chairman of the Silverado Policy Accelerator, a geopolitics think-tank in Washington.
Sources:
- “World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the Twenty-First Century,” by Dmitri Alperovitch, published April 2024;
- “Surveying the Experts U.S. and Taiwan Views on China’s Approach to Taiwan in 2024 and Beyond,” by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, January 2024.
The author of “White Sun War: The Campaign for Taiwan" discusses shoring up defenses against a blockade or invasion.
Guest:
- Mick Ryan, retired Australian Army major general, strategist, and author.
Sources:
- “White Sun War: The Campaign for Taiwan,” by Mick Ryan, published May 2023;
- "Chinese Warship Activities around Taiwan," by Si-Fu Ou, director of the Division of Chinese Politics, Military and Warfighting Concepts at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taiwan;
- “From Coercion to Capitulation, How China Can Take Taiwan Without a War,” by the Institute for the Study of War, May 2024.
Guest:
- Chris Blattman, economist, political scientist, and Ramalee E. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies at the University of Chicago.
Sources:
- “Global military spending surges amid war, rising tensions and insecurity,” published April 2024 by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute;
- “Back in Stock? The State of Russia's Defense Industry after Two Years of the War,” by Maria Snegovaya, Max Bergmann, Tina Dolbaia, Nick Fenton, and Samuel Bendett, published April 2024 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies;
- “Keeping Up with the Pacing Threat: Unveiling the True Size of Beijing’s Military Spending,” by Mackenzie Eaglen, published April 2024 by the American Enterprise Institute;
- “Indo-Pacific Missile Arsenals: Avoiding Spirals and Mitigating Escalation Risks,” by Ankit Panda, published October 2023 by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace;
- “Missile Proliferation and Control in the Asia-Pacific Region,” from Jeffrey Lewis and Kolja Brockmann, published April 2024 by the International Institute for Strategic Studies;
- And “Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace,” from Chris Blattman, published April 2022 by Penguin Random House.
Guests:
- Mackenzie Eaglen, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where she works on defense strategy, defense budgets, and military readiness;
- And Ankit Panda, Stanton Senior Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Sources:
- “Global military spending surges amid war, rising tensions and insecurity,” published April 2024 by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute;
- “Back in Stock? The State of Russia's Defense Industry after Two Years of the War,” by Maria Snegovaya, Max Bergmann, Tina Dolbaia, Nick Fenton, and Samuel Bendett, published April 2024 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies;
- “Keeping Up with the Pacing Threat: Unveiling the True Size of Beijing’s Military Spending,” by Mackenzie Eaglen, published April 2024 by the American Enterprise Institute;
- “Indo-Pacific Missile Arsenals: Avoiding Spirals and Mitigating Escalation Risks,” by Ankit Panda, published October 2023 by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace;
- “Missile Proliferation and Control in the Asia-Pacific Region,” from Jeffrey Lewis and Kolja Brockmann, published April 2024 by the International Institute for Strategic Studies;
- And “Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace,” from Chris Blattman, published April 2022 by Penguin Random House.
Guest:
- Maria Snegovaya, senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia with the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a postdoctoral fellow in Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service.
Source material:
- “Global military spending surges amid war, rising tensions and insecurity,” published April 2024 by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute;
- “Back in Stock? The State of Russia's Defense Industry after Two Years of the War,” by Maria Snegovaya, Max Bergmann, Tina Dolbaia, Nick Fenton, and Samuel Bendett, published April 2024 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies;
- “Keeping Up with the Pacing Threat: Unveiling the True Size of Beijing’s Military Spending,” by Mackenzie Eaglen, published April 2024 by the American Enterprise Institute;
- “Indo-Pacific Missile Arsenals: Avoiding Spirals and Mitigating Escalation Risks,” by Ankit Panda, published October 2023 by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace;
- “Missile Proliferation and Control in the Asia-Pacific Region,” from Jeffrey Lewis and Kolja Brockmann, published April 2024 by the International Institute for Strategic Studies;
- And “Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace,” from Chris Blattman, published April 2022 by Penguin Random House.
Defense One's Audrey Decker interviews Gen. David Allvin and Air Mobility Command's Gen. Mike Minihan (at the 32:42 mark).
You can also catch all of our 2024 State of Defense interviews on Defense One's YouTube page, here.
Defense One Executive Editor Bradley Peniston speaks with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti; and Defense One's Patrick Tucker sat down with Fourth Fleet commander Rear Adm. James Aiken (at the 28:09 mark).
You can watch both of these interviews on Defense One's YouTube page, here.
Defense One's Sam Skove speaks to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George; and Defense One's Jennifer Hlad speaks with Gen. Charles Flynn, commander of U.S. Army Pacific.
You can watch both of these interviews on Defense One's YouTube page, here.
Defense One's Sam Skove speaks to Assistant Commandant Gen. Christopher Mahoney; and Defense One's Jennifer Hlad interviews Marine Corps Combat Development Command's Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl.
You can also watch either of these interviews on Defense One's events page, here.
Defense One's Audrey Decker speaks to Chief of the Space Force Gen. Chance Saltzman; and Defense One's Lauren Williams interviews Air Force Col. Michelle Idle, deputy commander of Space Systems Command.
You can also watch either of these interviews on Defense One's events page, here.
The author and Marine veteran discusses the future of technology, the promise of AI, the perils of toxic politics, and other themes packed into his latest work of speculative fiction.
Guest: Elliot Ackerman, co-author of "2054: A Novel," which was published on March 12.
Find our previous discussions with Ackerman here:
- Ep. 107: The legacy of America’s Afghan war;
- And Ep. 79: “2034: A Novel of the Next World War”.
Audrey Decker unpacks the top news from this year's Air & Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium.
Here's a roll-up of her reporting from the AFA symposium:
- Air Force announces major shakeup to prep for war with China;
- Air Force will narrow its pool of robot wingman vendors within ‘next few months’;
- 'Unexpected’ engineering slows price negotiations on USAF radar plane
- USAF plans stealthy tankers for ‘extreme threat areas’;
- Lockheed vows steady F-35 production amid demand shifts
- And First Ukrainian F-16 pilots will complete training as soon as May.
How does the Kremlin force an entirely new reality on an occupied city? And how do Europeans feel about the invasion and U.S. hesitation to rearm Ukraine?
Guests:
- Karolina Hird, analyst and Russia Deputy Team Lead at the Institute for the Study of War;
- Karin von Hippel is Director-General of the Royal United Services Institute.
You can find Hird's recent report, "The Kremlin's Occupation Playbook: Coerced Russification and Ethnic Cleansing in Occupied Ukraine," here.
Guests:
- Bruce Hoffman, senior fellow for counterterrorism and homeland security at the Council on Foreign Relations;
- Jacob Ware, research fellow also at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Their book “God, Guns, and Sedition: Far-right Terrorism in America" was published in January.
We review how the Iran-backed Houthis are disrupting global shipping in the Red Sea, and we look back at similar dynamics near the end of the so-called tanker wars of the late 1980s.
Guests:
- Fabian Hinz, research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies;
- Patrick Tucker, science and technology editor at Defense One;
- And Bradley Peniston, Defense One executive editor.
We take stock of our last 12 months of interviews, featuring conversations with generals, White House officials, researchers, authors, our own reporters, and many more.
Guests include:
- U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Joel “JB” Vowell, who at the time commanded the United States Army Japan; he is now commander of the ISIS-focused Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (from episode 115);
- Monica Toft, professor of international politics and the director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; and Sidita Kushi, assistant professor of political science at Bridgewater State University (from episode 116);
- Michael Knights, security analyst with the Washington Institute (from episode 124);
- Defense One's Sam Skove (from episode 125);
- Sam Bendett, advisor in Russian studies at CNA (from episode 126);
- Defense One's Patrick Tucker (from episode 129);
- Decker Eveleth, graduate research assistant at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California (from episode 130);
- Martin Pfeiffer, a PhD candidate in anthropology at the University of New Mexico (from episode 131);
- Patrick Tucker again (from episode 132);
- Sam Skove again (from episode 134);
- Cindy Cohn, Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation; and Joshua Geltzer is Deputy Assistant to President Joe Biden and Deputy Homeland Security Advisor at the National Security Council (from episode 135);
- And Barak Mendelsohn, Professor of Political Science at Haverford College in Philadelphia (from episode 138).
The Army's top buyer and the Pentagon's integration chief talk Ukraine, non-traditional suppliers, and more.
Guests:
- Army Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology Doug Bush sat down with Defense One Global Business Editor Marcus Weisgerber.
- Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Integration, and Interoperability Dave Tremper spoke with Defense One Technology editor Patrick Tucker.
We take a look at how officials around the region are carrying on with business as usual despite Israel's war with Hamas.
Guest:
- Audrey Decker is a Defense One staff reporter, where she writes about air and space.
This episode, we discuss the daunting task of clearing Gaza City of Hamas as well as Israel's goal of crushing the group once and for all.
Guests:
- Ret. Army Gen. Joseph Votel, distinguished senior fellow on national security at the Middle East Institute (beginning at the 2:15 mark);
- And Barak Mendelsohn, Professor of Political Science at Haverford College in Philadelphia (at 15:52).
Guests:
- Mark Kitz, program executive officer for command, control and communications-tactical (interviewed by Defense One's Lauren Williams, beginning at the 1:10 mark);
- And Army Brig. Gen. Guillaume Beaurpere of the Army’s John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, as well as Maj. Gen. Christopher Eubank of Network Enterprise Technology Command (with Defense One's Patrick Tucker) at the 9:38 mark).
Defense One staff explain some of the major themes from this year's annual Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington.
Guest:
- Sam Skove, Defense One staff reporter;
- Patrick Tucker, Defense One science and tech editor.
Read more from our AUSA coverage at any of the links below:
- Army eyes munitions stockpiles amid focus on longer wars
- Army orders loitering munition for testing as soldier-borne tank-killer
- The Army doesn’t know where a lot of its excess arms and gear are
- Ukraine wants West's help in training NCOs and officers
- How the war in Ukraine is reshaping US Army modernization
- New 155mm round exceeds range of some rockets, can be fired by standard Army artillery
- AUSA Conference Wire: 'Drones everywhere'
- AUSA Conference Wire: 'Magazine depth'
- AUSA Conference Wire: 'A critical juncture'
We review the history of FISA Section 702 ahead of its possible expiration at the end of the year.
Guests:
- Cindy Cohn is the Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation;
- And Joshua Geltzer is Deputy Assistant to President Joe Biden and Deputy Homeland Security Advisor at the National Security Council.
Read over a copy of the recent Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board report on recommended changes to FISA Section 702 (PDF), here.
You can also find a transcript of this episode here.
Staff reporter Sam Skove shares some of the highlights from his recent trip to Poland, Estonia, and the UK.
Read more from Sam's European trip at any of the links below:
- How a tiny Polish airport became a key node for Western aid to Ukraine
- Polish support for Ukraine brings lessons, but also risks
- EU plans to arm Ukraine bearing fruit, but more is needed, Estonia says
- Estonia plans loitering-munitions unit to hunt enemy air defenses
- Europe’s defense spending sluggish despite Ukraine war
- Navies face ‘dreadnought moment' as Ukraine destroys more Russian warships, British admiral says
- Ukraine learns to fight with a hodge-podge of foreign artillery
- Beset by Russian airstrikes, Ukraine looks to make its weapons abroad
This episode we review several things we learned at the Air & Space Forces Association's annual Air, Space & Cyber conference.
