18.08.2022. SEASON 1 / EPISODE 8.
Relishing Duality – flexibility in Russian National Security calculations
If you look at Russian actions in different regions of the world, their strategies differ considerably. This covers economic policies as well as foreign policy activities and military ones. From Africa to the Rimland, Moscow signals their intentions clearly, watches for reactions and then executes pretty nuanced plans. Nowhere is this clearer than in the different approaches Russia has been taking in the Arctic and Ukraine over the past 15 years. In this episode Peter is joined by Professor Katarzyna Zysk, from Norway’s Institute for Defense Studies in Oslo, to talk about duality, rationality, logic, and pragmatism in Russia’s national security decision-making. While there is an idea of muddling through in the Kremlin there is more depth at the organisational level than Western analysts give credit for. This has significant implications for discussions on things like regime change and ceasefires. Don’t expect Moscow to stop behaving like Russia anytime soon; with or without Vladimir Putin at the helm.
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SEASON 1 / EP.Trailer
An introduction to the podcast
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SEASON 1 / EP.1
Analysing wars for lessons: Context is everything
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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
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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
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SEASON 1 / EP.7
Learning to fight again – realigning Special Forces
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SEASON 1 / EP.9
Strategic objectives, tough choices, and risk in Ukraine
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SEASON 1 / EP.10
Sniping, land mines and trench warfare
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SEASON 1 / EP.11
The Ukrainian Counter Offensive with Prof Mike Clarke
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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.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...
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
Peter is joined by Dr John Hemmings, a Senior Director at the Pacific Forum in Hawaii, to talk about what might have...
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
The Chinese military has come a long way since 2008. In size, professionalism, deployability, operational experience,...
SEASON 1 / EP.27
Defence Policy watersheds – again?
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SEASON 2 / EP.1
Ukrainian observations on combat and command
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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%
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SEASON 2 / EP.14
The lifeblood of warfare
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SEASON 2 / EP.15
Another Afghan Civil War approaches
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SEASON 2 / EP.16
Evacuation Operations, Decisions, and Compression
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SEASON 2 / EP.17
The Credibility of NATO depends on DEAD
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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?
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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?
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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
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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
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SEASON 2 / EP.4
NATO’s Successes and Unsuccesses
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