Modern War Institute
354 episodes - English - Latest episode: 1 day ago - ★★★★★ - 715 ratingsThe Modern War Institute Podcast is the flagship podcast of the Modern War Institute at West Point, featuring discussions with guests including senior military leaders, scholars, and others who discuss the most important issues related to modern conflict.
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Episodes
How Iran's Missile and Drone Attack Was Defeated
April 17, 2024 21:54 - 41 minutes - 34.2 MBWhen Iran recently launched more than three hundred drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles in a large-scale attack against Israel, almost every single one was stopped from reaching its target. A combination of ground-based air defenses, ship-launched weapons, and aircraft from multiple nations were involved in the defensive operation. But how does such a complex air defense mission happen? How is it commanded and controlled? How are the differing capabilities of such a variety of ai...
NATO at 75
April 04, 2024 16:13 - 48 minutes - 47.2 MBSeventy-five years ago, on April 4, 1949, representatives of twelve governments came together to sign the North Atlantic Treaty. Much has changed in the intervening period—the Cold War came and went, NATO invoked the Article 5 collective defense clause after the 9/11 attacks, an era of renewed strategic competition has emerged, and large-scale conflict has returned to the continent of Europe. Yet despite all of that change, in both the strategic landscape and the alliance itself, NATO's hist...
Resistance and the National Defense of Small States
March 21, 2024 10:20 - 57 minutes - 48.4 MBIn this episode, John Amble speaks to Sandor Fabian about a very specific approach to national defense: resistance. The war in Ukraine has made clear that comparatively small states can be vulnerable to the threat of aggression from larger neighbors. Resistance, Sandor argues, is the most viable means of defense for these states. But effectively embracing it as a strategic approach would require dramatic changes in force structure, training, equipment, doctrine, and more. And if small US all...
Nuclear Weapons—Past, Present, and Future
March 07, 2024 10:49 - 42 minutes - 39.5 MBFor eight decades, the world has navigated the risk of nuclear war. But what will be required to so in the future? And because that risk is not static, how do we measure, conceptualize, and respond to changes—like when Russia rattles its nuclear saber? What challenges do so-called tactical nuclear weapons pose to deterrence models based on much larger, strategic weapons? And what dynamics influence both the creation and erosion of international arms control frameworks that aim to regulate th...
From Hezbollah to the Houthis—Understanding Iran's Proxy Network
February 06, 2024 10:14 - 44 minutes - 42.3 MBThe Houthi movement in Yemen has launched dozens of attacks against commercial ships in the Red Sea in recent months. Over the same period, militant groups have attacked US forces in the Middle East as many as 160 times—including the deadly drone attack against a base on Jordan’s border with Syria. And cross-border strikes between Hezbollah, operating from its southern Lebanon base, and Israeli forces have increased. All of this has occurred since Israel began its campaign in Gaza in respons...
Sanctions and Security
January 26, 2024 06:41 - 1 hour - 37.7 MBWhile Ukraine's international supporters have provided equipment to enable the country's defense against Russia's aggression for nearly two years, global actors have also responded on a completely separate front—putting in place a massive sanctions regime targeting Russia. What effect have they had on Russia and its ability to make war? More broadly, how do sanctions and other instruments of economic statecraft fit within the United States' foreign and security policy? To explore those quest...
Amphibious Operations—from History to the Future Battlefield
December 27, 2023 15:48 - 33 minutes - 24.7 MBMost people know something about the most famous amphibious operations in military history—the D-Day landings and Gallipoli, for example. But what about an amphibious night attack on the shores of Tuscany in 1555? Or a Turkish amphibious assault in response to a coup in Cyprus in 1974? This episode features a conversation with Tim Heck, coeditor of the book On Contested Shores: The Evolving Role of Amphibious Operations in the History of Warfare, and explores the past, present, and future of...
