27.10.2022. SEASON 1 / EPISODE 18.
Operational Art, Russia and Ukraine with Mick Ryan
Whilst the battles in Ukraine have evidenced the tenacity and stamina of Ukrainian forces, their success in defence and offense is determined by the Ukrainian General Staff. As a team steeped in Soviet fighting doctrine, they have executed the whole spectrum of military planning and execution (termed ‘operational art’) that few could replicate: certainly not the Russian generals who seem to have forgotten their own way of war and how to fight well. Underpinned by a trust in Ukrainian tactical leaders, their soldiers, as well as a deep insight of their adversary, how this team have commanded should be a salutary reminder to other commanders about what it takes to fight, and to win. Peter talks to soldier-scholar Mick Ryan about what will be worrying them next, and what observations we can make now about operational art for the future.
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SEASON 1 / EP.Trailer
An introduction to the podcast
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has stimulated a considerable outpouring of emotion, passion and commentary – not to...
SEASON 1 / EP.1
Analysing wars for lessons: Context is everything
Peter talks to Ewan Lawson, a Senior Associate Fellow at RUSI, about the context of wars and why this is important in...
SEASON 1 / EP.2
A Turning Point in Ukraine?
Dr Jack Watling talks to Peter as he returns from his most recent trip to Ukraine. As both Ukrainian and Russian forces...
SEASON 1 / EP.3
Fighting in Urban Ukraine
Peter talks to Prof John Spencer, doyen of Urban Warfare at West Point, after his recent trip to Ukraine. They cover...
SEASON 1 / EP.4
Facing A Callous Adversary
As the Iranian proxy in Yemen, the Houthi’s have evolved from a guerrilla organisation to one capable of facing down...
SEASON 1 / EP.5
Ammo, railroads, tyres and logistics are driving military operations in Ukraine
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SEASON 1 / EP.6
Fear and Loathing in Tbilisi
A now frozen but forgotten conflict in Georgia dating from 2008 was the result of a Russian invasion and occupation of...
SEASON 1 / EP.7
Learning to fight again – realigning Special Forces
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SEASON 1 / EP.8
Relishing Duality – flexibility in Russian National Security calculations
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SEASON 1 / EP.9
Strategic objectives, tough choices, and risk in Ukraine
Supporting a war conducted by others shouldn’t be measured on financial aid committed. A better metric would actually...
SEASON 1 / EP.10
Sniping, land mines and trench warfare
Nick Reynolds has just returned from Ukraine again and talks to Peter about his experiences and insights after 6 months...
SEASON 1 / EP.11
The Ukrainian Counter Offensive with Prof Mike Clarke
Professor Michael Clarke joins Peter to talk about the 10 day old Ukrainian counter offensives against Russia. In...
SEASON 1 / EP.12
Working the OSINT opportunity
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SEASON 1 / EP.13
War and modern politics with Rory Stewart
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SEASON 1 / EP.14
What’s happening in Afghanistan?
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SEASON 1 / EP.15
A China Primer – Fear, Honour and Self-Interest
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SEASON 1 / EP.16
Global disaster in the wings: the vulnerabilities of the West at sea
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SEASON 1 / EP.17
We know who wears the trousers – The China Russia No Limits relationship.
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SEASON 1 / EP.19
Future War in 2035 and Deterrence
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SEASON 1 / EP.20
Fire ships, maritime economics and balanced fleets
Peter talks to Professor Alessio Patalano about whether the naval aspects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine offer...
SEASON 1 / EP.21
China’s dark coercion in the Indo-Pacific
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SEASON 1 / EP.22
Missile Wars with Tom Karako
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SEASON 1 / EP.22
The Operational Level of War Does Not Exist
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SEASON 1 / EP.24
War in a Fishbowl
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SEASON 1 / EP.25
The future of air power
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SEASON 1 / EP.26
The Russia-China military relationship
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SEASON 1 / EP.27
Defence Policy watersheds – again?
The shock and surprise expressed by Western politicians after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine heralded...
SEASON 2 / EP.1
Ukrainian observations on combat and command
What did the Ukrainian forces learned from their experiences fighting the Russian military during 2022? Peter talks to...
SEASON 2 / EP.2
The First Commercial Space War
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SEASON 2 / EP.3
Turkey, Erdogan and 2023
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SEASON 2 / EP.4
We Live in Radical Times
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SEASON 2 / EP.5
North Korea in the driving seat?
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SEASON 2 / EP.6
Conventional versus Irregular Warfare – challenges for military force design
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SEASON 2 / EP.7
Cyber battles in Ukraine
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SEASON 2 / EP.8
Info Ops in Ukraine
Peter talks to the inimitable Whit Mason, a strategic communications guru, about why the Ukrainian information...
SEASON 2 / EP.9
Why military AI development is a necessity not a choice for Russia’s military
Peter talks to Professor Katarzyna Zysk from IFS in Oslo about Russian military AI development, from the core reasons...
SEASON 2 / EP.10
How to Fight A War
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SEASON 2 / EP.11
The strategy of attrition
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SEASON 2 / EP.12
By, With and Thru on contemporary battlefields
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SEASON 2 / EP.12
The 51%
Western political and military leaders seem to be doing a lot of hard talking about military capability these days, yet...
SEASON 2 / EP.14
The lifeblood of warfare
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SEASON 2 / EP.15
Another Afghan Civil War approaches
China’s agreements on strip mining and rare earth mineral extraction opened the door to significant engagement...
SEASON 2 / EP.16
Evacuation Operations, Decisions, and Compression
Even planning a non-combatant evacuation operation is politically and diplomatically fraught – the signals it sends...
SEASON 2 / EP.17
The Credibility of NATO depends on DEAD
Even as Russia rebuilds its way of fighting and combat power over the next 3-5 years, those forces should be easily...
SEASON 2 / EP.18
What’s not being covered, defence reviews, and the future
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SEASON 2 / EP.19
The new European military heavyweight
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SEASON 2 / EP.23
A Middle East without America?
For decades, politics, security and economics in the Middle East has been inextricably linked to the USA. Today,...
SEASON 2 / EP.24
Japan’s Security Dilemmas
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SEASON 2 / EP.25
NATO structural issues unresolved
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SEASON 3 / EP.1
Is Manoeuvre a Myth?
There is a disturbing undercurrent in Western PME – demonising anything not termed ‘manoeuvre’ or...
SEASON 3 / EP.2
Manoeuvre Is In A Coma
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SEASON 3 / EP.3
What if the deep battle doesn’t matter?
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SEASON 3 / EP.4
Ending Wars – a primer
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SEASON 3 / EP.5
Investing in a War Zone
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SEASON 3 / EP.6
On Taiwan – Strategic ambiguity, operational clarity?
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SEASON 3 / EP.7
DPRK in an era of Great Power realignment
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SEASON 3 / EP.9
Balancing and regional actors
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SEASON 3 / EP.10
Future War, Technology and Strategy
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SEASON 3 / EP.11
AUKUS – a reality check
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SEASON 3 / EP.12
Norms and Forms of Warfare
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SEASON 3 / EP.13
A Cautionary Tale from 1973
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SEASON 4 / EP.1
NATO isn’t perfect (but it isn’t going badly either)
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SEASON 2 / EP.4
NATO’s Successes and Unsuccesses
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