Ep 247: Nicholas Wright on the Brain Science of War
Nicholas Wright, neuroscientist and author of Warhead: How the Brain Shapes War and War Shapes the Brain, joins the show to explore the implications of neuroscience for warmaking.
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01:20 Neurology
02:57 Intelligence Defined
07:06 Mapping the Brain
17:05 How Modeling Happens
27:15 Outthinking and Outlearning the Enemy
30:25 Prioritization and Survival
35:15 Fear and the Fall of France in 1940
44:48 Enhancing Military Training
49:47 AI and Its Impact on Human Cognition
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Ep 246: Veterans Day Special — Remembering Angus MacLean
Host Aaron MacLean pays tribute to his father, World War Two and Vietnam Veteran Angus MacLean. This memorial originally ran in the publication Engelsberg Ideas.
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Ep 245: Edward Luce on Zbigniew Brzezinski’s Twentieth Century
Edward Luce, U.S. national editor and columnist at the Financial Times and author of Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America's Great Power Prophet,joins the show to discuss one of the most interesting characters of the Cold War, Jimmy Carter’s national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski.
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00:00 The Life and Legacy of Zbigniew Brzezinski
02:55 Carter's Foreign Policy and Brzezinski's Influence
05:56 Contrasting Worldviews: Brzezinski vs. Kissinger
08:52 The Formative Years: War and Identity
11:35 The Cold War Landscape and Brzezinski's Rise
14:34 Order vs. Justice: Diverging Philosophies
17:55 Brzezinski's Strategic Vision for the Cold War
20:57 The Vietnam War and Its Impact on Brzezinski
23:47 Brzezinski's Approach to Foreign Policy
28:35 The Rise of Jimmy Carter and the Trilateral Commission
32:12 Carter's Foreign Policy Challenges: The Middle East and Iran
37:15 Human Rights and the Shift from Nixon to Carter
45:27 Reagan's Continuity and Change: A New Era in Foreign Policy
51:19 The Iranian Revolution and Brzezinski's Legacy
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Ep 244: Oren Cass on a Strategy of Reciprocity
Oren Cass, founder and chief economist of American Compass and author of the article A Grand Strategy of Reciprocity for Foreign Affairs, joins the show to discuss how the United States should think about the current strategic moment.
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00:01 Introduction to Free Markets and Trade
00:43 Discussion on China and Global Strategy
02:15 Historical Context of American Grand Strategy
04:40 Assumptions about China
07:40 Strategic Competition and Spheres of Influence
10:00 Economic Decoupling and Its Challenges
13:30 Relationships with Other Countries
16:00 Concept of Reciprocity in Alliances
20:00 US-Mexico-Canada Relations and Global Implications
25:00 The Role of the Trump Administration
30:00 Future of Global Alliances
35:00 Economic and Security Strategies
40:00 Conclusion and Final Thought
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Ep 243: Alexander Mikaberidze on Russia’s Failed Battle with Turkey… in 1809
Alexander Mikaberidze, Professor of History at LSU Shreveport and contributor to An Unavoidable Evil: Siege Warfare in the Age of Napoleon (From Reason to Revolution 1721-1815), joins the show to discuss the siege of Brăila and the lessons of the Russo-Ottoman War of 1806-1812.
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00:00 The Shifting Balance of Power in the Black Sea
02:00 Siege Warfare in the Age of Napoleon
04:09 Decisive Battles vs. Positional Warfare
08:30 The Evolution of Strategy: 18th to 19th Century
14:16 The Debate on Siege Tactics in the Russian Military
21:27 Kutuzov's Strategic Evolution
25:26 Geopolitical Context: Russia and the Ottoman Empire's Rivalry
31:31 The Siege of Brăila: A Military Catastrophe
38:39 The Cost of War: Casualties and Consequences
50:40 Lessons in Military Culture: Accountability and Adaptation
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This podcast seeks to learn what war teaches. There has been a steady decline in the study of military history and its associated theoretical discipline, strategy.This podcast seeks to fill that gap through in-depth interviews on military and diplomatic history. Our guests have included former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Cold War historian John Lewis Gaddis, and former China Select Committee chairman Mike Gallagher. We discuss the battlefield commanders, diplomats, strategists, policymakers, and statesmen who have had to make wartime decisions in the ancient and modern eras. The subject of an episode may be an historical battle, campaign, or conflict; the conduct of policy in the course of a major international incident; the work of a famous strategist; the nature of a famous weapon; or the legacy of an important military commander or political leader.
Aaron MacLean is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute. He has worked as a foreign policy advisor and legislative director to Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and spent seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps.
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