Understanding Hamas: From Tactics to Strategy
November 14, 2023 12:18 - 32 minutes - 30.1 MBThis special episode of the MWI Podcast features the first installment of a three-part miniseries produced by the Irregular Warfare Initiative. The series focuses on irregular warfare in Israel and is hosted by Adam Darnley-Stuart. In the first episode, he speaks to renowned counterterrorism analyst Dr. Levi West about Hamas, its history, and its strategy. Dr. West offers nuanced insights into Hamas operations and the likelihood that the organization's tactics might be adopted by other group...
Shusha, the Battle that Won a War
November 01, 2023 08:57 - 44 minutes - 37.6 MBObservers watched the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War closely, searching for indicators of the character of warfare on tomorrow's battlefields. The lessons extracted have covered advanced technology and unmanned platforms, proxy dynamics, the ongoing relevance of armor, and more. But some of the most important lessons have received much less attention. They center around the increasingly unavoidable importance of combat in cities and are drawn principally from the battle for the city of Shusha—a f...
What Was Hamas Thinking?
October 23, 2023 15:26 - 38 minutes - 29.4 MBWhen Hamas fighters conducted a large-scale and deadly attack against Israel and its people on October 7, what was the group aiming to achieve? What were its strategic objectives? And what sort of Israeli response was it planning for? On this episode, John Amble speaks to Dr. Michele Groppi, a lecturer in the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London. Hamas's brutal attacks might have been tactically successful, but as Michele argues, they also might have actually exceeded what the...
Combined Arms in Gaza
October 18, 2023 15:30 - 39 minutes - 33.9 MBAs Israeli ground forces mobilize for what at this point appears to be a looming battle in Gaza to destroy Hamas military capability, this episode looks ahead at what form that battle will take. Liam Collins and John Spencer, two former Army officers with a a variety of combat experience and the authors of a book on urban warfare, join John Amble to explore the importance of employing combined arms—infantry, tanks, artillery, engineers, and other capabilities—when operating in urban areas li...
The Battle of Mogadishu—Thirty Years On
October 03, 2023 21:16 - 1 hour - 67.2 MBThirty years ago this week—on October 3, 1993—US special operations forces launched a mission in Mogadishu. It was part of Operation Gothic Serpent, which was aimed at capturing Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. The mission was intended to be of a short duration. But things changed when, shortly after members of Task Force Ranger launched from their base, fighters on the ground began firing on US aircraft. The battle that ensued—which would later become the subject of journalist Mark Bowd...
History, Identity, and Russia's War in Ukraine
September 20, 2023 10:37 - 46 minutes - 38 MBWhile Western leaders, media, and institutions have condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its conduct of the ongoing war—characterizing it as a brutal act of naked aggression—to many Russians, their military forces are heroes, protecting the Russian nation, its place in the world, and its very identity. What explains this extraordinarily different perspective? This episode features a discussion with Dr. Jade McGlynn, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of War Studies at King’s Colle...
Sweden, Finland, and NATO
August 24, 2023 07:13 - 39 minutes - 33.2 MBThe decisions by the governments of Sweden and Finland to apply to join NATO marked a major departure from both countries' longstanding policies of nonalignment. But how, specifically, will it affect these countries’ defense capabilities—and those of NATO? How much needs to be done to achieve interoperability? And most fundamentally, while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine clearly triggered these decisions, why did both countries make this major decision at the particular moment they did? To unpa...
Securing NATO's Baltic Flank
August 10, 2023 09:45 - 32 minutes - 22.1 MBSince Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, the world has seen firsthand evidence of the threat posed by the revanchist state. Among those who perceive this threat most acutely are the three Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The fundamental facts of these states’ existence—their comparatively small size, proximity to Russia, and position on the northeastern flank of the NATO alliance—combine to make the threat both direct and real. But what can NATO do to deter Russian mili...
The Robotic Revolution is Here
July 28, 2023 13:29 - 35 minutes - 27.3 MBThis episode of the MWI Podcast features a conversation with August Cole, coauthor of a new book called Burn-In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution. It’s a techno-thriller and a work of fiction, but it is also based on deep research and allows readers to examine the types of technologies that will increasingly characterize the future—from everyday life to the conduct of war. In fact, the seemingly remarkable technologies featured in the book's plot are already emerging and in many cases ...