Guests:
- Audrey Decker, Defense One’s air and space reporter (beginning at the 0:46 mark);
- Lauren Williams, senior editor at Defense One (at 7:48);
- And Marcus Weisgerber, global business editor at Defense One (at 14:26).
Read more of our coverage from this year's AFA conference here.
We dig into the U.S. military's new Replicator initiative, and explore Anduril's recent UAV-firm acquisition.
Guests:
- Patrick Tucker,science and technology editor at Defense One;
- Chris Brose, chief strategy officer for Anduril Industries.
Related reading:
- “‘Hellscape’: DOD launches massive drone swarm program to counter China,” by Patrick Tucker, reporting August 28, 2023;
- Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks' Remarks: "Unpacking the Replicator Initiative" at the 2023 Defense News Conference;
- “The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare,” by Chris Brose (published 2020);
- And “Anduril buys drone maker Blue Force Technologies amid Pentagon push for autonomous aircraft,” by Marcus Weisgerber, reporting September 7, 2023.
How much of America's nuclear history does the three-hour film pack in and how much did it leave out?
Guest:
- Martin Pfeiffer, a PhD candidate in anthropology at the University of New Mexico.
From Cold War-era distrust of the Soviets to Beijing's recent silo buildup, we review some of the ideas and methods that have helped China become the nuclear power it is today.
Guests:
- Decker Eveleth, graduate research assistant at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California (beginning at the 1:47 mark);
- And Joseph Cirincione, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a national security analyst with 40 years of experience in Washington, D.C. (at the 20:05 mark).
Read Eveleth's recent report on Chinese nuclear forces, here. And you can find Cirincione's 1999 review of the Cox Report, here.
See also a new report from the Chicago Council entitled, “Majority in US Want to Learn More about Nuclear Policy.”
Guest:
- Patrick Tucker, Defense One science and technology editor.
Find his related reporting from Hawaii here.
Guests:
- Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One global business editor;
- Roman Schweizer, policy analyst focusing on defense issues;
- Cai von Rumohr, equity analyst with an emphasis on defense issues.
We hear from U.S. generals, ambassadors from Europe, tech reps from Ukraine, officials from Congress, China wonks, space nerds, and more.
Guests (and links to the full interviews on YouTube):
- Dr. Timothy Bunning, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's Chief Technology Officer (at the 1:54 mark);
- Schuyler Moore, U.S Central Command's Chief Technology Officer (at 6:48);
- Polish NATO Amb. Tomasz Szatkowski (at 9:24—YouTube link coming soon);
- Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation for IT industry development, and Nataliia Kushnerska, Chief Operations Officer at Brave1 (at 13:15);
- U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, Air Forces Central Command (at 16:32—YouTube link coming soon);
- Charles Luftig, Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Policy and Capabilities at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and Michael Horowitz, who directs the Pentagon's Emerging Capabilities Policy Office (at 26:30);
- Estonia’s Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defense Kusti Salm (at 31:25);
- Dmitri Alperovitch, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Silverado Policy Accelerator, and Geo Saba, Chief of Staff for Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. (at 35:22);
- And America's Vice Chief of Space Operations, Air Force Gen. David Thompson, along with Todd Harrison of Metrea Strategic Insights (at the 44:55 mark).
Guest:
- Sam Bendett, advisor in Russian studies at CNA.
You can read over his latest report on drone use in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, here.
Guests:
- Sam Skove, staff reporter for Defense One;
- And Patrick Tucker, science and tech editor at Defense One.
Guests:
- Michael Knights, a military historian, security analyst with the Washington Institute, and author of the book, "25 Days to Aden";
- Shireen Al-Adeimi, Assistant Professor of Language and Literacy at Michigan State University, and Non-Resident Fellow in the Middle East program at the Washington-based Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
Guests:
- Patrick Tucker, science and technology editor at Defense One;
- And Defense One staff reporter Sam Skove, who recently returned from Ukraine.
Milley spoke with Defense One Executive Editor Kevin Baron on the Ukraine war, China, Taiwan, Mexico, and more.
America’s Chief of Space Operations, Gen. Chance Saltzman, spoke to Defense One's Jennifer Hlad about Chinese satellite jamming, missile defense, and more.
Find other interviews in the State of Defense series here.
Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown sat down with Defense One’s Marcus Weisgerber to discuss priorities for the year ahead, lessons from Russia’s Ukraine invasion, and more.
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger is interviewed by Defense One's Caitlin Kenney.
The 18th Airborne Corps commander talks about drones, recruiting, the Pacific theater, challenges posed by China, and more.
We review the latest ups and downs in the U.S.-China relationship, which has been shaken by allegations of spying via dirigible.
Guest:
- Patrick Tucker, Defense One technology editor.
Two researchers compiled data on U.S. military interventions from 1776 to 2019. Here's what they learned.
Guests:
- Monica Toft, professor of international politics and the director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy;
- And Sidita Kushi, assistant professor of political science at Bridgewater State University.
Their Foreign Affairs essay, “The Roots of Washington’s Addiction to Military Force: And How China’s Rise Could Constrain American Interventionism,” was published in January.
An Army two-star general explains his proposal to send a multi-domain task force to the region.
Guests:
- U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Joel "JB" Vowell, Commanding General of the United States Army Japan;
- Maj. Kevin Joyce is an Army Strategist and the strategy branch chief at U.S. Army Japan.
You can find their essay, here.
And you can read a transcript of this conversation on Defense One, here.
We review the year that was and preview what might lie ahead for the U.S., Europe, and the wider global defense industry.
Guests include:
- Former German Ambassador the United Nations and current Chairman of the Munich Security Conference Christoph Heusgen, in conversation with Defense One Executive Editor Kevin Baron.
- BAE Systems CEO Tom Arseneault speaks with Defense One Global Business Editor Marcus Weisgerber (that begins at the 26:08 mark).
Defense One staff help unpack the hype and lingering mysteries surrounding America's newly-unveiled bomber plane, and we check in on the annual Reagan National Defense Forum.
Guests include:
- Lauren Williams, senior editor at Defense One;
- And Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One's Global Business Editor.
Guests include:
- Matthew Delmont is a Guggenheim Fellow and the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor of History at Dartmouth College; his book, “Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad,” was just published in October; interview begins at the 0:47 mark;
- And Holly Pinheiro, Jr., is an assistant professor of history at Furman University; his research focuses on the intersections of race, gender, and class in the U.S. military from 1850 through the 1930s. His latest book, “The Families’ Civil War: Black Soldiers and the Fight for Racial Justice,” was published in June. That interview begins at the 21:04 mark.
We focus on the latest developments in unmanned aerial systems, from the war in Ukraine to a conference in Washington.
Guests include:
- Faine Greenwood researches and writes about drones and emerging technologies; and Sam Bendett is in the Russia Studies Program at CNA, based in Washington (at the 7:58 mark);
- And Marcus Weisgerber is Defense One’s Global Business Editor (at 23:05).
We focus on the latest developments in unmanned aerial systems, from the war in Ukraine to a conference in Washington.
Guests include:
- Faine Greenwood researches and writes about drones and emerging technologies; and Sam Bendett is in the Russia Studies Program at CNA, based in Washington (at the 7:58 mark);
- And Marcus Weisgerber is Defense One’s Global Business Editor (at 23:05).
Guests include:
- Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger (at the 1:19 mark);
- Marine Brig. Gen. Joseph Clearfield, Deputy Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific (at 6:58);
- Air Force chief Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr. (at 10:54);
- Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for strategy, Lt. Gen. Clinton Hinote (12:52);
- Chris Dougherty, senior fellow at CNAS (17:36);
- Vice Chief of Space Operations, Gen. David Thompson (21:04);
- Colorado Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn (23:42);
- And Steven Butow, Director of the Space Portfolio at the U.S. military's Defense Innovation Unit (26:21).
Guests include:
- Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger (at the 1:19 mark);
- Marine Brig. Gen. Joseph Clearfield, Deputy Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific (at 6:58);
- Air Force chief Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr. (at 10:54);
- Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for strategy, Lt. Gen. Clinton Hinote (12:52);
- Chris Dougherty, senior fellow at CNAS (17:36);
- Vice Chief of Space Operations, Gen. David Thompson (21:04);
- Colorado Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn (23:42);
- And Steven Butow, Director of the Space Portfolio at the U.S. military's Defense Innovation Unit (26:21).
Guests include:
- Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger (at the 1:19 mark);
- Marine Brig. Gen. Joseph Clearfield, Deputy Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific (at 6:58);
- Air Force chief Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr. (at 10:54);
- Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for strategy, Lt. Gen. Clinton Hinote (12:52);
- Chris Dougherty, senior fellow at CNAS (17:36);
- Vice Chief of Space Operations, Gen. David Thompson (21:04);
- Colorado Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn (23:42);
- And Steven Butow, Director of the Space Portfolio at the U.S. military's Defense Innovation Unit (26:21).
The chief of naval operations and a key lawmaker talk shipbuilding plans, drones, Iran, and more.
Guests include:
- U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday—interviewed by Bradley Peniston, deputy editor of Defense One (beginning at the 1:32 mark);
- Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., vice chair of the House Armed Services Committee—interviewed by Jacqueline Feldscher, Defense One senior national security correspondent (at the 17:41).
Find more from this year's State of Defense event series, here.
The chief of naval operations and a key lawmaker talk shipbuilding plans, drones, Iran, and more.
Guests include:
- U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday—interviewed by Bradley Peniston, deputy editor of Defense One (beginning at the 1:32 mark);
- Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., vice chair of the House Armed Services Committee—interviewed by Jacqueline Feldscher, Defense One senior national security correspondent (at the 17:41).
Find more from this year's State of Defense event series, here.
The chief of naval operations and a key lawmaker talk shipbuilding plans, drones, Iran, and more.
Guests include:
- U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday—interviewed by Bradley Peniston, deputy editor of Defense One (beginning at the 1:32 mark);
- Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., vice chair of the House Armed Services Committee—interviewed by Jacqueline Feldscher, Defense One senior national security correspondent (at the 17:41).
Find more from this year's State of Defense event series, here.
Guests include:
- U.S. Army Gen. James McConville (at the 2:23 mark);
- Elisabeth Braw of the American Enterprise Institute, and Mark Cozad from RAND (at 17:13);
- Army Lt. Gen. Scott McKean, deputy commander of the Army’s Futures Command (at 25:50).
Find more from this year's State of Defense event series, here.
Guests include:
- U.S. Army Gen. James McConville (at the 2:23 mark);
- Elisabeth Braw of the American Enterprise Institute, and Mark Cozad from RAND (at 17:13);
- Army Lt. Gen. Scott McKean, deputy commander of the Army’s Futures Command (at 25:50).
Find more from this year's State of Defense event series, here.
Guests include:
- U.S. Army Gen. James McConville (at the 2:23 mark);
- Elisabeth Braw of the American Enterprise Institute, and Mark Cozad from RAND (at 17:13);
- Army Lt. Gen. Scott McKean, deputy commander of the Army’s Futures Command (at 25:50).
