Command and Control

The Command and Control podcast breaks new ground in determining what C2 might look like for the fight tonight and the fight tomorrow. Join us as we talk through C2 for an era of high-end war fighting. Blending human decision and cutting edge technology has been evolutionary but will this change, or serve to amplify the role of commanders?

Conversations about contemporary wars, trends and technolgies and what they might mean to the future of warfare.

How to Train a Military

How do you train the optimal military force for the wars to come? Learning, education, training and simulation are all tackled as priorities in this podcast as a series of interviews with experts who think about military training. A lot.

Western Way of War

A collection of discussions with those in the profession of arms that tries to understand the issues around how to fight, and succeed, against adversaries in the 2020s. Recorded at and with RUSI.

Western Way of War

A soldier, a sailor and a scientist

Understanding government conducted military research and development provides an insight into what it takes to stay on top of national security. Recorded with and hosted by the Wavell Room this is a series of conversations with specialist scientists about their work.

A Soldier, A Sailor and A Scientist
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Command and control
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warfare
SERIES 01

Command and Control

The Command and Control podcast breaks new ground in determining what C2 might look like for the fight tonight and the fight tomorrow. Join us as we talk through C2 for an era of high-end war fighting. Blending human decision and cutting edge technology has been evolutionary but...

LISTEN HERE

Logistics
People
War fighting land

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SEASON 1 / EP.Trailer
The Big Questions
The show is about military command and control - sometimes considered the panacea of battles and campaigns - and what...

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SEASON 1 / EP.1
The Quest for Certainty
Martin van Creveld talked about command being about the ‘Quest for Certainty’, in order to make the right...

GUESTS

  • Mick Ryan

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SEASON 1 / EP.2
Adaptation under fire
Command and control in war is very different to peacetime plans: and then C2 that works well for defensive operations...

GUESTS

  • Dr Jack Watling

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SEASON 1 / EP.3
What makes a great commander?
It is not hard to identify the great (and successful) commanders across history – and it turns out they have a few...

GUESTS

  • Professor Mike Clarke

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A New Orders Process
In ‘How to Win’ rather than ‘How to Operate’ in a peer or near peer war, time is vital and the ability to share...

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SEASON 1 / EP.5
Familiarity ≠ Trust
Trust has always been a central concept in military command and control: it can be based on a ‘Band of Brothers’...

GUESTS

  • Dr Christina Balis

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SEASON 6 / EP.1
AI in C2
Everyone seems to be talking about how Artificial Intelligence inside HQs will revolutionise command and control. The...

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SEASON 1 / EP.7
Confidence and The Initiative
People lie at the heart of any C2 complex – both those in command and their HQ staff, as well as those at the gritty...

GUESTS

  • Major General Zac Stenning

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SEASON 1 / EP.8
Question time
Three great guests, 120 questions, global audience. What could go wrong? recorded at DSEi in London in September 2023,...

GUESTS

  • Major General Zac Stenning (Commandant RMAS)

  • Vice Admiral Andy Burns (Fleet Commander, Royal Navy)

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SEASON 2 / EP.1
JADC2 – a primer
In 2019, the Chiefs of Staff of the US military determined that C2 really had to adapt. The decision came after the...

GUESTS

  • Rafael Lopez, Ph.D

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SEASON 2 / EP.2
NATO C2: How to Improve
Having spent the week at the NATO C2 Centre of Excellence in The Hague, talking C2 with some impressive people, this...

GUESTS

  • Colonel Mietta Groeneveld

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SEASON 2 / EP.3
Air C2
Command and control in the air domain has always been very different to that of other domains. Much more control,...

GUESTS

  • Paul Kendall

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SEASON 2 / EP.4
The Devolution of Command
Having an intelligent conversation about command and control requires a discussion with the USMC, the same institution...

GUESTS

  • Colonel Lester "Ray" Gerber USMC

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Logistics
People
War fighting land

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SERIES 02

How to train a Military

How do you train the optimal military force for the wars to come? Learning, education, training and simulation are all tackled as priorities in this podcast as a series of interviews with experts who think about military training. A lot.

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Logistics
People

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SEASON 1 / EP.Trailer
Trailer episode: Why now and why is this an important conversation?
Military training budgets are getting hot in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. Holding big live exercises is expensive....

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SEASON 1 / EP.1
Training for lethality, readiness and deterrence
Former UK Chief of Defence Staff General David Richards talks to Peter Roberts about how important training is in...

