Class of 1974 MWI Podcast

The Modern War Institute Podcast, produced with the generous support of the West Point Class of 1974, is the flagship podcast of the Modern War Institute at West Point, featuring discussions with guests including senior military leaders, scholars, and others on the most important issues related to modern military conflict.

MWI Podcast: Clausewitz and the War in Ukraine

MWI Podcast: Clausewitz and the War in Ukraine

What is Russia's political object in its war against Ukraine? What is Ukraine's? And if these are fundamentally irreconcilable, what developments might still bring the war to an end? These questions...

MWI Podcast: Defending Against Drones

MWI Podcast: Defending Against Drones

In April of this year, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division finished a nine-month deployment to the Middle East. Spread across eight bases in Iraq and Syria, the brigade’s forces were...

MWI Podcast: Introducing “Ctrl Alt Army”

MWI Podcast: Introducing “Ctrl Alt Army”

Twenty years ago, in the 2004 National Military Strategy, the Joint Chiefs of Staff described cyberspace as a battlespace "domain." But just as the physical warfighting domains have become...

MWI Podcast: Russia’s Pursuit of Military AI

MWI Podcast: Russia’s Pursuit of Military AI

Russian leaders—most notably, Vladimir Putin—have long expressed the view that artificial intelligence will be crucial to Russian security in the future. This sentiment has driven a pursuit in...

MWI Podcast: Landpower in the Pacific

MWI Podcast: Landpower in the Pacific

Many people look at a map of the Indo-Pacific region and assume that—characterized as it is by long distances and vast stretches of ocean—it is principally the air and maritime domains where...

MWI Podcast: NATO at 75

MWI Podcast: NATO at 75

On April 4, 1949, representatives of twelve governments came together to sign the North Atlantic Treaty and create the NATO alliance. In the seventy-five years that have passed since then, the world...

MWI Podcast: Sanctions and Security

MWI Podcast: Sanctions and Security

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, much of the analysis of the ongoing war has naturally focused on its military dimension. And of course, the military conduct of the ongoing war...

MWI Podcast: Shusha, the Battle that Won a War

MWI Podcast: Shusha, the Battle that Won a War

Observers watched the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War closely, searching for indicators of the character of warfare on tomorrow's battlefields. The lessons extracted have covered advanced technology and...

MWI Podcast: What was Hamas Thinking?

MWI Podcast: What was Hamas Thinking?

When Hamas fighters launched a coordinated and large-scale series of attacks against Israel on October 7, it became the deadliest day Israel had suffered since its founding. The brutal attacks have...

MWI Podcast: Combined Arms in Gaza

MWI Podcast: Combined Arms in Gaza

As Israeli ground forces mobilize for what appears to be a looming battle in Gaza to destroy Hamas military capability, how much can we predict about how that battle will play out? In this episode,...

MWI Podcast: Sweden, Finland, and NATO

MWI Podcast: Sweden, Finland, and NATO

The decisions last year by the governments of Finland and Sweden to apply for NATO membership signified a momentous departure from a longstanding tradition of nonalignment for both countries. The...

MWI Podcast: Securing NATO’s Baltic Flank

MWI Podcast: Securing NATO’s Baltic Flank

As the world has watched the war in Ukraine and seen the evidence of the threat posed by Russia, among those who sense that threat most acutely are the three Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and...

MWI Podcast: The Robotic Revolution is Here

MWI Podcast: The Robotic Revolution is Here

This episode of the MWI Podcast features a conversation with August Cole. He is the coauthor, along with Peter Singer, of a new book called Burn-In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution. It’s...

MWI Podcast: Inside Azovstal

MWI Podcast: Inside Azovstal

When Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, one of their first targets was Mariupol, an important port city on the Sea of Azov and vital to Russian plans to establish a land bridge...

MWI Podcast: World Order in the Drone Age

MWI Podcast: World Order in the Drone Age

Why do states—and nonstate actors—choose to use armed drones as weapons of war? How does that decision affect these actors' international reputations? How do questions of law and morality intersect...