Inside Azovstal
July 18, 2023 10:15 - 29 minutes - 21.8 MBWhen Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, one of its first targets was the city of Mariupol. Despite being outnumbered by—and less well equipped than—their adversaries, Ukrainian defenders held out for three months. As the Russian siege of the city intensified, Ukrainian forces defended a shrinking perimeter with a command post in the Azovstal steel plant. One of those Ukrainian defenders was Sergeant Arseniy Fedosiuk. MWI's John Spencer had the opportunity to speak to him about his expe...
After the Wagner Mutiny, What Next for the War in Ukraine?
June 29, 2023 09:14 - 24 minutes - 19.3 MBWhen Yevgeny Prighozin, the head of the Wagner Group, released a video on June 23 that criticized Russian leaders' management of the war in Ukraine, it was the first in a series of extraordinary events that played out with the world watching. One of those people watching closely as the private military company's forces entered the city of Rostov-on-Don and began an advance toward Moscow was retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges. A former commanding general of US Army Europe, he joins this ep...
World Order in the Drone Age
June 14, 2023 10:21 - 1 hour - 55.9 MBIn this episode, Paul Lushenko joins to discuss armed drones—in particular the impact their proliferation will have on global order. That's the subject of a new book for which he was a coeditor. Why do states—and nonstate actors—choose to use armed drones as weapons of war? How does that decision affect these actors' international reputations? How do questions of law and morality intersect when it comes to drones? And beyond impacting the character of warfare, to what extent will armed, netw...
How is Russia Adapting its Tactics in Ukraine?
May 31, 2023 13:49 - 46 minutes - 34.3 MBWhen Russia invaded Ukraine last year, its ground forces were largely built around the battalion tactical group. Fifteen months on, and that organizational structure has been dramatically changed. Why? And what explains other examples of evolving Russian tactics? Dr. Jack Watling, a senior research fellow for land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute, joins this episode to address these questions and examine these adaptations. He recently coauthored a report, based on close and fir...
Change and Continuity: Tracing the Evolution of Turkish Statecraft
May 17, 2023 09:40 - 48 minutes - 42.2 MBTurkey is in the middle of a presidential election, the closest challenge to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in his twenty years in power. This offers an opportunity for a broad survey of the evolution of Turkish foreign policy, statecraft, and strategy during those two decades and an exploration of how these might continue to evolve going forward. This episode features a discussion with Dr. Ziya Meral, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and specialist in Turkish foreign p...
Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and the Future of War
May 03, 2023 08:59 - 1 hour - 46.1 MBHow will the rapid pace of advancement in the fields of neuroscience and neurotechnology impact the changing character of warfare? Will they lead to the human brain becoming a battlespace as new scientific breakthroughs and novel technologies are weaponized? This episode features a discussion with a guest who argues that a convergence between neuroscience and the conduct of war is already occurring. Dr. James Giordano is the chief of the Neuroethics Studies Program at Georgetown University a...
Command in Modern War
April 20, 2023 09:15 - 35 minutes - 36.5 MBWould Patton be an effective battlefield commander today? Do the characteristics of successful commanders generally remain constant over time? Or do they evolve alongside—and in response to—the changing character of warfare? And if they do change, what traits will commanders need on the battlefields of today and tomorrow? Dr. Anthony King, the author of the book Command: The Twenty-First-Century General, joins this episode to discuss these questions and more.
Russia and the Arctic Conundrum
April 08, 2023 09:14 - 45 minutes - 31.1 MBArctic geopolitics are characterized by features that set the region apart from others. Eveything from governance structures to the way Arctic states engage with one another to the way they tackle shared challenges and address disputes—these all look different in the Arctic than elsewhere. But Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine led to a disruption in Arctic engagement, with the seven other Arctic states suspending participation in Arctic Council activities for the duration of Russia's chairma...
Can Taiwan Become a Poison Frog?