Find more from this year's State of Defense event series, here.
Elliot Ackerman is a former U.S. Marine Corps Special Operations Team Leader. His latest book, “The Fifth Act: America’s End in Afghanistan,” was just published in August.
Two experts help us put the most recent Taiwan Strait crisis in perspective, and we learn a bit about “the largest international maritime exercise in the world,” RIMPAC 2022.
Guests include:
- Caitlin Kenney, Defense One staff reporter (at the 1:57 mark);
- Collin Koh, research fellow at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies in Singapore (at 12:38);
- And Becca Wasser, fellow for the Defense Program and lead of the Gaming Lab at the Center for a New American Security think tank in Washington, D.C. (at the 34:43 mark).
Here's what industry execs were worried about at the Farnborough Airshow.
Guests include:
- Bradley Peniston, Defense One Deputy Editor;
- Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One Global Business Editor;
- Andrew Hunter, assistant secretary of the U.S. Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics;
- Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes;
- Bell Helicopter CEO Mitch Snyder;
- And Eric Chewning, of the consulting firm McKinsey’s aerospace and defense practice.
Sixteen different experts and officials joined us to discuss the war in Ukraine, cyber warfare, the challenges posed by China, and much more from this year's Defense One Technology Summit.
Guests include:
- Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks (at the 0:55 mark);
- Stephen Wood of Maxar Technologies and Aric Toler of Bellingcat (@ 4:27);
- Dave Frederick of U.S. Cyber Command (@ 15:25);
- Dmitri Alperovitch and retired U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Rogers (@ 17:53);
- Neal Higgins, Deputy National Cyber Director for National Cybersecurity (@ 25:39);
- Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus VR (@ 29:30);
- Former U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach and Gilman Louie, the former CEO of In-Q-Tel (@ 33:33);
- U.S. Air Force Col. Wallace Turnbull, Deputy Director of Space Systems Command’s Space Systems Integration Office (@ 35:17);
- Mark Lewis, Executive Director at the National Defense Industrial Association’s Emerging Technologies Institute (@ 39:32);
- Wesley Kremer, President of Raytheon Missiles & Defense (@ 44:52);
- Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio (@ 46:46);
- Mark Munsell from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (@ 52:00);
- And Michael Brown of DIU (@ 54:51).
This episode, we hear from three people whose lives have become bound up with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Guests:
- Olga Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine (beginning at the 3:27 mark);
- Ambassador Michael Carpenter, Washington’s Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE (at 9:49);
- St. Javelin founder Christian Borys (at 34:01);
- And Patrick Tucker, science and technology editor for Defense One.
The State Department's Derek Chollet sat down to talk about Russia's Ukraine invasion, China's 21st-century rise, and much more with Defense One Executive Editor Kevin Baron.
Our guest is award-winning author and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Phil Klay, whose new book of essays, "Uncertain Ground: Citizenship and an Age of Endless, Invisible War," was just published by Penguin Random House.
Guests include:
- Faine Greenwood, unmanned systems researcher;
- Samuel Bendett, adviser with CNA Strategy, Policy, Plans and Programs Center, where he is a member of the Russia Studies Program.
Guests include:
- Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One Global Business Editor (at the 3:13 mark);
- and Tanisha Fazal, Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota (at 12:55); find her latest essay, "The Return of Conquest? Why the Future of Global Order Hinges on Ukraine" in the May/June issue of Foreign Affairs.
Find a transcript of this episode here.
Two experts to history for some clues about the possible future of Russia's Ukraine invasion.
Guests include:
- Candace Rondeaux, director of the Future Frontlines project at New America (at the 3:16 mark);
- And Paul Poast, associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago (at 17:12).
Find a transcript of this episode here.
Guests include:
- Emily Kilcrease, senior fellow and director of the Energy, Economics, and Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (at the 2:14 mark);
- And Elisabeth Braw, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (at 12:00).
Read a transcript of this episode here.
Guests include:
- Richard Fontaine, CEO of the Center for a New American Security (beginning at the 3:28 mark);
- Graham Brookie, senior director of the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab (at 12:48);
- And Dr. Dmitry Gorenburg, senior research scientist at CNA (at 19:03).
A transcript will be available here.
Guests include:
- Peter W. Singer of New America (at the 1:43 mark);
- Joint Chiefs Chairman Army Gen. Mark Milley (7:56);
- Greg Jackson of the U.S. Army Special Forces (12:24);
- Habib Hassan, former Afghan interpreter (17:15);
- Retired Army Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule (22:41);
- Dr. Edda Fields-Black of Carnegie Mellon University (28:15);
- Brian Castner of Amnesty International (36:38);
- And Defense One's Patrick Tucker (39:58).
This episode, we excerpt a few of this year's Outlook 2022 interviews, including:
- Defense One Senior National Security Correspondent Jacqueline Feldscher in conversation with Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Dr. Colin Kahl (at the 1:24 mark);
- Defense One Executive Editor Kevin Baron interviews White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (at 5:48);
- Defense One's Global Business Editor Marcus Weisgerber moderates a discussion with Kristine Liwag, executive director at Morgan Stanley, and Ron Epstein, senior equity analyst at Bank of America (at 14:29);
- Defense One Tech Editor Patrick Tucker speaks with Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., and Bryan Clark of the Hudson Institute (at 18:57);
- Weisgerber interviews Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall (at 33:26);
- and Senior Pentagon Correspondent for Defense One Tara Copp spoke with Air Force Brig. Gen. John Olson, mobilization assistant to the Chief of Space Operations (at 44:39).
Catch all Outlook 2022 video interviews on Defense One's YouTube page here.
America’s 28th Pentagon chief wants to “lead with diplomacy” to avoid any new wars in Ukraine or Taiwan, he told Defense One’s Tara Copp in an exclusive interview to kick off our annual Outlook 2022 event series.
Read more:
- “Austin Rejects ‘Red Lines’ for Taiwan, Ukraine,” by Tara Copp, Nov. 7.
This episode is broken into two parts:
- Project Overmatch with Defense One's Caitlin Kenney (at the 2:28 mark);
- Project Convergence, updated with Defense One's Patrick Tucker (at 15:48);
Extra reading:
- “What Worked, What Didn't at Army’s Second Connect-Everything Experiment,” by Patrick Tucker, Nov. 10;
- “Are Naval Forces on the Right Path? Leaders Run Wargame to Check,” by Caitlin Kenney, Nov. 17.
Find a transcript of this episode here.
This episode is broken into three parts:
- What's new, with Defense One's Patrick Tucker (at the 1:31 mark);
- What's old, with Angry Staff Officer (at 15:01);
- What comes next, featuring Army Gen. Mike Murray and Lt. Gen. Jim Richardson of Army Futures Command (at 36:36).
Extra reading:
- "The Biggest Lesson from the Army’s Connect-Everything Experiment," by Patrick Tucker on Oct. 2021;
- "China Features Heavily in the Army’s Next Big Emerging Tech Experiment," also via Tucker in April 2021;
- "It’s Time for Another Louisiana Maneuvers," from Angry Staff Officer back in April 2016.
Find a transcript of this episode here.
This episode is broken into three parts:
- 'No front line,' with former Explosive Ordnance Disposal officer Brian Castner (at the 1:59 mark);
- The Weight, with Marine Corps Infantry officer Walker Mills (at 15:09);
- The Future, featuring Army Maj. Gen. Ross Coffman, director of the Next-Generation Combat Vehicles Cross-Functional Team; Deputy Program Executive Officer for Army Ground Combat Vehicles, Jim Schirmer; and Mike Cadieux, director of the Army’s Ground Vehicle Systems Center (starting at 24:02).
Extra reading:
- "Projected Acquisition Costs for the Army’s Ground Combat Vehicles," Congressional Budget Office, April 2021 (PDF);
- Read Mills' take on the JLTV (from Sept. 2020) at the Modern War Institute, here;
- Watch "Pentagon Wars" on HBO, here; or find the book on Amazon, here.
Find a transcript of this episode here.
Guests include Stacie Pettyjohn, Senior Fellow and Director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security; Becca Wasser, fellow in the Defense Program at CNAS (both Wasser and Pettyjohn begin at the 2:44 mark); Zachary Kallenborn, research affiliate with the Unconventional Weapons and Technology Division of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (at the 21:14 mark); and Sam Bendett, Adviser with CNA and a member of its Russia Studies Program (at 29:25).
Extra reading:
- Find Pettyjohn and Wasser's War on the Rocks columns here and here;
- Read Kallenborn's analysis of the Israeli Defense Forces recent swarm operations here;
- Read a CNA report Bendett co-authored in May entitled "Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy in Russia" (PDF) here.
Find a transcript here.
Defense One's Patrick Tucker helps explain the U.S. military's growing climate security portfolio (at the 4:05 mark); John Conger of the Center for Climate and Security joins us later (at 14:28), followed by Gabriel Collins of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy (at 23:38).
Extra reading:
- Read Conger's Defense One op-ed here;
- Find the report Gabe co-authored on U.S.-China competition (PDF), here;
- Read more from Tucker's interview with Richard Kidd, the deputy assistant defense secretary for environment and energy resilience, here.
Find a transcript of this episode here.
This episode we speak about where Afghanistan might go from here—with help former Afghan translator Habib Hassan and former State Department official Elizabeth Threlkeld, currently of the Stimson Center.
Find a transcript of this episode here.
This episode we’re going to share a few of the more memorable exchanges from this year’s Tech Summit, including Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks; Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Dennis Crall; Director of the Space Development Agency Derek Tournear; Brian Weeden of the Secure World Foundation; Kelly Hammett, of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Directed Energy Directorate; Air Force Col. Eric Felt, the Director of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate; Mieke Eoyang, who is the Pentagon’s Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy; Ylli Bajraktari, Executive Director of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence; and the NSA’s Director of Cybersecurity Rob Joyce.
To watch any of these interviews in video, go here.
Or read a transcript of this episode here.
This episode we’re going to take a look at some of the most important issues shaping the future of U.S.-European security, including NATO, the EU, fringe politics, lessons from the Cold War, and evolving perceptions of both China and the U.S.
Guests include:
- Dr. Alina Polyakova, president and CEO of the Center for European Policy Analysis;
- Elisabeth Braw, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
- And former NATO Ambassador Ivo Daalder, president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
Find a transcript of this episode here: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2021/06/defense-one-radio-ep-84-biden-europe-and-future-transatlantic-security/174681/
This episode we’re going to learn about the Combahee River Raid, the first U.S. military operation to be organized and led by a woman. That woman was abolitionist Harriet Tubman.
Dr. Edda Fields-Black of Carnegie Mellon University joins us to tell the story.
Find a transcript of this episode here.
Retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule talks about the Confederacy, U.S. race relations, and inclusive changes throughout the recent history of the U.S. military.
Seidule's memoir is called “Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner’s Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause.”
Find a transcript of this episode here.
What lies ahead for Afghanistan? And what does that war look like today from the perspective of a Green Beret who spent several months trying to build Afghanistan’s military and police?
We’ll break down those questions and a lot more in this episode of Defense One Radio, featuring Bill Roggio of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
There’s a new way of thinking about war that’s taking over the Pentagon. A lot has happened for its generals and for the country over the past 30 years of American warfare. And if this latest crop of generals get their wish, a lot could happen in just the first 30 minutes of America’s next large-scale war.