GUESTS

  • David Richards

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SEASON 1 / EP.2
Simulation has changed military training. A lot.
When militaries started using simulators back in the 1930s, live training remained the priority. Things have reversed...

GUESTS

  • Charles Krulak

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SEASON 1 / EP.3
First learn, then train, then fight
You can train a military as much as you want, but if you are not training the right skills for the coming fight, it is...

GUESTS

  • Dr Aimée Fox

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SEASON 1 / EP.4
Whither the intellectual renaissance in education and training?
After their experience in Vietnam, the US military actively pursued thinking about warfare in different ways – and...

GUESTS

  • Heather Venable

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SEASON 1 / EP.5
What could the military learn from civil teaching and training?
Teacher training includes education processes, systems, human behaviours and methods of engagement with students. That...

GUESTS

  • Kate Heatton

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SEASON 1 / EP.6
Money, exercises and simulation
Peter talks to Professor Jim Storr about the use of simulators in the British military since the 1980s. Why and how...

GUESTS

  • Jim Storr

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SEASON 1 / EP.7
Military training, Primes and SMEs
As simulators have taken an increasingly prominent role in military training since the 1980s, their complexity – and...

GUESTS

  • Alan Roan

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SEASON 1 / EP.8
Credibility is about training people not buying equipment
The capability of a military force is often measured by the equipment it operates. If a cursory examination of combat...

GUESTS

  • Tess Butler

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SEASON 1 / EP.9
Combat, Training and Culture
Different cultures conduct military training and education in very different ways. The Israeli Defence Force might be...

GUESTS

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SEASON 1 / EP.10
Harder than your worst day in combat
The best training many of us experienced has always taken us outside of our comfort zone. For military forces this is...

GUESTS

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SEASON 1 / EP.13
Fighting and Debating
Good wartime commanders are very different to those who excel in peace. How do we educate and train people for both...

GUESTS

  • Emilie Claret

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SEASON 1 / EP.14
Best Tank on the Battlefield?
The best tank on the battlefield is determined by the best crew inside it, not the best...

GUESTS

  • Kate Heaton

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SEASON 1 / EP.15
So What Did We Learn?
This first series of this podcast on military training has taken us from World War One to modern day combat operations,...

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SEASON 2 / EP.1
Naval Training: Putting People First
For decades, navies have crewed the ship ‘cos the ship fights (the people – apparently – didn’t). According to...

GUESTS

  • RAdm Jude Terry

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SEASON 2 / EP.2
Can Partnering Work in Military Training?
Commercial arrangements with providers of military training are usually transactional: most will have experienced how...

GUESTS

  • David Hook

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SEASON 2 / EP.3
Combat Engineers – trained to fix stuff under fire
On any modern battlefield, the people you want most in a fight – be it in urban terrain or facing a determined...

GUESTS

  • Brigadier Caroline Woodbridge-Lewin

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SEASON 2 / EP.4
The Captain’s Warfare Course
The CWC provides junior officers with the skills they need to plan and execute operations at the Battlegroup to Brigade...

GUESTS

  • Major Vicky Fraser

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SEASON 2 / EP.5
The Engine
Everyone seems to be talking about technology as the engine of future training but sometimes that drives a conversation...

GUESTS

  • Mark Holland

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SEASON 2 / EP.6
CWC: Learning and Development
In this episode we go back down to Warminster – for the second of a series of interviews with the staff of the...

GUESTS

  • Mark Hawthorne

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SEASON 2 / EP.7
Military Training: What Needs to Change?
In 2023, a report by the Royal United Services Institute on military training didn't make headlines. And that's a shame...

GUESTS

  • Pat Hinton

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SEASON 2 / EP.9
CWC – The Directing Staff
The Captain's Warfare Course in Warminster delivers the key skills to the people expected to execute 'the fight' in the...

GUESTS

  • Rhys Pogson-Hughes-Emanuel

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Logistics
People

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SERIES 03

This means war

Conversations about contemporary wars, trends and technologies and what they might mean to the future of warfare.

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Logistics
People
War fighting land

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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...

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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...

GUESTS

  • Ewan Lawson

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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...

GUESTS

  • Dr Jack Watling

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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...

GUESTS

  • Prof John Spencer

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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...

GUESTS

  • Dr Michael Knights

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SEASON 1 / EP.5
Ammo, railroads, tyres and logistics are driving military operations in...
Even though Western militaries systemically underinvest in their own logistics and engineering capabilities, it is...

GUESTS

  • Trent Telenko

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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...