MWI Podcast: Command in Modern War

MWI Podcast: Command in Modern War

Would Patton or Montgomery be effective battlefield commanders in the twenty-first century? Does the changing character of warfare drive transformations in the ways in which senior officers exercise...

MWI Podcast: Russia and the Arctic Conundrum

MWI Podcast: Russia and the Arctic Conundrum

In geopolitical terms, the Arctic is characterized by a number of unique features that set it apart from other regions. Its governance structures, the way Arctic states engage with one another, the...

MWI Podcast: Can Taiwan Become a Poison Frog?

MWI Podcast: Can Taiwan Become a Poison Frog?

This week, Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow to a warm reception from his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. While much of the world has lined up in opposition to Russia over its...

MWI Podcast: Twelve Months of War

MWI Podcast: Twelve Months of War

One year ago, on February 24, Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. The opening days and weeks saw Russia's initial ambitious moves thwarted, most notably its thrust toward Kyiv. Ukrainian forces...

MWI Podcast: When Cities Become Battlefields

MWI Podcast: When Cities Become Battlefields

This episode of the Modern War Institute Podcast features a conversation with MWI's own John Spencer. He serves as chair of urban warfare studies at MWI and is a leading expert in the subject or...

MWI Podcast: Data and the Battlefield

MWI Podcast: Data and the Battlefield

This episode of the MWI Podcast features two very special guests. Dr. Richard Shultz is the Lee E. Dirks Professor of International Politics and Director of the International Security Studies...

MWI Podcast: Just How Crowded Is The Space Domain?

MWI Podcast: Just How Crowded Is The Space Domain?

As the US Space Force approaches its third birthday later this year, what does the domain in which it operates actually look like? In this episode of the MWI Podcast, John Amble is joined by Dr....

MWI Podcast: Why Cohesion Matters

MWI Podcast: Why Cohesion Matters

The term "cohesion" features prominently in discussions of military effectiveness, especially at the small-unit level. Most people have at least an intuitive sense of what it means, but...

MWI Podcast: Competition, Conflict, and Cyber

MWI Podcast: Competition, Conflict, and Cyber

Earlier this year, we announced the launch of C2P—the Competition in Cyberspace Project—a joint initiative for which the Modern War Institute partnered with the Army Cyber Institute. The project's...

MWI Podcast: Adapting During War

MWI Podcast: Adapting During War

What are the hallmarks of an adaptable military force, especially in wartime? What types of leaders best create cultures of adaptability in their formations? How do such forces employ rapidly...

MWI Podcast: On War and Sanctions

MWI Podcast: On War and Sanctions

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, the Modern War Institute has published a large number of articles and released a series of podcast episodes offering analysis and commentary on the...

MWI Podcast: Bayraktar (Story of a Drone)

MWI Podcast: Bayraktar (Story of a Drone)

"Ukraine's Secret Weapon Against Russia: Turkish Drones." Variations of that headline have appeared in a seemingly endless series since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. News outlets and...

MWI Podcast: When Frozen Conflicts Turn Hot

MWI Podcast: When Frozen Conflicts Turn Hot

The ongoing war in Ukraine is giving observers a chance to forecast how future conflicts will take shape. Drones, advanced sensors, and other technologies are playing impactful roles in the fight....

MWI Podcast: The Future of European Defense

MWI Podcast: The Future of European Defense

In this episode of the Modern War Institute Podcast, John Amble is joined by retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges. He began his thirty-seven-year career in the US Army as a platoon leader in Germany, and he...

MWI Podcast: Understanding No-Fly Zones

MWI Podcast: Understanding No-Fly Zones

Almost immediately after Russian forces invaded Ukraine two weeks ago, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy began calling for NATO to implement a no-fly zone over his country to negate the...

MWI Podcast: How Capable is Ukraine’s Military?

MWI Podcast: How Capable is Ukraine’s Military?