So — kind of like our last episode — preparing ourselves for the next world war is what this episode is all about, in three parts:
- From old capabilities to new ones (at the 1:21 mark)
- Opportunity and vulnerability (17:19)
- Mr. JADC2 Goes to Washington (31:47)
Find a transcript of this episode here.
2034 could be a disastrous year for U.S.-China relations — and most of the rest of the world, according to a new work of fiction by former NATO Commander retired U.S. Navy Adm. Jim Stavridis and Marine veteran, journalist and writer Elliot Ackerman. The two have teamed up to write “2034: A Novel of the Next World War,” which was published this week by Penguin Random House.
Today we’re going to hear from journalist and author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon. She’s traveled to Syria several times over the past four years. And her new book, “The Daughters of Kobani: A Story of Rebellion, Courage, and Justice,” arrived on bookshelves just this week. Much of her reporting in it originated on Defense One, when she filed dispatches from Syria to Executive Editor Kevin Baron. The two of them talk about that story, the book, and what to expect for Syria's future, including from the Biden administration.
This episode, we’ll ask how we can better understand those hundreds of Americans who stormed the Capitol. We’ll also look into how now may really be the time to truly expand the way we think about certain key things like what “national security” means when an insurrection can be stoked so openly, as it was in the days leading up to January 6.
Our guests are Robert Pape of the University of Chicago and director of the Chicago Project on Security and Threats (at the 2:45 mark); Divya Ramjee of the Center for Security, Innovation, and New Technology and Elsa Kania of the Center for a New American Security (at 11:54); and Peter W. Singer from the New America think tank (at 21:33).
A transcript for this episode is available here.
This episode Defense One's Katie Bo Williams and Patrick Tucker unpack the national security policies and possible changes from an incoming Biden administration.
This episode, Defense One's Ben Watson asks Army Chief Gen. James McConville how the service is dealing with the coronavirus and the threat posed by Russia. The Army chief also discusses a joint Air Force project to link everything on the battlefield — known as Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control, or CJADC2 — as well as what non-military books he's reading.
Find a transcript of this conversation here.
This episode, we'll explore emerging trends in unmanned systems. We’ll start in the air, before turning to the land and sea in a review of Russian-made systems and military thinking. And we’ll end with a discussion about trust and artificial intelligence. (Music by Bob Bradley, Paul Clarvis, Thomas Balmforth; Guy Farley, Andrew Carroll; Richard Lacy; Paul Mottram; Jeff Meegan, David Tobin, Rob Kelly; Theo Travis, Paul Ressel; Sue Verran, Paul Ressel; and David Kelly — via Audionetwork.com)
- Part One: The aerial events in Arizona, Colorado and Mexico (at the 3:41 mark);
- Part Two: From Russia, by land and sea (24:10);
- Part Three: Beyond AlphaDogfight (33:48).
Find a transcript of this episode here.
Guests:
- Arthur Holland Michel, associate researcher at the UN Institute for Disarmament Research in Geneva, where he researches autonomous systems and artificial intelligence.
- Brett Velicovich, U.S. Army veteran and author of the book “Drone Warrior.”
- Samuel Bendett, analyst with the Center for Naval Analyses' International Affairs Group.
Read more about the Arizona drone incident from Sept. 2019 at The Drive, here.
This episode is underwritten by Aerovironment.
This episode, we’re going to take a closer look at terrorism trends and far-right extremists in America. We’ll see how oftentimes right-wing violence works inside the seams of American security and law enforcement discourse, challenging our definition of terrorism.
We’ll also discuss America’s wars abroad, and how many veterans have brought the war home, as it were.
Then we’ll visit Charlottesville, Virginia, where we’ll tour a few Confederate monuments — monuments that are playing host to a new generation of vigilantes.
Guests this episode include:
- Erin Miller, program manager for the Global Terrorism Database at the University of Maryland’s National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism; that conversation begins at the 1:52 mark;
- Kathleen Belew, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Chicago (at the 9:33 mark);
- Jalane Schmidt, University of Virginia professor and local public historian in Charlottesville, Virginia (at the 38:04 mark). Find her work in a special feature from WTJU's 91.1 FM entitled, "Marked by these Monuments."
We take a new look at what China means to American voters, and how opinions and perceptions about China have changed since President Trump took office three and a half years ago. Our episode is broken into three parts:
- How Americans feel about China, with Laura Silver of the Pew Research Center;
- The tech and values challenge posed by China, with Rui Zhong of the Wilson Center; and Kara Frederick of the Center for a New American Security;
- From 1517 to 2020, with Michael Schuman, author of “Superpower Interrupted: The Chinese History of the World.”
U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Karl Schultz explains how his service is responding to growing access to the arctic, which is quickly becoming a place for great powers like Russia, China and the U.S. to compete and try to outmaneuver one another.
Then we'll hear from arctic policy wonks David Auerswald of the National War College and Abbie Tingstad of the RAND Corporation.
This episode is sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton.
This episode we'll hear from Peter W. Singer and August Cole, the authors of “Burn-In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution.” The title comes from the term for deliberately pushing technology to the breaking point, in order to learn from it.
Then we'll pivot to military recruiting and the world of competitive video gaming when we speak to Sergeant First Class Chris Jones, the NCO-in-charge of the U.S. Army's Esports team. // Music by Gareth Johnson, Kes Loy and Gavin Harrison, as well as Jason Pedder, Philip Guyler and Ben Ziapour — via AudioNetwork.com.
This episode is sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton.
Richard Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations. His book “The World: A Brief Introduction” is available for purchase online today.
This episode is sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton.
Today we’re going to look at America’s changing place in a rapidly-changing world. It’s part of a broader series of reporting, commentaries and discussions Defense One and the Center for a New American Security are hosting throughout the year. They’re all inspired by the theme of military readiness in 2020. And we’re calling it the American Readiness Project. The guiding question is this: Are Americans ready, willing, and able to be the global security leaders of this century?
This episode, Defense One Executive Editor Kevin Baron explores those ideas and more along with Ivo Daalder, president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
This episode is sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton.
Retired U.S. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey has a new book coming out in May called “No Time For Spectators: The Lessons That Mattered Most From West Point To The West Wing.” Dempsey talks about politics and leadership during a pandemic; why the U.S. didn't do more in Syria sooner, and more.
This episode is sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton.
More American soldiers died from the flu in 1918 than died from combat in World War I. And more Americans died from that 1918 flu pandemic than died from all the wars in the last century. That's why we’re gonna learn a bit more about what the Influenza of 1918 did to the U.S. military.
Special Guest: Angry Staff Officer
- Part One: The First Wave (at the 1:35 mark);
- Part Two: The Second Wave (11:40);
- Part Three: The Show Must Go On (22:38).
Find a transcript of this episode here.
Find Carol Byerly's "Fever of War" on Amazon here. See also Byerly's additional research on the topic at the National Institutes of Health, here.
See also PBS American Experience's 2010 documentary, "Influenza 1918," here.
This episode is sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton.
- Part One: The costs of acknowledging a pandemic, with Annie Lowrey of The Atlantic (at the 3:29 mark); find her report, "Quantifying the Coming Recession," here.
- Part Two: On China's initiative and trustworthiness, with Peter W. Singer of New America (at 12:34); find Singer's two pieces on China here and here;
- Part Three: The downside of ‘America First’ and the upside of America, with Kori Schake of the American Enterprise Institute (at 27:56); find her op-ed, "'America First' Is Making the Pandemic Worse," here.
This episode is sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton.
We decided to take stock of how the coronavirus and the disease it causes, Covid-19, are affecting the U.S. government and the national security establishment. So we’re try to figure out what maybe to expect next.
Guests include Defense One Global Business Editor Marcus Weisgerber (at the 3:10 mark), Defense One National Security Correspondent Katie Bo Williams (11:27), Ross Gianfortune of the podcast "GovExec Daily" (at 20:26), and Defense One's Tech Editor Patrick Tucker (at the 30:31 mark).
The United States Space Force is now officially a thing, complete with a commander and plans to put about 16,000 members of the military to work defending U.S. interests in space. But what exactly does it mean for the U.S. military to “deter aggression” in space? How could a war in space happen? And what are American interests in space, anyway?
This episode, we’re going to answer those questions as best we can with the help of four experts on space weapons and policy and strategy: Jeffrey Lewis, professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, Calif.; Jonathan McDowell, astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass.; Bleddyn Bowen, lecturer in International Relations at the University of Leicester, in the UK; and Brian Weeden, director of Program Planning at the Secure World Foundation. Music used by permission via Audionetwork.com.
Find a transcript of this episode: https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2020/03/ep-63-war-space/163611/
We’re going to take a closer look at Russian private military contractors. How much do we understand about what these groups are up to? And how much should the U.S. and its allies be concerned? It’s a phenomenon with a history; and it’s something that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. The episode is broken into four parts: • Behind the Battle of Khasham (at the 1:53 mark) • Prigozhin's Path (8:09) • An Ignominious Invasion (23:16) • Into Africa (27:47) Guests include Kimberly Marten of Columbia University's Barnard College; Candace Rondeaux of Arizona State University and a Senior Fellow with the New America think tank's Center on the Future of War; and Aric Toler, who leads research and training activities on eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union for the investigative journalism collective Bellingcat. Transcript: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2020/01/ep-62-wagner-and-russian-private-military-contractors/162447/
With less than a year until the next U.S. election, we’ve got a few experts to help break down what they think is ahead in U.S.-directed influence operations. They include Alina Polyakova of the Brookings Institution; Clint Watts of the Foreign Policy Research Institute and the Alliance for Securing Democracy; retired CIA agent John Sipher; and (briefly) Mark Galeotti of the Royal United Services Institute. // Music is by Paul Mottram; Bob Bradley; David O'Brien; Lincoln Grounds; and Matt Hill — via AudioNetwork.com. • Find the full 2019 Reagan National Defense Survey (PDF), here: https://www.reaganfoundation.org/media/355292/reagan-foundation-survey-charts-112519.pdf
Defense One's Patrick Tucker sat down with Pakistan’s top diplomat in Washington to discuss the U.S. troop pullout in Afghanistan, the worsening situation in Kashmir, and efforts to fight extremism.
This episode we'll discuss the NATO alliance and how some military tactics are changing in the face of strategic threats from Russia. We’ll also assess some of the more recent responses to wider global trends like populism and how, in some parts of Europe, Chinese soft power is already influencing culture, politics and security. // Music this week from Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock, Ellie Kidd; Joe Henson and Alexis Smith; David O'Brien and Chris Egan; Philip Guyler; Terry Devine-King; Paul Clarvis, Matt Hill and Sonia Slany, via AudioNetwork.com; also featuring music from Leonid Kharitonov and the Red Army Choir.
