School of War

Michael E. O’Hanlon, senior fellow and director of research in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution and author of Military History for the Modern Strategist: America’s Major Wars Since 1861, joins the show to talk about how the patterns of military history can shed light on today’s concerns.▪️Times  • 01:16 Introduction  • 01:50 Military history for the modern strategist • 05:16 Is military history relevant?  • 09:05 Lessons from the Civil War • 22:47 Could the South have succeeded? • 27:46 America starts slow • 35:35 MaArthur’s dismissal • 41:16 Could the Korean War have ended earlier?  • 45:11 What is our grand strategy?

John Hosler, Professor of Military History at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and author of Jerusalem Falls: Seven Centuries of War and Peace, joins the show to talk about the wars, and the peace, of medieval Jerusalem.▪️Times  • 01:26 Introduction  • 01:46 Why care about medieval military history? • 07:22 What is it about Jerusalem?  • 12:45 Continuities • 16:19 The Byzantines and the Jews • 23:54 The Arabs arrive  • 29:42 An “evidentiary problem” • 33:59 Three hundred years of peace • 36:29 Causes of the First Crusade • 40:36 The Crusaders • 42:32 Siege and conquest • 44:23 A Christian city • 47:31 The Crusader States  • 49:29 The Knights Templar

Dan Blumenthal and Fred Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute join the show to talk about the three strategies that China can use to seize control of Taiwan.▪️Times  • 01:40 China’s three approaches on Taiwan  • 02:09 Persuasion • 07:35 Complimentary campaigns  • 10:34 Dominance of discourse power • 14:40 Talk, talk, fight, fight • 18:45 Coercion  • 26:51 Speaker Pelosi's trip to Taiwan  • 30:02 Compellence • 35:24 CSIS war game conclusions  • 42:33 Fighting for themselves • 46:48 Ukraine or Taiwan, who gets what? • 51:38 Xi Jinping’s dilemma

Steve Kemper, author most recently of Our Man in Tokyo: An American Ambassador and the Countdown to Pearl Harbor, joins the show to talk about the political chaos in Tokyo in the years leading up to WWII and the man that tried to keep the peace, U.S. AmbassadorJoseph C. Grew.▪️Times  • 01:18 Introduction  • 01:50 Who was Joseph C. Grew?  • 04:36 Japanese politics in the ’30s  • 07:30 Imperial Army vs Imperial Navy • 11:00 First impressions • 17:31 Insurrection  • 22:12 Drifting towards war  • 26:08 Dynamics in D.C.  • 28:24 Appeasement  • 35:05 Japan’s plans • 37:40 Embargoes and FDR • 42:48 Distinct parallels

Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of State and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and author of Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love, joins the show to talk about American foreign policy and his service in the Trump administration.Watch this video on YouTube.▪️Times  • 01:13 Introduction  • 02:12 Chinese surveillance balloons  • 05:01 Chinese espionage “inside the gates”  • 07:19 Meeting Xi Jinping  • 10:25 “Mushy Middle” diplomacy  • 15:58 Republicans and Russia  • 20:18 America in the Middle East  • 26:00 Why talk to the bad guys?  • 31:35 Afghanistan • 33:05 Resetting the conversation on human rights

Sonny Bunch, contributing columnist at the Washington Post and culture editor for The Bulwark, where he hosts The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood newsletter and podcast and Across the Movie Aisle, joins the show to talk about the best American war movies.▪️Times  • 01:35 Introduction • 02:16 What is a war movie? • 07:55 The Revolutionary War - The Patriot/John Adams • 13:15 The Civil War - Glory/Gettysburg • 16:56 World War I - Paths of Glory/Lawerence of Arabia (Hon. mention: Sgt. York) • 26:30 World War II - Inglorious Bastards/Patton/The Thin Red Line/Greyhound • 36:22 The Korean War - Heartbreak Ridge/The Manchurian Candidate  • 41:45 The Vietnam War - Full Metal Jacket (Hon. mention: Apocalypse Now) • 46:10 Post Cold War - Black Hawk Down/Jarhead • 49:00 Post 9/11 - 13 Hours/The Outpost/Generation Kill

Marc Hyden, Director of State Government Affairs at R Street and author of Gaius Marius: The Rise and Fall of Rome's Saviour, joins the show to discuss the life of one of the Roman Republic’s most innovative and controversial generals: Gaius Marius.▪️Times  • 01:33 Introduction • 01:46 An interest in Rome • 04:06 Growing pains • 06:36 The man born in Arpinum • 09:46 Serving in the legions • 11:37 Jugurtha  • 13:25 Roman politics   • 20:31 Marius in Numidia  • 28:51 Sulla and political reform • 37:06 The Cimbri and Teutones and “Marius’s Mules”  • 43:05 Career on the rocks  • 49:02 Social War to Civil War • 56:27 “Do you dare kill Gaius Marius?”

James Lacey, the Major General Matthew C. Horner Chair of War Studies at Marine Corps University and author of Rome: Strategy of Empire, joins the show to discuss the grand strategy of the Roman Empire.▪️Times  • 01:33 Introduction • 01:59 A lover of history • 05:12 The “Plato to NATO” historian  • 08:40 Edward Luttwak  • 13:20 The Romans “obviously had a strategy” • 21:02 Speaking from historical silence • 26:27 The Republic vs the Empire   • 32:50 Cost benefit analysis in Rome • 35:57 Three moments of “muscle change”  • 41:33 Unable to adapt militarily   • 46:55 Lessons for America

Philip Taubman, lecturer at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation and author of In The Nation's Service: The Life and Times of George P. Shultz, joins the show to discuss the legacy of American statesmen George P. Shultz.▪️Times  • 01:52 Introduction • 02:14 First encounters with Schultz • 06:44 An old-fashioned patriot  • 10:10 Secretary of State  • 15:38 Different approaches to defeating Communism  • 20:00 Two sides to Reagan  • 26:44 Hawks • 31:05 Schultz, Clark, and Dobrynin • 33:35 Arms control  • 38:24 The end of the Cold War • 41:55 Tension as a tool

Congressman Mike Gallagher, U.S. representative for Wisconsin’s 8th district and chair of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, joins the show to discuss his time as a Marine in Iraq, the dangers posed by the CCP, from Tik-Tok to maritime threats, and the crisis confronting our military’s culture.▪️Times • 01:26 Introduction• 02:11 The China Committee• 08:56 What’s the problem with Tik-Tok?• 13:12 A reverse Opium War • 15:25 A Marine from Green Bay • 21:16 On the ground in Iraq• 28:52 What’s the American interest in Taiwan?• 32:05 Consequences of Taiwan’s defeat• 38:21 Marine Corps force design• 41:42 The Navy’s fighting spirit• 46:31 Culture in the military