From 2016 to 2018, Liam Collins—then a colonel in the US Army—traveled frequently to Ukraine, meeting with senior officials in the government and military there. He was part of an effort on the part...

MWI Podcast: Modern War Year in Review

MWI Podcast: Modern War Year in Review

When we look back on the events of 2021, what did we learn about modern war? How has competition taken shape? What can we discern about the interests of states like China and Russia—and how they are...

MWI Podcast: A Looming Showdown Over Ukraine?

MWI Podcast: A Looming Showdown Over Ukraine?

Over the past several weeks, tens of thousands of Russian troops have gathered in the area near Russia's border with Ukraine. But what does it signify? It is a challenge to determine whether the...

MWI Podcast: On Resistance

MWI Podcast: On Resistance

In this episode of the MWI Podcast, John Amble speaks to Sandor Fabian. A former officer in the Hungarian military's special operations forces, he has extensively researched the concept of...

MWI Podcast: Global Order in the Age of the Drone

MWI Podcast: Global Order in the Age of the Drone

Why do states—and nonstate actors—choose to use armed drones as weapons of war? How does that decision affect these actors' international reputations? How do questions of law and morality intersect...

MWI Podcast: The Iraq War in Retrospect

MWI Podcast: The Iraq War in Retrospect

As the United States approaches the twenty-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and marks the end of US involvement in Afghanistan, what of the other half of what, perhaps inevitably, have...

MWI Podcast: Breaking Down the NATO Summit

MWI Podcast: Breaking Down the NATO Summit

President Joe Biden recently made his first international trip. Over several days in Europe, he met with the leaders of the other G-7 countries and held a bilateral meeting with Russian president...

MWI Podcast: How Militaries Adapt

MWI Podcast: How Militaries Adapt

What are the hallmarks of an adaptable military force? What types of leaders best create cultures of adaptability in their formations? How do such forces employ rapidly changing technologies? And...

MWI Podcast: Survival at the Top of the World

MWI Podcast: Survival at the Top of the World

This episode of the MWI Podcast is the second in recent weeks to focus on the Arctic region. Recently, the Modern War Institute launched Project 6633—an initiative that focuses on issues related to...

MWI Podcast: The Future Defense of Europe

MWI Podcast: The Future Defense of Europe

In this episode of the Modern War Institute Podcast, John Amble is joined by retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges. He began his thirty-seven-year career in the US Army as a platoon leader in Germany, and he...

MWI Podcast: Why Combatives?

MWI Podcast: Why Combatives?

This episode of the MWI Podcast features a conversation with Matt Larsen, known in many corners of the Army as the father of the modern combatives. He was a key figure in the Army’s effort to...

MWI Podcast: Security in the High Latitudes

MWI Podcast: Security in the High Latitudes

In this episode of the MWI Podcast, John Amble is joined by Dr. Liz Buchanan and Dr. Ryan Burke. They are both Modern War Institute fellows, and they are also the directors of a new initiative...

MWI Podcast: Understanding Urban Warfare

MWI Podcast: Understanding Urban Warfare

This episode of the Modern War Institute Podcast features a conversation with MWI's own John Spencer. He serves as chair of urban warfare studies at MWI and is a leading expert in the subject or...

MWI Podcast: The Brain and the Battlefield

MWI Podcast: The Brain and the Battlefield

In this episode of the Modern War Institute podcast, MWI editorial director John Amble speaks to Dr. James Giordano. Dr. Giordano is a professor at Georgetown University, where he is the chief of...

MWI Podcast: The Space Domain is Getting Crowded

MWI Podcast: The Space Domain is Getting Crowded

In this episode of the MWI Podcast, we’re joined by Dr. Moriba Jah, an associate professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin....

MWI Podcast: Command on the Modern Battlefield

MWI Podcast: Command on the Modern Battlefield

Would Patton or Montgomery be effective battlefield commanders in the twenty-first century? Does the changing character of warfare drive transformations in the ways in which senior officers exercise...