This episode we'll learn why the Pentagon and the U.S. defense establishment are increasingly turning to wargames and simulations; what famous games of the past got right, and wrong; and why we still need experts who strategize almost exclusively in the analog world of plastic chips and toy soldiers and hexagon maps. Guests include Becca Wasser, Stacie Pettyjohn, Ellie Bartels, Christopher Rice and Mark Herman. // Music by Terry Devine-King, Nathan Feddo, Henry White, Ben Watson, Joe Henson and Alexis Smith, via AudioNetwork.com. • Find Robert Work's February 2015 memo on wargaming here: https://www.govexec.com/media/gbc/docs/pdfs_edit/work-wargaming-memo-9feb15.pdf • Find Hannah Allam's NPR report on Wasser, Pettyjohn and Bartels (aka the "Dames of Wargames") here: https://npr.org/2019/07/25/744193558/can-this-group-of-teen-girls-save-the-world-from-nuclear-war
What does it mean for the future of international security to almost completely pull the U.S. military out of Syria? This episode, we investigate that and a lot more with Dana Stroul of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute, and Melissa Dalton of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
America’s war in Afghanistan turns 18 in October. And one journalist has been making trips to the country since 2004. North Carolina-based author Kevin Maurer joins us to talk about what’s new from his latest trip in January, what never really changed in 14 years, and how some U.S. soldiers derive meaning from the longest conflict in the nation's history. Find Maurer's essay in the Washington Post Magazine here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2019/09/09/feature/the-afghanistan-war-is-likely-ending-one-longtime-correspondent-asks-was-it-worth-it/
Vince Houghton, historian and curator of the International Spy Museum, joins us to talk about more than just the U.S. military’s plan to detonate a nuclear bomb on the moon, he also explains a few American efforts to kill Cuba’s Fidel Castro, as well as bold Russian operations today — and one Soviet idea that would have killed everyone decades ago. Vince's new book, "The Nuclear Spies America's Atomic Intelligence Operation against Hitler and Stalin," comes out Sept. 15. Our music this week is by Philip Guyler, via Audionetwork.com.
Today we’re going to hear from the U.S. military’s top intelligence official, Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, who directs the Defense Intelligence Agency. Defense One Tech Editor Patrick Tucker sat down with Lt. Gen. Ashley Monday in Tampa. The general answered 10 questions about the Pentagon’s evolving tech needs in Afghanistan, cloud computing across the services, cyber defense, machine learning, China, North Korea, and quite a bit more.
We’re joined by journalist Alexa O’Brien and Chris Woods, the founder and director of Airwars. They published a report in July that revealed big gaps in Western media coverage of civilian harm from the U.S.-led airstrike campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Find that report online here: https://airwars.org/report/news-in-brief-us-media-coverage-of-civilian-harm/
Today we sit down for an extended discussion with Ali Wyne of Rand. Wyne dropped by our studios for an in-depth chat questioning some of the core goals of that American strategy, why it has risen to the top of U.S. national security doctrine, and a lot more.
This episode, we sit down with Magnus Nordenman, who just wrote a book on the evolution of America’s naval competition with Russia in the Far North called "The New Battle for the Atlantic."
This episode, we survey the history of cyberwarfare — from the ascent of China-linked hackers this century to the arrest of a Soviet-linked hacker 30 years ago, and a lot in between. Find a transcript of this episode, along with a table of 50 key events in the history of the domain, here: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2019/07/ep-50-cyberwarfare-yesterday/158750/ Find the full C-Span interview with Cliff Stoll in 1989, here: http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/10122-1/Clifford-Stoll
This episode, we turn to the future world of cyberwarfare — from life after encryption to the 5G debate, from the next election to the next generation of cyber professionals, and a lot more. Our guests include: • Dawn Thomas, Associate Director and Research Analyst on the Safety and Security team of CNA; • Paul Gagliardi, a former U.S. intelligence contractor and current threat intelligence analyst at SecurityScorecard; • Dmitri Alperovitch, co-Founder and CTO at CrowdStrike; • Adam Segal, who directs the Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations; • Matt Wyckhouse, CEO at Finite State; • And B. Edwin Wilson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy. Find Dawn's "Cybersecurity Futures 2025" report here: https://www.cna.org/centers/ipr/safety-security/cyber-security-2025 Find Finite State's report on Huawei here: https://finitestate.io/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Finite-State-SCA1-Final.pdf And find a transcript of this week's episode here: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2019/07/ep-49-cyberwarfare-tomorrow/158568/
In the first of a three-part podcast series, we're going to look at the contemporary risks of cyber warfare, from ransomware and extortion to online banking and culture wars. Our guests include: • Dawn Thomas, associate director and research analyst on the Safety and Security team of CNA; • Paul Gagliardi, a former U.S. intelligence contractor and current threat intelligence analyst at SecurityScorecard; • information security researcher the Grugq; • Adam Segal, who directs the Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations; • and Jen Miller-Osborn, deputy director of Threat Intelligence and Unit 42 at the cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks. Find a transcript of this episode here: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2019/07/ep-48-cyberwarfare-today/158387/ Music for this week's episode comes from AudioNetwork.com and features work by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock, Ellie Kidd, Dave James, Michael Craig, Darren Leigh Purkiss, Bob Bradley, Paul Clarvis, Matt Sanchez, Matt Hill, Chris Egan, Andrew Cooksley, Duncan Pittock, David O'Brien, Philip Guyler, Sonia Slany, Barrie Gledden, Chris Bussey, and Evelyn Glennie.
We continue our remembrance of the Iraqi and coalition forces pushing the Islamic State group out of Mosul two years ago this week. This week we’ll hear from Mike Giglio, national security correspondent for The Atlantic. He was embedded with Iraqi special forces when the Mosul offensive kicked off in late 2016. And he’s got a book coming out on it this autumn. Then we’ll hear from former CIA man Dan Gabriel, who just produced a documentary called “Mosul.” Read more about the film online here https://mosul-film.com
This episode, we travel to Paris to meet a historian from Mosul named Omar Mohammed. He's the man behind the secretive blog and Twitter account "Mosul Eye" (@mosuleye). He’ll tell us all about his life, his family, his love of Mosul’s history, and his concerns for the future of Mosul, Iraq and the greater Middle East. Read more about the 2016-17 Mosul offensive in our special report here https://www.defenseone.com/feature/mosul-largest-battle-decade-future-of-war/ Next week we’ll be back with more on the 2017 Mosul offensive from Mike Giglio of The Atlantic. He was there for the offensive, and he’s got a book coming out on it all this autumn. And we’ll hear from former CIA man Dan Gabriel, who just produced a documentary on the Mosul offensive called simply enough: “Mosul.”
This episode, we’re joined by Dr. Ash Carter, who just published "Inside the Five-Sided Box: Lessons from a Lifetime of Leadership in the Pentagon." He first started working at the Pentagon in 1981, and wound up playing an unlikely role in the so-called “Star Wars” missile defense program during the Reagan administration. Nowadays, he works at Harvard where he directs the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Kennedy School. Carter sat down with Defense One to talk about past wars, future wars, the importance of friends, America’s youth, China, what it takes to succeed in the Pentagon, how not to waste a $750 billion-dollar defense budget — and even theoretical physics. (The discussion begins at the 1:48 mark.) Read more about Ash Carter and his book here: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2019/06/former-defense-secretary-ash-carter-talks-iran-china-and-trumps-late-night-tweets/157741/
Global Business Editor Marcus Weisgerber and Ben Watson talked with the UK’s Minister Counsellor Defence Edward Ferguson about F-35s, aircraft carriers, NATO, Russia, the South China Sea, deterrence, the defence secretary, arms sales, and more.
This episode we bring you two conversations with Defense One Executive Editor Kevin Baron from the Shangri-La Defense dialogues — which happened this past weekend in Singapore. Kevin sat down with the State Department’s Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, Andrea Thompson, at the 26:34 mark. But first, Baron spoke with Dr. Kori Schake, the Deputy Director-General of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, at the 0:49 mark.
Nuclear weapons have taken on growing importance during the Trump presidency. Today we’re going to speak with a couple of researchers and analysts — Erin Connolly of the Center for Arms Control, and Jamie Withorne of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies — who have been thinking about nukes and the cultural and political issues surrounding them throughout the country. (That begins at the 3:41 mark.) And we’ll end (25:34) with a retrospective looking back at the dangerous days of the Cold War, back when the U.S. and Soviet governments grappled with how to protect their citizens from nuclear war. Edward Geist of RAND recently published a comparative history of nuclear aftermath planning called “Armageddon Insurance: Civil Defense in the United States and Soviet Union, 1945–1991.” And he joins us by phone to talk all about it. You can find Jamie's work on classic paintings and nuclear weapons technology here: https://inkstickmedia.com/classics/ And you can read more about Girl Security here: https://www.girlsecurity.org/
This episode we’re going to look into why the U.S. military is escalating its air campaign in Somalia (at the 2:19 mark). We'll look into the larger strategy to which this is aimed (10:44). And (22:46) we'll ask if there are 21st-century lessons the U.S. military is learning from the same war-torn country that gave it “Blackhawk Down” almost 30 years ago. We’ll hear from a professor who has been studying the Somali National Army for quite a while now (Dr. Paul Williams of George Washington University). We’ll hear from a former Air Force bomb disposal technician who now investigates alleged civilian casualties for the human rights group Amnesty International (Brian Castner). And we’ll speak to a Pentagon official (Michelle Lenihan) about the long list of challenges ahead not just in Somalia and the Horn of Africa, but also Nigeria, Mali, and throughout the wider continent. Special thanks this to Katie Bo Williams. // Music by Paul Mottram and Terry Devine-King via AudioNetwork.com Read a transcript of this episode here: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2019/04/ep-42-escalating-somalia/156187/ Find Dr. Williams' analysis of the Somali army here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01402390.2019.1575210
How has climate change cost the United States military already? And what sort of costs can the Defense Department expect to pay in the future? In this episode, we’re going to investigate matters of "resilience" and base design as part of a broader look at how climate change will likely affect the U.S. military in the years ahead. • Chapter 1: The damage (at the 2:03 mark) • Chapter 2: A turning point. (22:23) • Chapter 3: Adaptations (32:40) We’ll hear from a man who was the Navy’s chief oceanographer just a few years ago, Dr. David Titley. We’ll hear from a climatologist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Dr. Benjamin Santer. And we’ll talk to a man who helped draft one of the most recent reports on climate change from the Pentagon, John Conger, who directs the Center for Climate and Security. // Music by Terry Devine-King via AudioNetwork.com. // Let us know what you think: email your thoughts to production@defenseone.com • Read a transcript of this episode here: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2019/03/ep-41-climate-change-versus-us-military/155948/ • Find the 2018 Pentagon infrastructure report here: https://climateandsecurity.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/tab-b-slvas-report-1-24-2018.pdf
We’re going to extend a few of the conversations we began last week when we dug into the future of U.S.-Russian relations. • Professor Mark Galeotti returns (at the 1:38 mark) to tell us a bit more about Vladimir Putin and why corruption is a much bigger problem for Europe than disinformation. • Then (7:00) we’ll pivot to all things missile-related with a conversation between our very own Marcus Weisgerber and Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. • And we’ll end (34:54) with a word on carrier-killing missiles from the U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson in a recent appearance at the Atlantic Council. Our music this week is by Terry Devine-King and Philip Guyler, via AudioNetwork.com.