March 23, 2023 10:47 - 58 minutes - 35.2 MBIn this episode, John Amble speaks with Chris Dougherty of the Center for a New American Security. He and his colleagues have conducted a wargame that sought to identify what strategic options the United States and Taiwan have to deter a particular fait accompli move by China against Taiwan. What they concluded was that the best option is something they describe as “the poison frog strategy.” Listen as he describes what that entails, and why it's the most viable means of implementing deterre...
How to Build an Effective Partner Military—and How Not To
March 09, 2023 10:48 - 56 minutes - 47.1 MBAfter twenty years of America’s post-9/11 wars and the US military’s struggle to build capable and effective security forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is an important discussion taking place about what role security force assistance should play for the United States in the very different strategic environment that is taking shape. Will it be a mission that we'll be required to do in order to compete with Russia and China? Or will it become tangential to our preparations for large-scale ...
Twelve Months of War
February 23, 2023 14:14 - 47 minutes - 45.1 MBOne year ago this week, Russian forces invaded Ukraine. Twelve months on, how should we think about the way the war has taken shape? What lessons about modern war should we be learning? What assumptions about the modern battlefield has the conflict challenged, and what assumptions has it reinforced? And what features will characterize the war in the months ahead? In this episode, John Amble is joined by retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan. With decades of military and leadership ...
When Cities Become Battlefields
February 08, 2023 12:10 - 51 minutes - 42.1 MBThis episode features a conversation with MWI's chair of urban warfare studies, John Spencer. A leading expert on urban warfare and the coauthor of the book Understanding Urban Warfare, his deep practical experience and scholarship on both historical and modern cases of urban warfare make him the ideal guest to address a range of important questions. Are cities uniquely challenging for military forces? Why? What steps can be taken to achieve a higher level of preparedness for those challenge...
The Theory and Practice of Resistance
January 25, 2023 12:44 - 57 minutes - 48.4 MBIn this episode, John Amble speaks to Sandor Fabian about a very specific approach to national defense: resistance. The war in Ukraine has made clear that comparatively small states can be vulnerable to the threat of aggression from larger neighbors. Resistance, Sandor argues, is the most viable means of defense for these states. But effectively embracing it as a strategic approach would require dramatic changes in force structure, training, equipment, doctrine, and more. And if small US all...
Who Innovates Wins? Drones and Adaptation in the Ukraine War
January 15, 2023 15:10 - 42 minutes - 31.5 MBUkrainian forces have been praised for their innovation efforts during their ongoing war with Russia, particularly with regard to the use of unmanned aerial vehicles. But what has that innovation actually looked like? Is it principally about repurposing equipment, like commercial quadcopters, or is it more a function of implementation, like experimenting with new tactics? And how has Russian forces' own innovation compared? Most importantly, what effect has innovation had on battlefield outc...
Introducing Social Science of War
December 15, 2022 11:03 - 1 hour - 66.1 MBWe're thrilled to announce a new podcast, launched in partnership with West Point's Department of Social Sciences, called Social Science of War. Each episode will leverage a unique strength of the department—pairing deep practical experience with leading scholarship—to tackle subjects of importance to the Army. In this episode, John Amble speaks briefly to Colonel Heidi Demarest, acting head of the Department of Social Sciences, and Major Kyle Atwell, who teaches in the department and will s...
What Should We Make of the Protests in Iran?
December 01, 2022 11:12 - 46 minutes - 45.7 MBSince the middle of September, when an Iranian woman died after being detained in Tehran for improperly wearing her headscarf, protests have gripped the country. But what sets them apart from previous periods of demonstrations against the Iranian regime? Will that regime manage to weather the storm and bring the protests to an end as it has in the past? And what are the possible outcomes if the movement not only maintains its momentum but gathers strength? Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran ...
Data and the Battlefield
November 16, 2022 13:04 - 46 minutes - 32.7 MBThis episode examines how special operations forces are integrating high-tech tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning to optimize their operations. Dr. Richard Shultz of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and Gen. Richard Clarke, commander of US Special Operations Command, join the podcast to trace the history of US special operations forces' efforts in Iraq to adapt to the counterterrorism fight there, explain how these forces made use of data to enable a remarkably ra...