MWI Podcast: The Other Foreign Fighters

MWI Podcast: The Other Foreign Fighters

In this episode of the MWI Podcast, John Amble talks to Joseph Young and Jason Fritz. Together, they have researched an intriguing phenomenon: American citizens who traveled independently to Iraq...

MWI Podcast: Women in Defense and Security

MWI Podcast: Women in Defense and Security

In this episode of the MWI Podcast, we're joined by four guests, each of whom is remarkably accomplished and has deep professional experience in the field of national security: Brig. Gen. (ret) Jen...

MWI Podcast: The Robotic Revolution is Upon Us

MWI Podcast: The Robotic Revolution is Upon Us

This episode of the MWI Podcast features a conversation with August Cole. He is the coauthor, along with Peter Singer, of a new book called Burn-In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution. It’s...

MWI Podcast: How the Islamic State Happened

MWI Podcast: How the Islamic State Happened

This episode of the MWI Podcast features a conversation with Craig Whiteside and Haroro Ingram. They are two of the three authors of a book called The ISIS Reader. It is a collection of primary...

MWI Podcast: What’s Going on in North Korea?

MWI Podcast: What’s Going on in North Korea?

Is Kim Jong-Un alive or dead? We don’t actually know—and that's remarkable. It's also remarkable how little media attention the situation in North Korea is receiving—crowded out, perhaps inevitably,...

MWI Podcast: How Countries Decide to Go to War

MWI Podcast: How Countries Decide to Go to War

In this episode of the MWI Podcast, Maj. Jake Miraldi speaks to Dr. Sarah Kreps, a professor of government and adjunct professor of law at Cornell University, whose research touches on a range of...

MWI Podcast: Let’s Talk Multi-Domain Operations

MWI Podcast: Let’s Talk Multi-Domain Operations

In this episode of the Modern War Institute Podcast, MWI's John Amble sits down for a conversation with Lt. Gen. Eric Wesley. He is the deputy commanding general of Army Futures Command as well as...

MWI Podcast: Why War Doesn’t Go Away

MWI Podcast: Why War Doesn’t Go Away

In this episode of the MWI Podcast, Maj. Jake Miraldi sits down for a fascinating conversation with Dr. Bear Braumoeller, a political science professor at the Ohio State University. He is the author...

MWI Podcast: A Conversation with the SECARMY

MWI Podcast: A Conversation with the SECARMY

In this episode of the Modern War Institute Podcast, MWI's Maj Jake Miraldi sits down for a conversation with Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy. The Army is in an era of transition. The service is...

MWI Podcast: The Syria Study Group

MWI Podcast: The Syria Study Group

In this episode of the MWI Podcast, Maj. Jake Miraldi is joined by Michael Singh. He has served as co-chair of the Syria Study Group since it was formed at the direction of Congress to examine the...

MWI Podcast: What is the Army Doing in Space?

MWI Podcast: What is the Army Doing in Space?

It was big news last year when the Department of Defense began exploring the creation of a space force. But the US military has been involved in space for a long time. The Air Force has...

MWI Podcast: Creating Warriors, with Matt Larsen

MWI Podcast: Creating Warriors, with Matt Larsen

This episode of the MWI Podcast features a conversation with Matt Larsen, known in many corners of the Army as the father of the modern combatives. He was a key figure in the Army’s effort to...

MWI Podcast: Autonomous Weapons and the Next War

MWI Podcast: Autonomous Weapons and the Next War

The fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and autonomous technology are exploding in development. So how will these advancements change the way we fight future wars? In this episode...

MWI Podcast: The Army’s Iraq War Self-Reflection

MWI Podcast: The Army’s Iraq War Self-Reflection

In this episode of the Modern War Institute Podcast, MWI’s Maj. Jake Miraldi talk to retired Col. Frank Sobchak. He, along with retired Col. Joel Rayburn, authored the Army’s two-volume, 1,300-page...