GUESTS

  • Natia Suskuria

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SEASON 1 / EP.7
Learning to fight again – realigning Special Forces
Between 2004 and 2014, NATO armies coerced the militaries and special forces of Georgia and Ukraine into a doctrine and...

GUESTS

  • Dr Sandor Fabian

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SEASON 1 / EP.8
Relishing Duality – flexibility in Russian National Security...
If you look at Russian actions in different regions of the world, their strategies differ considerably. This covers...

GUESTS

  • Katarzyna Zysk

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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...

GUESTS

  • Lt Gen (rtd) Ben Hodges

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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...

GUESTS

  • Nick Reynolds

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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...

GUESTS

  • Professor Michael Clarke

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SEASON 1 / EP.12
Working the OSINT opportunity
Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) has matured considerably since the early 2000s. More data sources, better data bases,...

GUESTS

  • James Byrne,

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SEASON 1 / EP.13
War and modern politics with Rory Stewart
Deciding to go to war, to support a war, or even which war to engage with should not be an easy decision. It should be...

GUESTS

  • Rory Stewart

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SEASON 1 / EP.14
What’s happening in Afghanistan?
It has only taken one year from the Western withdrawal out of Afghanistan for that country to descend once more into a...

GUESTS

  • Anant Mishra

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SEASON 1 / EP.15
A China Primer – Fear, Honour and Self-Interest
Is China preparing to invade Taiwan? It is certainly a matter of CCP policy that Taiwan will be reintegrated into...

GUESTS

  • Dr Peter Layton

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SEASON 1 / EP.16
Global disaster in the wings: the vulnerabilities of the West at sea
Ships being sunk by sea mines, undersea pipelines blown up, and a fragile maritime infrastructure are all underplayed...

GUESTS

  • Rob Wilson

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SEASON 1 / EP.17
We know who wears the trousers – The China Russia No Limits...
Despite a shared ideology loosely based around communism, and perhaps a similarly hopeful interpretation of...

GUESTS

  • Theresa Fallon

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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...

GUESTS

  • Mick Ryan

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SEASON 1 / EP.19
Future War in 2035 and Deterrence
According to the report of a conference of great strategic brains during October 2022, the world will look pretty ugly...

GUESTS

  • Julian Lindley French

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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...

GUESTS

  • Alessio Patalano

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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...

GUESTS

  • John Hemmings

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SEASON 1 / EP.22
Missile Wars with Tom Karako
The use of missiles – of every variety – around the world has been increasing over the past 5 years. Whether...

GUESTS

  • Tom Karako

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SEASON 1 / EP.22
The Operational Level of War Does Not Exist
When Svechen and Hamley were writing about the operational level of war, it is doubtful they envisaged the number of...

GUESTS

  • Wilf Owen

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SEASON 1 / EP.24
War in a Fishbowl
A really capable combined arms force can have a disproportionate impact on a small war. It can have much less effect in...

GUESTS

  • Amos Fox

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SEASON 1 / EP.25
The future of air power
Big contracts are being let for new aviation systems. From the B21 and FLAA in the US, to FCAS and Tempest in Europe,...

GUESTS

  • Justin Bronk

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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,...

GUESTS

  • Sarah Kirchberger

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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...

GUESTS

  • Ben Barry

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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...

GUESTS

  • Dr Jack Watling

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SEASON 2 / EP.2
The First Commercial Space War
Since 1991 space has become an intrinsic part of warfare: from the liberation of Kuwait to Allied experiences in Iraq...

GUESTS

  • Juliana Suess

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SEASON 2 / EP.3
Turkey, Erdogan and 2023
This year Turkey celebrates its 100th anniversary; 2023 will also bring a summer with elections that could see...

GUESTS

  • Ziya Meral

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SEASON 2 / EP.4
We Live in Radical Times
According to some we are living in both a Post Islamist Age, as well as a Post Liberalist one. And if you read the...

GUESTS

  • Dr Adil Rasheed

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SEASON 2 / EP.5
North Korea in the driving seat?
Peter talks to Ankit Panda from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace about all things North Korea, but...

GUESTS

  • Ankit Panda

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SEASON 2 / EP.6
Conventional versus Irregular Warfare – challenges for military...
Meeting the challenges of both conventional and irregular warfare requires mutually exclusive forces specialised in...

GUESTS

  • Dr Jack Watling

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SEASON 2 / EP.7
Cyber battles in Ukraine
How have cyber conflicts played out between Russia and Ukraine? Over the last decade the idea of cyber war had been...

GUESTS

  • Rob Black

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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...