This week we’re going to take a look at Russia and the future of the U.S.-Russian relationship, in three chapters: • After Putin (at the 1:30 mark); • Before Putin (17:14); • Now what (28:16). We'll revisit a battle against the Mongols 639 years ago, move ahead to Putin’s “zoo” of scary long-range weapons unveiled last year, and all the way forward to the challenges that come well after the Department of Justice’s Trump-Russia probe here in 2019. Our guests this week are Michael Carpenter, Senior Director of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington; Mark Galeotti, Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London; Pavel Podvig, a physicist trained at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology; and Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Our music is by Terry Devine-King, Barrie Gledden, Richard Lacy, David Kelly, Helen Jane Long, Philip Guyler, Tim Garland and Sam Wedgwood — via AudioNetwork.com. Related reading: "We Need to Talk About Putin," a 2019 book by Mark Galeotti (link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G2VVRVB/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2); "Kulikovo, 1380: A Battle Almost Lost in Myth," a recent essay also by Mark Galeotti (https://ospreypublishing.com/blog/Kulikovo_1380/); and "Self-assured destruction: The climate impacts of nuclear war," a report from Alan Robock of Rutgers and Owen Brian Toon of the University of Colorado-Boulder, here: http://climate.envsci.rutgers.edu/pdf/RobockToonSAD.pdf
- Chapter one: Staying in power (at the 1:24 mark);
- Chapter two: Revising history (19:57);
- Chapter three: Some thoughts about how to move forward (37:53).
Like last week, our guests include Samantha Hoffman of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute; Elsa Kania of the Center for a New American Security; Greg Poling of the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Andrew Wilson of the U.S. Naval War College (not speaking on behalf of the Navy or the Defense Department); and Pamela Crossley of Dartmouth University. Special thanks as well this week to Paulina Glass. Music by Terry-Devine King, Chris Blackwell and Tim Garland via AudioNetwork.com
Related reading: "Social Credit" by Samantha Hoffman via ASPI + "Xi’s China Is Steamrolling Its Own History," by Pamela Crossley + "Battlefield Singularity Artificial Intelligence, Military Revolution, and China’s Future Military Power" by Elsa Kania via CNAS.
This week on the program, we’re going to explore the U.S.-China relationship beginning with tensions in and around the South China Sea. It's broken up into three parts: 1. How did all this begin? (at the 2:58 mark) 2. What's in it for Beijing? (11:16) 3. Where to go and what to know from here (24:28) Our guests include Samantha Hoffman of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute; Elsa Kania of the Center for a New American Security; Greg Poling of the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Andrew Wilson of the U.S. Naval War College (not speaking on behalf of the Navy or the Defense Department); and Pamela Crossley of Dartmouth University. Special thanks as well to Paulina Glass, Katie Bo Williams and Marcus Weisgerber. • Related reading: "Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?" by Graham Allison. (https://www.amazon.com/Destined-War-America-Escape-Thucydidess-ebook/dp/B01IAS9FZY) and "China Goes to Sea," a 2009 collection of essays from the Naval Institute Press (https://www.amazon.com/China-Goes-Sea-Transformation-Comparative/dp/1591142423).
This week on the program, we turn our ear to America’s ally across the pond, the United Kingdom. Our guest is Will Jessett — the current Director for Strategic Planning at the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence in London. Our Global Business Editor Marcus Weisgerber sat down with Will to talk though the UK’s new defense modernization review, released in December, and how the British defense world is planning for an uncertain future of Russian revanchism and possibly expanded integration with the Chinese economy in the decades to come. // Music by Terry Devine-King, via AudioNetwork.com • Read the UK Ministry of Defence's modernization review here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/modernising-defence-programme-update
This week on the program: • It's a new year, and we have a new defense secretary — an acting one anyway, for now. Parts of the U.S. government are shut down over the border wall President Trump promised in his election campaign. • The bottom line up front: This does not appear to be a time of order or coherence in the White House. There are lots of posts filled by folks in acting roles, including the Pentagon’s top job. • We'll go over the new SecDef (beginning at the 2:43 mark), the shutdown (15:36), and more with Executive Editor Kevin Baron, Tech Editor Patrick Tucker, Global Business Editor Marcus Weisgerber, and Government Executive's Eric Katz. // Music by Terry Devine-King via AudioNetwork.com.
For the first time ever in 2018, a president of the United States spoke face to face with the leader of North Korea. Yet six months later, the Korean peninsula remains one of the world’s three most dangerous flash points. • On this, our final episode of the year, we’re going to revisit what we learned about the two Koreas, President Trump and the future of the peninsula. We’ll be joined by about a half-dozen guests, including Melissa Hanham, Joshua Pollack, Joe Cirincione, Uri Friedman and Jeffrey Lewis. // Music by Paul Mottram and Terry Devine-King via AudioNetwork.com
President Trump stunned many across the world this week when he declared ISIS had been defeated. Now he wants America’s roughly 2,000 troops out of northeastern Syria, where they’ve been fighting alongside local Arab and mostly Kurdish forces since October 2015. It’s a demand that wasn’t necessarily without warning. And it’s a decision so controversial Defense Secretary Jim Mattis became the first defense secretary in U.S. history to resign in protest of a sitting U.S. president’s policies. • Today we’re going to revisit some of our most memorable Syrian forecasts from more than a half-dozen of our guests this year, including Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Heiko Wimmen, Charles Lister, Ambassador Jim Jeffrey, Gen. Joseph Votel, Mara Karlin, Jason Warner and Hassan Hassan. // Music by Paul Mottram and Terry Devine-King via AudioNetwork.com
This week on the program: • President Trump abruptly reversed course and now wants $750 billion for the U.S. military in fiscal year 2020 — a sudden $50 billion increase over his old plans. We’ll ask why the change might have happened, and what’s $50 billion really in the big picture? Global Business Editor Marcus Weisgerber posed those questions and more to Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (beginning at the 2:25 mark). • Then (22:10) we’ll mark the birthday of a very special organization that turned 382 years old this week. Angry Staff Officer joined us to celebrate with some history, an interesting new project he’s working on for NCOs, and why he likes Star Wars movies so darn much. • And we’ll end (35:25)with a short chat on the U.S. Air Force’s Kessel Run program with former enlisted man and current civilian supercoder Adam Furtado. *** • Read CSIS's series "Bad Ideas in National Security" here https://defense360.csis.org/series/bad-ideas/ • Find Angry Staff Officer's NCO Club online here https://angrystaffofficer.com/category/the-nco-club/ • And read more about the Kessel Run project online here https://kesselrun.af.mil/
This week on the program: • The true origins of the Islamic State terrorist group. Hassan Hassan, a Syrian-born scholar of the Middle East, recently found a 93-page document from ISIS chronicling the jihadi landscape of pre-9/11 Iraq. New details show that the man originally thought to have created ISIS — Abu Musab al-Zarqawi — was not at all the group’s creator. Hassan tells us all about a man named Abu Ali al-Anbari and this new, revised history of al-Qaeda in Iraq. • Then in our second half, we’ll consider the United States’ global war on terror now 17 years after 2001, what seemed to work, some things that didn’t, and where it could be headed in the years to come. *** Qs for Hassan Hassan: 1. [2:07] Can you remind our listeners who we all believed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to have been before you wrote your article? 2. [4:05] How did you come across this revelatory new information about Abu Ali al-Anbari? 3. [6:19] Why didn't you buy Zarqawi as the driving force others believed him to be? 4. [12:19] The “ideological contours” of al-Qaeda, as you called it — you write that these were in place in Iraq before Zarqawi entered the scene. Can you tell us a bit about why those things preceded Zarqawi? 5. [16:50] So what, if anything, does this change about how nations resist al-Qaeda and off-shoots like ISIS moving forward? 6. [18:00] What does all this suggest about the future of ISIS? 7. [22:05] Have you considered re-writing any portions of your 2015 book, “ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror?” 8. [23:56] U.S. Marine Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie — President Trump’s new nominee to lead U.S. Central Command — told lawmakers this week that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is "a very scared man running for his life in the desert." Is that your impression as well? 9. [25:48] How did Abu Ali al-Anbari get on the U.S. military's radar? 10. [26:24] What are your thoughts when you consider how long America has been openly at war with al-Qaeda — and offshoots of al-Qaeda? 11. [33:47] Is there anybody out there that you’ve seen who appears to be doing productive work or who is on the right track when trying to address the roots causes of extremism today? 12. [39:49] Has the U.S. overstayed its welcome in the Middle East? 13. [43:48] There's a tolerance developing in eastern Syria and parts of the Middle East where sectarianism had dominated in recent years?
This week on the program: • Crisis in the Sea of Azov. We’ll talk about the latest in Ukraine-Russia tensions (at the 1:58 mark) with some input from retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the former commander of U.S. Army Europe, and Defense One’s Patrick Tucker. • We’ve got some news on President Trump’s push for a Space Force. Our own Marcus Weisgerber will fill us in on that (11:23). • And we’ll end today (22:43) with a visit to the crossroads of anthropology and nuclear weapons. Martin Pfeiffer, a researcher from the University of New Mexico took a look at the atomic advertising of the 1950s and early 1960s. He’ll tell us a bit about how Americans created meaning around the bomb then and today.
This week on the program: • How does the conflict in Syria end? Ambassador James Jeffrey, the U.S. State Department's Special Representative for Syria Engagement, sat down (at the 1:56 mark) with CNN’s Elise Labott for our 2018 Defense One Summit this Thursday in Washington. We’ll bring you that discussion with the often blunt ambassador. • Then (33:39) we’ll turn to a discussion about conflict, competition and the future of security in Asia. NBC’s Dan DeLuce sat down with Sue Mi Terry of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Georgetown University's Evan Medeiros.
This week on the program: • What would happen if the United States pulled all of its troops out of Afghanistan before reaching a settlement with the Taliban? We ask Seth Jones of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (at the 2:16 mark) and Bill Roggio of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (25:35) that exit question and a lot more. • And we'll end (41:51) with some perspective from Afghanistan. Abdul Habib Hassan is a country advisor to NATO in Kabul. He tells us what gives his family hope for tomorrow. —Music by DeBraun Thomas, Daniel Mohler, Smith Donaldson and Paul Mottram. Find Seth Jones's article here: https://www.csis.org/analysis/us-strategy-afghanistan-perils-withdrawal
This week on the program: • During a flight over Turkmenistan this week, America’s top commander in the Middle East spoke by phone with Defense One Executive Editor Kevin Baron. Kevin explains (at the 2:07 mark) what Gen. Joseph Votel told him about America’s military involvement in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and more. • Then (30:32) we’ll turn to exosuits and pack robots of the future — many are already available, and they’re only getting better. We’ll hear from Paul Scharre and Lauren Fish about those and other robotic gadgets you just might find on soldiers 20 and 30 years from now. • And we’ll end (49:48) with a conversation on the quieter wars — and sometimes not so quiet ones — going on every day in the chatty spaces of our Facebook and Twitter feeds. P.W. Singer and Emerson Brooking — co-authors of a new book about the weaponization of social media called “LikeWar” — join us to talk about radicalization in America, determining fact from falsehood, and whether we humans are even capable of disagreeing more productively in the months to come. —Read the report coauthored in part by Paul and Lauren over at CNAS, here: https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/emerging-technologies-1
This week on the program: • A suspect in the U.S. pipe-bombing spree appears to have been apprehended in Florida. We’ll dig into the effects (at the 2:21 mark) of that domestic-terrorism-dash-election-disruption story that’s spanned a decent portion of the continental U.S. — from California to New York. • On the southern U.S. border, the White House is sending 800 more soldiers on top of the 2,100 already there. We'll discuss what can they do there (11:24). • The U.S. wants to exit a key nuclear weapons treaty with Russia. Tech Editor Patrick Tucker helps us understand what that could mean for U.S. weapon systems (17:16). • And NATO just began its largest military exercises since the 1980s in Norway. We’ll review what’s going on there and why (27:41).