What Kind of Leader Will Al-Qaeda Choose Next?
November 02, 2022 15:44 - 44 minutes - 43.2 MBThe recent death of Ayman al-Zawahiri marks a rare inflection point for a terrorist organization that has had just two leaders in the more than three decades of its existence. Forecasting its future trajectory—and developing counterterrorism policy—will depend on what type of leader emerges as Zawahiri's successor. Dr. Tricia Bacon and Dr. Elizabeth Grimm are the authors of a new book, Terror in Transition: Leadership and Succession in Terrorist Organizations. They join this episode to descr...
On the Streets: Irregular Warfare in an Urban World
October 21, 2022 09:31 - 49 minutes - 48.5 MBHow are demographic and economic shifts increasing the importance of urban centers around the globe? What does this mean for military forces? To what extent do the local politics of a city complicate military operations there—specifically irregular warfare activities? When conflict between an insurgency and government forces enters a city, does the terrain inherently favor one side over the other? This special episode addresses these questions as it brings together two of the Modern War Inst...
Just How Crowded Is The Space Domain?
October 06, 2022 11:15 - 21 minutes - 19.8 MBAs the US Space Force nears its third birthday, John Amble is joined by Dr. Moriba Jah on this episode to explore just how crowded the space domain is—especially with the surprising amount of detritus created over more than six decades of the Space Age. Dr. Jah is an aerospace engineer who has worked for NASA and the Air Force Research Laboratory. He is now an associate professor at the University of Texas, where he monitors space and works to track thousands of objects—a number that continu...
Why Cohesion Matters
September 08, 2022 09:42 - 50 minutes - 40.8 MBThe term "cohesion" features prominently in discussions of military effectiveness, especially at the small-unit level. We all know intuitively what it means, but understanding how to develop and nurture it in practice is a challenge. That's even more true as technological advancement continues to make constant connectivity with the outside world easier, even from a battlefield. How do soldiers' stresses from home impact cohesion? What about when soldiers no longer process shared traumatic ex...
The British Army and the Post-9/11 Wars
August 26, 2022 10:48 - 45 minutes - 37 MBThis episode features a discussion with Simon Akam, author of the book The Changing of the Guard: The British Army Since 9/11. The book tells the story of nearly two decades of the service's experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. Critical of the British Army's leadership at times, it aims to jumpstart an honest conversation about the those wars, the service's performance in them, the relationship between the UK military and the British people, and more. It's an insightful, thought-provoking co...
Far-Right Extremism and the War in Ukraine since 2014
August 11, 2022 08:20 - 1 hour - 40 MBHow have European far-right extremists responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? How has the Russian government leveraged the Russian far right in service of its objectives in the war? And how should we understand the role of Ukraine's well-known Azov regiment? These questions all revolve around the complicated intersection of far-right politics, foreign fighter mobilization, and war. Exploring them requires a nuanced understanding of context that extends back much earlier than Russia's Feb...
Far-Right Extremism and the War in Ukraine since 2014
August 11, 2022 08:20 - 1 hour - 40 MBHow have European far-right extremists responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? How has the Russian government leveraged the Russian far right in service of its objectives in the war? And how should we understand the role of Ukraine's well-known Azov regiment? These questions all revolve around the complicated intersection of far-right politics, foreign fighter mobilization, and war. Exploring them requires a nuanced understanding of context that extends back much earlier ...
Competition, Conflict, and Cyber
August 01, 2022 11:12 - 1 hour - 54.3 MBHow does cyberspace differ from the other warfighting domains—land, sea, air, and space? What challenges do those differences pose? Does cyber require unique approaches to talent manage to ensure the US military can recruit, promote, and retain the talent it needs? What resources are needed to effectively compete in cyberspace, and are those different from the resources necessary for a conflict scenario? How would the cyber dimension of a modern war play out, and are there lessons from the o...
