School of War

Ep 161: Mackenzie Eaglen on China’s Military Spending and Ours
Mackenzie Eaglen, senior fellow at AEI and author of Keeping Up with the Pacing Threat: Unveiling the True Size of Beijing’s Military Spending, joins the show to discuss the dire situation the U.S. defense budget is in. ▪️ Times • 01:22 Introduction • 02:48 Keeping up • 05:26 China’s spending • 10:01 Equipment costs • 13:46 “Stealing our stuff” • 18:25 5 alarm fire • 20:32 U.S. budget truths • 24:50 BCA 101 • 31:32 Today or tomorrow • 39:23 Defense is cheaper, not better • 43:21 Solutions Follow along on Instagram or YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack
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49:05
Ep 160: Thomas Barfield on Empire and Imperial Strategies Today
Thomas Barfield, Professor and Chairman of the Anthropology Department at Boston University and author of Shadow Empires: An Alternative Imperial History, joins the show to discuss empire. ▪️ Times • 01:15 Introduction • 03:20 Understanding Afghanistan • 05:15 Classifying empires • 09:59 Failures and features • 12:24 Borders • 15:30 Exogenous empires • 21:36 Brits and Athenians • 26:40 Vulture empires • 32:21 Taking responsibility • 37:15 Empires of nostalgia • 44:50 Vacuum empires • 51:05 American/Athenian policy • 54:53 China and empire today Follow along on Instagram or YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack
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58:33
Ep 159: Rebeccah Heinrichs on the Morality of Nuclear Weapons
Rebeccah Heinrichs, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and author of Duty to Deter: American Nuclear Deterrence and the Just War Doctrine, joins the show to make the moral argument for why the United States should modernize and grow its nuclear arsenal. ▪️ Times • 01:15 Introduction • 01:48 A net good • 04:50 Tactical nuclear weapons • 10:25 The argument of disarmament • 14:03 Cold War strategy • 19:53 Capability and will • 26:06 Downside of “no first use” • 32:03 The nuclear triad • 37:20 Russia and China • 40:56 The moral argument Watch today’s episode on YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack
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44:51
Ep 158: Randall Schriver and Dan Blumenthal on an Economic Strategy for China
Randall Schriver, Chairman of the Board at The Project 2049 Institute, and Dan Blumenthal, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, join the show to discuss a road map for economic competition—and warfare—between the U.S. and China. ▪️ Times • 01:55 Introduction • 02:30 Planning for economic warfare • 06:27 Endstate • 10:18 Leadership • 12:21 NSDD • 14:59 Starting points • 17:10 Decoupling • 20:03 Where is the stuff coming from? • 23:50 Degrading the Chinese economy • 27:33 A dream of cooperation • 32:17 Slow the growth • 36:08 Wargaming • 41:41 Protraction • 44:49 International and Congressional concerns Click the link to read the report - DEFEATING THE CCP A RUNNING START Follow along on Instagram or YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack
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48:23
Ep 157: Frank Cohn—Veterans Day Special
Watch this episode on YouTube. Frank Cohn joins the show to talk about his life: fleeing Hitler’s Germany, his return as a U.S. soldier tasked with hunting Nazi’s, his service in Vietnam, and more. ▪️ Times • 01:55 Introduction • 02:15 A Nazi in the classroom • 05:47 Martin and Ruth • 17:35 Leaving Germany • 19:22 New York City • 22:50 Pearl Harbor • 30:47 Back to Europe • 35:30 Nazi Hunter • 39:48 POW for a moment • 42:32 The Dutch lady • 50:40 Camps • 52:30 Crossing the Elbe • 59:20 Interrogations • 01:05:40 Paying back the country • 01:08:51 Paula • 01:14:50 Military Police and Vietnam • 01:18:40 Angus • 01:21:12 Lessons Follow along on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack
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This podcast seeks to learn what war teaches. There has been a steady decline in the study of military history and its associated theoretical discipline, strategy.This podcast seeks to fill that gap through in-depth interviews on military and diplomatic history. Our guests have included former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Cold War historian John Lewis Gaddis, and China Select Committee chairman Mike Gallagher. We discuss the battlefield commanders, diplomats, strategists, policymakers, and statesmen who have had to make wartime decisions in the ancient and modern eras.The subject of an episode may be an historical battle, campaign, or conflict; the conduct of policy in the course of a major international incident; the work of a famous strategist; the nature of a famous weapon; or the legacy of an important military commander or political leader. Aaron MacLean is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He has worked as a foreign policy advisor and legislative director to Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and spent seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps. Visit our Substack for episode transcripts Follow along on Instagram

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