This week on the program: • Cornell Anthropology Professor Magnus Fiskesjö talks (1:34) with Paulina Glass about how developments in a remote province in western China are setting off alarm bells in the White House and in the international community. • Then (15:25) we’ll get some strategic perspective on the actual and overblown threats posed by the rising power of China’s military and economy — with Dr. Robert Farley of the University of Kentucky. • And we’ll end (28:53) with a look at some of the latest research in coal — with UK’s Jim Hower, Jack Groppo and Daniel Mohler — and how elements left behind by burning the stuff winds up powering some of today's most important military equipment, as well as the device you might be using right now.
• This week we learned one of the men believed to have poisoned former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the southern Great Britain city of Salisbury this past March may have in fact been a trained medical doctor. We’ll talk (1:59) with one of the open-source investigators who helped unmask those Russian spies, Aric Toler of Bellingcat. • Almost exactly one year ago, the deadliest terrorist attack in Africa’s history took place in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. The culprits: al-Shabaab, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia. We’ll hear (15:41) from the authors of a new book — Harun Maruf and Dan Joseph from Voice of America — about the group, its history, and an outlook for how long its reign of terror may endure around the Horn of Africa. • Then (33:36) we’ll turn to America’s allies in the British navy. They recently welcomed the world’s most advanced combat aircraft — the F-35 — to their lone aircraft carrier training in the Atlantic Ocean. Our own Marcus Weisgerber was there and tells us what it means for America’s ally across the pond. • And we’ll end with an interview with Bell Helicopter’s CEO Mitch Snyder. He sat down (42:47) with Marcus to talk about the V-22 Osprey, the possible future of aircraft taxis, China, and more.
This week on the program: • Former Nebraska Senator and Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel came by our offices at the Watergate this week to help us celebrate Defense One’s fifth anniversary. Hagel sat down (2:05) with Executive Editor Kevin Baron to talk about the Trump White House, the Greatest Generation, putting country over party, NATO, China and more. • Then (39:54) former Pentagon officials Rosa Brooks of the Georgetown University Law Center and Mara Karlin of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies join Kevin to assess and expand on many of the ideas Secretary Hagel shared.
This week on the program: • President Trump took to the UN to say China is meddling in American politics — and trying to thwart him in particular. Defense One Tech Editor Patrick Tucker and Editorial Fellow Paulina Glass help explain (1:59) what really seems to be going on there. • Then (17:13) we’ll pivot to the war in Syria and Syria’s ally, Iran. How long does U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis want American troops staying in Syria? And how long does Trump’s National Security Adviser, John Bolton, want them to stay? Senior National Security Correspondent Katie Bo Williams gets into that and some of the less public efforts to constrain Iranian influence in the region and beyond. • Ukraine wants to build a navy to deter Russia around the Sea of Azov (26:24). Is that even possible? • And we’ll round things out by speaking with deployed Brig. Gen. Scott Jackson (36:11) of the U.S. Army’s 1st Security Forces Assistance Brigade. Jackson called us from Gardez, Afghanistan, to share what he’s learned after eight months on the job in the eastern Paktiya province, bordering Pakistan.
This week on the program: • How to rethink America’s force distribution across the Middle East. Can it be done smarter? Can it be done cheaper? Mara Karlin of the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and Melissa Dalton of the Center for Strategic and International Studies sat down (1:49) with Defense One’s Bradley Peniston to answer those questions and more. • Then we’ll turn to one of the newest weapons of war — consumer drones packed with explosives. We’ll speak to Arthur Holland Michel (29:11) of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College, and (35:04) Brett Velicovich of Expert Drones to learn about the gear that’s emerged to stop these things, how hard it is, and how market dynamics are creating an arms race to both reduce and enable the dangers of consumer drones.
On this special edition of our podcast, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg sits down with Defense One Executive Editor Kevin Baron at the studios of the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. Discussed: • How the secretary is still selling and justifying NATO's existence after the NATO summit • Why Afghanistan is still worth it • The real threat from Russia is... • What Secretary Stoltenberg likes about early morning jogs in Washington + much more.
This week on the program: • We talk about drones, the national security bureaucracy, and the American way of war (1:49) with Loren DeJonge Schulman of the Center for a New American Security — and co-host of the Bombshell podcast over at War on the Rocks. • Then (21:49) we’ll check in on the "Houthi war machine" in the mountains and valleys of Yemen. Dr. Michael Knights of the Washington Institute is back from a visit to the conflict’s front lines. And he joins us to paint a startling picture of a rapidly-evolving 21st-century insurgency. • And we’ll end (40:20) with a discussion on the prospects for nuclear war between the U.S. and North Korea. Dr. Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute for International Studies speaks with us about his new speculative novel, “The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States.” Extra reading: • Loren's report on U.S. drone use can be accessed here https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2018/08/trumps-secret-war-terror/150448/ • Find Michael's recent report on the Houthis here https://ctc.usma.edu/houthi-war-machine-guerrilla-war-state-capture/ • And Jeffrey's novel can be purchased on Amazon here https://amzn.to/2LIihij
This week on the program: • For the last several days, UN officials have been warning against an imminent “bloodbath” in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, where Russian jets this week resumed airstrikes against rebels quarantined there over the last several months. We’ll speak with Heiko Wimmen of the International Crisis Group (1:49) about the risks and stakes of escalating in Idlib — and what the Syrian conflict is teaching us about great powers in the 21st century. • Then (18:45) we’ll check in on the Saudi-led war in Yemen with Peter Salisbury of the London-based Chatham House. He’s written multiple reports on what he’s called the “chaos state” that is that country. And we’ll get his read on where the complicated war is headed… and how he found himself even watching the fighting in the first place.
This week on the program: • Only a few days ago, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon of the Council on Foreign Relations was in the streets of Raqqa, Syria — the very place ISIS called its headquarters until October of last year. Gayle sat down with Defense One’s Kevin Baron and Ben Watson to elaborate (1:52) on her reporting this week, as well as her caution and optimism about certain aspects of Syria’s future. • Afterward (19:53), she shares a bit of her perspective and her reporting from America’s longest war, the conflict in Afghanistan. • Then (37:07) we’ll hear how the U.S. Army is trying to acquire the weapons of tomorrow — by visiting Austin, Texas, for the opening of the Army’s new Futures Command. Tech Editor Patrick Tucker was there. And he spoke with Army Under Secretary Ryan McCarthy, and Army Vice Chief of Staff. Gen. Jim McConville.
This week on the program: • It’s been a year since President Trump announced his administration’s Afghanistan strategy. We’ll talk to two experts — Graeme Smith of the International Crisis Group (1:39), and Professor Tanisha Fazal of the University of Minnesota (17:53) — about why the Afghan conflict has gone on for as long as it has, and how America has changed its understanding and experience of war and peace as a result. • Then (31:13) we’ll join Jonathan Mummolo of Princeton to take a look at the effect of passing U.S. military gear onto American police departments — 12 months after President Trump reopened the transfer of that equipment in a program that made headlines thanks to the Ferguson protests in August 2014. • Read Tanisha Fazal and Sarah Kreps on "Why Long Wars No Longer Generate a Backlash at Home" via Foreign Affairs at https://t.co/AA6AlgFL0z • Find Kreps's book, "Taxing Wars: The American Way of War Finance and the Decline of Democracy," at https://global.oup.com/academic/product/taxing-wars-9780190865306 • Find Jonathan Mummolo's study, "Militarization fails to enhance police safety or reduce crime but may harm police reputation," via PNAS at http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/08/14/1805161115 • Graeme Smith's latest report can be found at https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asia/afghanistan/298-building-afghanistans-fleeting-ceasefire • Wanna leave us a message? Call (757) 447-4596 and record your voicemail. You just might make it on the podcast. Thanks for listening!
This week on the program: • (1:21) The Pentagon is a little bit closer to getting its hands on a super fast rocket called a hypersonic missile. • Ahead of schedule, Congress passed and the president signed the annual defense policy bill. But (6:27) President Trump had more than a few things to say about what he signed, and what he won’t do that he’s been asked to do. • Then (13:25) we’ll get into what’s new from the world of hackers at this year’s Black Hat / DefCon. Our own Patrick Tucker has returned from Sin City to tell us all about what happened in Vegas. • He also spoke with the director of the Pentagon’s Defense Digital Service, Chris Lynch (27:25). And we’ll break down that interview to end this week's episode.
This week on the program: • Introducing Katie Bo Williams, our new senior national security correspondent! • Vice President Mike Pence has a major update for us all about the Space Force; • Then (16:17) we’ll hear from Dr. Jason Warner from West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center. He’s co-authored a new report on the present and possible future of ISIS in Africa; • And we’ll end (26:14) with a discussion of extremism in America. ProPublica and Frontline correspondent A.C. Thompson tells us a bit about his new documentary out this week looking at the lessons he’s learned — and the people he’s unmasked — one year after the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
This week on the program: • The Atlantic's Natasha Bertrand (1:19) helps us put the Trump-Russia probe into perspective from a national security point of view; • Then (17:42) we'll discuss the latest plans by the Pentagon to march ahead with President Trump's desire for a Space Force — as a combatant command that pulls resources from the various existing services; • And we'll end (22:08) with a discussion on the possible future of the Iran nuclear deal.
This week on the program — from the sidelines of the 2018 Aspen Institute Security Forum: • Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin and Bloomberg's Eli Lake sit down (1:08) with Defense One Executive Editor Kevin Baron to discuss what it's like covering national security in 2018. • Then (30:09) Afghanistan's Ambassador to the U.S., Dr. Hamdullah Mohib, chats with Kevin Baron about the future of that country — where the U.S. military has been fighting for almost 17 consecutive years.
This week on the program: • What’s next for Syria — where militaries from more than half a dozen nations are fighting ISIS and al-Qaeda? We sat down with Charles Lister (1:52) of the Middle East Institute to get his read on Middle East insurgencies, and the internet’s potential to inspire the next generation of terrorists. • Then Mara Karlin of the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies speaks to Brad Peniston (32:21) about three uncomfortable questions Mara says the Pentagon must ask before helping a fragile state. • And we’ll end (59:03) across the pond at the 2018 Farnborough Airshow in the United Kingdom — what the BBC calls the biggest event of the year for the aerospace industry. America’s newest aircraft, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was there. And so was Defense One’s Global Business Editor Marcus Weisgerber. He takes us beside the airfield where he spoke with Greg Ulmer, Lockheed Martin’s manager for the F-35 program.