MWI Podcast: Talking China with Ali Wyne

MWI Podcast: Talking China with Ali Wyne

This episode of the MWI Podcast features a conversation with Ali Wyne, a policy analyst at the RAND Corporation and Non-Resident Fellow with the Modern War Institute. Wyne is one of the most...

MWI Podcast: Women in National Security

MWI Podcast: Women in National Security

In this episode of the MWI Podcast, we're joined by four guests, each of whom is remarkably accomplished and has deep professional experience in the field of national security: Brig. Gen. Jen...

MWI Podcast: Fighting a “Virtual War”

MWI Podcast: Fighting a “Virtual War”

In this episode of the Modern War Institute Podcast, retired US Army Col. Steve Banach joins to discuss the notion of "virtual war." Banach spent 27 years in the Army, including nine years in the...

MWI Podcast: AI, Robots, and the Future of War

MWI Podcast: AI, Robots, and the Future of War

Editor's note: Special thanks to the US Army's Mad Scientist initiative, a program of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command, for partnering with MWI to make this podcast happen in conjunction...

MWI Podcast: Better Analysts, Humans or Machines?

MWI Podcast: Better Analysts, Humans or Machines?

In the era of big data, the minds of human analysts are no match for the processing power of computers fed with terabytes of data and armed with powerful algorithms. But MWI Non-Resident Fellow Dr....

MWI Podcast: Human 2.0, with Dr. Amy Kruse

MWI Podcast: Human 2.0, with Dr. Amy Kruse

In this episode of the MWI Podcast, John Amble speaks with Dr. Amy Kruse, the chief scientific officer at the Platypus Institute, an organization that takes some of the most cutting-edge...

MWI Podcast: Secretary of the Army Mark Esper

MWI Podcast: Secretary of the Army Mark Esper

This episode of the MWI Podcast features a conversation with Secretary of the Army Mark Esper. As the senior civilian official in charge of the Department of the Army, his vision for the service and...

MWI Podcast: What is Virtual War?

MWI Podcast: What is Virtual War?

In this episode of the Modern War Institute Podcast, retired US Army Col. Steve Banach joins to discuss the notion of "virtual war." Banach spent 27 years in the Army, including nine years in the...

MWI Podcast: Technology and the Future of Warfare

MWI Podcast: Technology and the Future of Warfare

Artificial intelligence. Quantum computing. Nanotechnology. The Internet of Things. Blockchains. Neuroscience. Biotech. We live in a world of rapid technological development, in these and many other...

MWI Podcast: All About The F-35

MWI Podcast: All About The F-35

In this episode of the MWI Podcast, two guests—retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Bob Dulaney and Dr. Mike Skaff—join to discuss the F-35. The F-35 is the fifth-generation fighter the US military is...

MWI Podcast: Zombies and Global Security

MWI Podcast: Zombies and Global Security

In this episode of the MWI podcast, Capt. Jake Miraldi speaks to bestselling author and MWI non-resident fellow Max Brooks. Max is most well known as the author of books like World War Z and The...

MWI Podcast: A Firefight in Baghdad

MWI Podcast: A Firefight in Baghdad

In this second episode of MWI's new podcast series, The Spear, John Amble talks to Maj. Emily Spencer. In 2008, Maj. Spencer was an EOD platoon leader in Iraq. In April, she and one of her EOD teams...

MWI Podcast: On Writing and War

MWI Podcast: On Writing and War

In this episode of the MWI podcast, Capt. Jake Miraldi speaks with four guests about writing and its usefulness as a tool for both storytelling and making sense of and creating order from complex...

MWI Podcast: Tanisha Fazal on Casualties in Modern War

MWI Podcast: Tanisha Fazal on Casualties in Modern War

MWI Adjunct Scholar Dr. Tanisha Fazal, Professor of Political Science and Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame discusses the changes to battlefield causalities and how they effect how we think about modern war.

MWI Podcast: Tactical Economics in War

MWI Podcast: Tactical Economics in War

MWI sat down with West Point’s Major Jonathan Bate to discuss his recent research into economic interventions during stability and reconstruction operations.