GUESTS

  • Whit Mason

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SEASON 2 / EP.9
Why military AI development is a necessity not a choice for Russia’s...
Peter talks to Professor Katarzyna Zysk from IFS in Oslo about Russian military AI development, from the core reasons...

GUESTS

  • Katarzyna Zysk

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SEASON 2 / EP.10
How to Fight A War
Why is winning a war so hard? According to Dr Mike Martin, realism seems to be missing in the formation of strategy to...

GUESTS

  • Mike Martin

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SEASON 2 / EP.11
The strategy of attrition
All wars have elements of attrition in them – like it or not. Battles of attrition are not linear either, they depend...

GUESTS

  • Dr Jack Watling

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SEASON 2 / EP.12
By, With and Thru on contemporary battlefields
Special Forces in contemporary warfare will be expected to conduct operations ‘By, with and through’: enabling...

GUESTS

  • Michael Knights

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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...

GUESTS

  • Tess Butler

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SEASON 2 / EP.14
The lifeblood of warfare
When you read the words ‘inventory management’ most military people turn the page. Don’t. This conversation about...

GUESTS

  • Joann Robertson

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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...

GUESTS

  • Anant Mishra

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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...

GUESTS

  • Ewan Lawson

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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...

GUESTS

  • Justin Bronk

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SEASON 2 / EP.18
What’s not being covered, defence reviews, and the future
One year on from starting the podcast, the production team persuaded me to answer some of the most popular questions...

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SEASON 2 / EP.19
The new European military heavyweight
Poland is an outlier in Europe: a state that has been willing to resource the national security statements of political...

GUESTS

  • Jakob Knopp

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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,...

GUESTS

  • Mike Stephens

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SEASON 2 / EP.24
Japan’s Security Dilemmas
Surrounded by three potential adversaries, hampered by a history that prevents deep alliances with neighbours, and a...

GUESTS

  • Dr John Hemmings

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SEASON 2 / EP.25
NATO structural issues unresolved
Going into the NATO summit at Vilnius, NATO had a three tier membership structure and lacked the political leadership...

GUESTS

  • Professor Julian Lindley-French

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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...

GUESTS

  • Amos Fox

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SEASON 3 / EP.2
Manoeuvre Is In A Coma
The opportunities to use manoeuvrist theory on contemporary battlefields are scarce, if they exist at all.  Professor...

GUESTS

  • Professor Tony King

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SEASON 3 / EP.3
What if the deep battle doesn’t matter?
The modern interpretation of manoeuvre theory for warfare holds the deep battle as a central avenue to success. Indeed,...

GUESTS

  • Franz-Stefan Gady

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SEASON 3 / EP.4
Ending Wars – a primer
Bringing conflict to a conclusion usually comes about because of annihilation of one party or the exhaustion of both....

GUESTS

  • Professor Beatrice Heuser

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SEASON 3 / EP.5
Investing in a War Zone
How do companies, businesses, and industry make investment decisions in a war zone? There is no shortage of...

GUESTS

  • Michael Longstaff OBE

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SEASON 3 / EP.6
On Taiwan – Strategic ambiguity, operational clarity?
Beijing seems to have an insatiable appetite for increasing the scale and pace of military operations around Taiwan:...

GUESTS

  • Ralph Cossa

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SEASON 3 / EP.7
DPRK in an era of Great Power realignment
Most people will not have missed the visit North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, to Russia last month. What went without...

GUESTS

  • Ankit Panda

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SEASON 3 / EP.9
Balancing and regional actors
States face complex calculations in balancing their reactions to wars. Many (perhaps most?) governments of the day are...

GUESTS

  • Burcu Ozcelik

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SEASON 3 / EP.10
Future War, Technology and Strategy
In October 2023, an expert group of national security experts from around the world came together at Wilton Park in...

GUESTS

  • Professor Julian Lindley-French

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SEASON 3 / EP.11
AUKUS – a reality check
Peter is joined by John Hemmings from the US and Malcolm Davies from Australia to talk about AUKUS. Since the security...

GUESTS

  • Dr John Hemmings

  • Dr Malcolm Davies

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SEASON 3 / EP.12
Norms and Forms of Warfare
It seems useful to frame some of the discussion about warfare around norms and forms rather than the character and...

GUESTS

  • Dr Paddy Walker

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SEASON 3 / EP.13
A Cautionary Tale from 1973
Intelligence failures, strategic surprise, heavy attrition, mass casualties, reversals, internal rivalries, personality...

GUESTS

  • Lt Col Nate Jennings, US Army

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Logistics
People
War fighting land

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