Competition, Conflict, and Cyber
August 01, 2022 11:12 - 1 hour - 54.3 MBHow does cyberspace differ from the other warfighting domains—land, sea, air, and space? What challenges do those differences pose? Does cyber require unique approaches to talent manage to ensure the US military can recruit, promote, and retain the talent it needs? What resources are needed to effectively compete in cyberspace, and are those different from the resources necessary for a conflict scenario? How would the cyber dimension of a modern war play out, and are there l...
Finding Opportunity in a Competitive Strategic Environment
July 14, 2022 12:21 - 1 hour - 54 MBWhen the idea of great power competition began to gain traction with the publication of the 2017 National Security Strategy and the 2018 National Defense Strategy, it was in some ways less a strategy than a conceptual outline of one. Amid subsequent efforts to build out a more robust competitive framework around the idea, a vital question has taken shape: How should the US policy community develop a strategy that identifies and pursues opportunities in an increasingly compet...
Finding Opportunity in a Competitive Strategic Environment
July 14, 2022 12:21 - 1 hour - 54 MBWhen the idea of great power competition began to gain traction with the publication of the 2017 National Security Strategy and the 2018 National Defense Strategy, it was in some ways less a strategy than a conceptual outline of one. Amid subsequent efforts to build out a more robust competitive framework around the idea, a vital question has taken shape: How should the US policy community develop a strategy that identifies and pursues opportunities in an increasingly competitive environment...
Adapting During War
June 30, 2022 11:46 - 52 minutes - 42.1 MBWhat are the hallmarks of an adaptable military force? What types of leaders best create cultures of adaptability in their formations? How do such forces employ rapidly changing technologies? And how does doctrine drive or limit adaptation? Dr. Nora Bensahel and retired Lt. Gen. Dave Barno—authors of the book Adaptation Under Fire: How Militaries Change in Wartime—join this episode to discuss these questions and more. The episode was originally recorded and released in early...
Adapting During War
June 30, 2022 11:46 - 52 minutes - 42.1 MBWhat are the hallmarks of an adaptable military force? What types of leaders best create cultures of adaptability in their formations? How do such forces employ rapidly changing technologies? And how does doctrine drive or limit adaptation? Dr. Nora Bensahel and retired Lt. Gen. Dave Barno—authors of the book Adaptation Under Fire: How Militaries Change in Wartime—join this episode to discuss these questions and more. The episode was originally recorded and released in early 2021, and return...
On War and Sanctions
June 15, 2022 12:47 - 1 hour - 37.7 MBWhile Ukrainian forces have fought to defend against Russia's invasion since February, the war's conduct has been influenced by international involvement—namely, the supply of weapons and equipment Ukraine has received from its foreign supporters. But as the United States, its European allies, and other countries around the world have offered military assistance, they have also been active on another front: putting in place a massive sanctions regime targeting Russia. That's the subject this...
On War and Sanctions
June 15, 2022 12:47 - 1 hour - 37.7 MBWhile Ukrainian forces have fought to defend against Russia's invasion since February, the war's conduct has been influenced by international involvement—namely, the supply of weapons and equipment Ukraine has received from its foreign supporters. But as the United States, its European allies, and other countries around the world have offered military assistance, they have also been active on another front: putting in place a massive sanctions regime targeting Russia. That's...
Amphibious Operations and the Future of War
June 03, 2022 09:06 - 34 minutes - 24.9 MBThe war in Ukraine has been playing out in—and across—all domains. So it is perhaps surprising that Russia's invasion plan held almost no role for the type of operation designed to bridge two of those domains. There has been little sign that Russia sought to employ amphibious operations to gain a foothold in the south of the country—despite Ukraine's long Black Sea coast. Is this an indicator that such operations are a relic of the past? Or is it an anomaly? To help understand those question...
Amphibious Operations and the Future of War
June 03, 2022 09:06 - 34 minutes - 24.9 MBThe war in Ukraine has been playing out in—and across—all domains. So it is perhaps surprising that Russia's invasion plan held almost no role for the type of operation designed to bridge two of those domains. There has been little sign that Russia sought to employ amphibious operations to gain a foothold in the south of the country—despite Ukraine's long Black Sea coast. Is this an indicator that such operations are a relic of the past? Or is it an anomaly? To help understa...