This week on the program: • We’ll begin in Brussels, where NATO heads of state gathered this week for the 2018 NATO summit. On Thursday, Defense One Executive Editor Kevin Baron sat down with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. We’ll bring you that discussion (at the 1:45 mark). • Then (22:30) we’ll hear from former FBI Agent and counterterrorism specialist Clint Watts of the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He has a new book out called "Messing With The Enemy: Surviving In A Social Media World Of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians, And Fake News." Defense One Tech Editor Patrick Tucker joins us as Watts explains how fear plays a big role in Russian so-called active measures campaigns across the world both today and in the run-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election — and a whole lot more. Watch the full Ghani interview, with audience questions included, at the Atlantic Council's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmf-uk16ERs
Here’s what we’re talking about this week (recorded on June 28, 2018): • Our former colleague and current Investigative Reporters and Editor’s fellow Molly O’Toole just got back from a trip to Mexico; so we’re gonna talk about national security on the southern U.S. border; • Then we’ll break down President Trump’s upcoming trip to NATO in July. • And after all that, we’ll drop in on our annual tech summit — which happened Tuesday in Washington — to hear Patrick Tucker interview the chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lieutenant General Robert P. Ashley, Jr. That begins at the 51:42 mark. In addition to Molly, we’re joined today by: • Kevin Baron, executive editor; • Bradley Peniston, deputy editor; • Patrick Tucker, tech editor; • and Ben Watson, news editor.
Here’s what we’re talking about this week (recorded June 21, 2018): • The president renewed his call for a whole new branch of the military, the Space Force; we’ll check in on how that’s coming; • And the military is sending its lawyers down to Texas to help sort through the whole children separated from their family dynamic that’s led U.S. news this week; • North Korea has selected a test site it wants to destroy as part of step-by-step negotiations with the U.S. to rid the country of its nuclear weapons; • And after that (at the 30:57 mark), our own Marcus Weisgerber interviews the President and CEO of BAE Systems, Inc., Jerry DeMuro. In today's roundtable: • Kevin Baron, executive editor; • Bradley Peniston, deputy editor; • Patrick Tucker, tech editor; • And Ben Watson; news editor. P.S. "Space Force: The Theme Song," by the Gregory Brothers, can be heard (and seen) in full here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=22&v=_AUXpnB065o
In this episode, recorded on Thursday, June 14, 2018: • The Atlantic's Uri Friedman on what lies ahead for the U.S. military on the Korean peninsula; • Then (35:27 with Meredith Stricker of the Soufan Center) we’ll get an update on the war in Yemen, which began a new chapter this week with a new offensive on the western port city of Hodeida (44:05 with Adam Baron of the European Council on Foreign Relations, from Beirut); • And after that, (at the 48:01 mark) we’ll travel down to Tampa where our own Patrick Tucker talks to the man who buys weapons for America’s special operators, Jim Smith. Today's roundtable participants include: • Uri Friedman, who writes about global affairs for The Atlantic; • Kevin Baron, Defense One executive editor; • Caroline Houck, Defense One staff correspondent; • And Ben Watson, Defense One news editor.
In this episode, recorded on Thursday, June 7, 2018: • Ploughshares Fund's Joe Cirincione joins us to talk about nuclear expectations and grand strategy out of Tuesday's Trump-Kim summit in Singapore; • We’ll talk about what ISIS is believed to be up to in the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago; • Then (at the 23:26 mark) we’ll hear from Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), who chairs the House's Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee. He tells us about his view of the Navy’s future — and his thoughts on the upcoming film, "Top Gun 2" — from his offices on Capitol Hill; • After that, (46:03) we’ll talk about the “War of Annihilation,” Amnesty International’s latest report on civilian casualties in the U.S.-led operation to drive ISIS out of Raqqa, Syria. We’ll also hear the coalition’s unhappy response to that report. And we end this week (57:00) with a commemoration of some borderline-lunatic heroism from the beaches and battlefields of D-Day, 74 years ago this week, with Army veteran Joseph Kassabian. Today's roundtable participants include: • Joe Cirincione, president of Ploughshares Fund; • Kevin Baron, Defense One executive editor; • Brad Peniston, Defense One deputy editor; • Caroline Houck, Defense One staff correspondent; • And Ben Watson, Defense One news editor. References: Amnesty International's report: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/06/syria-raqqa-in-ruins-and-civilians-devastated-after-us-led-war-of-annihilation/ The counter-ISIS coalition's response to that report: https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1541855/department-of-defense-press-briefing-by-colonel-veale-via-teleconference-from-b/source/GovDelivery/
In this episode, recorded on Thursday, May 31, 2018: • The cancelled June 12 meeting in Singapore between President Trump North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un seems to be back on; • The Pentagon cozies up to India with a new combatant command name change; • We learn about the Special Operations Industry Conference last week in Tampa; • And after our roundtable, (18:38) we’ll travel back to Bratislava, Slovakia, with our Tech Editor Patrick Tucker. He spoke with Vyacheslav Alekseyevich Nikonov of the Russian Duma, before pivoting to a discussion with Laura Rosenberger of the German Marshall Fund and the social media bot-monitoring project, "Hamilton 68"; • Then (41:45) we hear from the Atlantic Council's Elisabeth Braw, who explains how European countries are preparing for possible crises on the horizon. Today's roundtable participants include: • Kevin Baron, executive editor; • Brad Peniston, deputy editor; • Patrick Tucker, technology editor; • Caroline Houck, staff correspondent; • And Ben Watson, news editor. Thanks for listening!
In this episode, recorded on Thursday, May 24, 2018: • President Trump abruptly cancelled the June 12 meeting in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un; • The Pentagon is accelerating the sales of weapons to allies and pals around the world; • After our roundtable, we’ll speak with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson from inside the Pentagon (at the 12:58 mark); • And after that, we’ll travel all the way to a cafe on the banks of the Danube River in Bratislava, Slovakia. There, our Tech Editor Patrick Tucker talked about Iran, al-Qaeda and the war in Yemen with none other than Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash (at the 34:33 mark), he’s the Minister of State Foreign Affairs for the United Arab Emirates. Today's roundtable participants include: • Marcus Weisgerber, global business editor; • Brad Peniston, deputy editor; • And Ben Watson, news editor. Thanks for listening!
In this episode, recorded on Thursday, May 10, 2018: • North Korea confirmed it’s not interested in giving up its nuclear weapons for a summit with President Trump; • U.S. Marines surged to Mideast embassies after more than 60 Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers in Gaza as the U.S. opened its new embassy in Jerusalem; • NATO’s chief was in Washington this week, one day after a top European Union official slammed President Trump after pulling out of the Iran deal, saying “if you need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of your arm.” • President Trump will have a new golf course in Indonesia, thanks to China; • Back stateside, algorithms are spreading in the U.S. military — and this time it doesn’t have to do with drone footage; • And after our roundtable, we’ll talk about ISIS and the narratives of war with terrorism scholar Charlie Winter (36:58) — before speaking with former State Department official Johnny Walsh on prospects for peace in Afghanistan (46:14). Today's roundtable participants include: • Kevin Baron, executive editor for Defense One; • Caroline Houck, staff correspondent; • Marcus Weisgerber, global business editor; • Brad Peniston, deputy editor; • And Ben Watson, news editor. Tell us what you think! Send your questions or comments our way via the-d-brief@defenseone.com, or call us at (757) 447-4596 and leave a voicemail! And thanks for listening!
In this episode, recorded on Thursday, May 10, 2018, we discuss: • Bye, bye Iran Deal: Israel carried out a series of airstrikes inside Syria just two days after President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal; • U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo returned from North Korea with three released American prisoners — in just his second week on the job; • The president’s pick to lead the CIA traveled to Capitol Hill to interview for her new job; • Air Force officials spoke up about the rising number of crashes; • And seven months after it happened, we finally have a better picture of what happened in Niger back in October. • Then later, we’ll speak with two nuclear weapons experts — Melissa Hanham (33:49) and Joshua Pollack (39:00) — about the future of U.S. relations with Iran and North Korea. Today's roundtable participants include: • Kevin Baron, executive editor for Defense One; • Caroline Houck, staff correspondent; • Marcus Weisgerber, global business editor; • And Ben Watson, news editor. Tell us what you think! Send your questions or comments our way via the-d-brief@defenseone.com, or call us at (757) 447-4596 and leave a voicemail! And thanks for listening!
In this episode, recorded on Wednesday, May 2, 2018: • How President Trump and the White House are getting ready for the big (tentative) meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un; • The Army secretary went to a think tank on Tuesday to talk about future weapons; • President Trump reminded us he wants a Space Force; • Aerospace Industries Association CEO Eric Fanning sits down for a chat (30:25); • Then later (47:15) we’ll speak with former Army Ranger (and sniper), Paul Scharre, who went from watching robots defuse IEDs in Iraq to investigating the cutting edge of artificial intelligence for the Pentagon. His new book, "Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War," is in bookstores now. Today's roundtable participants include: • Kevin Baron, executive editor for Defense One; • Brad Peniston, deputy editor; • Caroline Houck, staff correspondent; • Marcus Weisgerber, global business editor; • And Ben Watson, news editor. We'll be back next week with more caffeine, we promise! Thanks for listening, and don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts!
We're going to talk about some of the big national security stories driving the week, and leading into the week ahead. And in this episode, that includes: • An historic first is scheduled for Friday when the leaders of North and South Korea meet near the DMZ; • In a surprise move Tuesday, President Trump nominated a familiar name as new ambassador to South Korea; • Pentagon leaders are ducking behind closed doors to talk money with lawmakers on Capitol Hill; • Also in Washington this week: the leaders of Germany and France are meeting Trump; • Then later, coming to us from Baghdad, we have an interview with the deputy commander of the war on ISIS and the ops room in Iraq. Attending this episode's roundtable discussion: • Kevin Baron, executive editor for Defense One; • Caroline Houck, correspondent; • Patrick Tucker, technology editor; • And Ben Watson, news editor. Special thanks to U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Robert "G-Man" Sofge, and to DeBraun Thomas and Daniel Mohler for our music. Read more at www.DefenseOne.com
More than 1,000 days of fighting have turned Yemen into one of the most dangerous places on the planet. Aid workers, journalists, and experts explain little-appreciated realities about the war, and how — just maybe — to help turn things around. Part One (2:20) Old lines and fallen empires Part Two (12:46) The Saudi intervention Part Three (29:34) A few ideas for saving what's left • Produced by Ben Watson. Movie clip: “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,” CBS Films (2011). Music: "Oud Taksim" and "Isha Prayer" by Glenn Sharp; "Silencer" by Igor Dvorkin/Duncan Pittock/Ellie Kidd; "Rise of Persia" and "Past Life" by Terry Devine-King; "War Effort" and "Tensile" by Paul Mottram; "Outmanned" by Bob Bradley/Matt Sanchez/Paul Clarvis — via AudioNetwork.com Special thanks to Radhiyah Al-Mutawakkil, Elisabeth Kendall, Iona Craig, Aaron Stein and John Arterbury. Read more from our analysis of Yemen at http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2018/01/war-yemen-and-making-chaos-state/145379/
The battle for ISIS-held Mosul, Iraq, was the largest military operation in the world in nearly 15 years. Defense One's Ben Watson spoke with current and former US military officials to better understand how the group’s nearly 3-year grip on the city was broken—and what that means for the future of the war against ISIS. | Music used by permission from David O'Brien / Paul Clarvis; Terry Devine-King; Joseph Drury; Paul Mottram; and BenSound.com Read more at http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2017/07/what-largest-battle-decade-says-about-future-war/139245/