About this podcast
Conversations about contemporary warfare and what it means for the future of fighting. Each episode will look at how wars are being fought around the world today, whether (and why) this is important, and what it all might mean for militaries and national security in the coming decades.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 98 episodes
- The Great Game 2.0? · 46 min · Season 7 Episode 10Russia is at war with most states in Europe. That's Moscow's perception. Dr Ivana Stradner highlights the reasons we need to be worried about the 2026/2027 winter given all the…
- What might the US midterm elections mean for Allies? · 47 min · Season 7 Episode 9As the US mid-term elections approach, and Donald Trump's domestic approval ratings sit in the doldrums, Dr John Hemmings makes a timely intervention about what various futures…
- Financing Deterrence · 53 min · Season 7 Episode 8The charter for the Defence, Security, and Resilience Bank (DSRB) has been signed and founding members – notably including both Canada and Luxenberg – are piling on the pressure…
- Land Power and contemporary conflict · 36 min · Season 7 Episode 7The reticence of Western governments to use Land Forces on operations has been notable of late. Dr Jack Watling, from RUSI in London, talks through the reasons for this, the…
- The DIP: It's not about national security · 40 min · Season 7 Episode 6Despite all the diatribes written about the UK's 2026 Defence Investment Plan, the root of the issue wasn't identified; that the plan was about military hardware and not about…
- Parliamentary Scrutiny of the Military: Society deserves better · 40 min · Season 7 Episode 5The parliamentary committees responsible for scrutiny of the Ministry of Defence on behalf of society and tax-payers can't perform their roles effectively. Government…
- How Resilient or Prepared is Enough? · 33 min · Season 7 Episode 4How prepared are states for national emergencies and contingencies? Russian actions in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and the Baltic States have triggered a number of…
- Defending MDO · 43 min · Season 7 Episode 3If you think MDO is a prescription for how the US will fight, think again. Colonel (retired) Richard Creed, Director, Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate at Fort Leavenworth…
- MDO: It's a terrible concept · 40 min · Season 7 Episode 2A new book edited by Amos Fox and Franz Stefan Gady picks apart the concept of Multi Domain Operations in forensic detail. A collection of world class scholars and practitioners…
- What has Moscow got in store for 2026? · 34 min · Season 7 Episode 1Have Europeans become desensitized to Moscow's actions? 2025 saw Moscow fly armed drones into Poland; aerial incursions in Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany, and The…
- Show me the money! The DSR Bank · 1 h 1 min · Season 6 Episode 8How do defence companies fund growth when the orders from politicians have been promised but the cash isn't forthcoming? Want to build a new factory to double Europe's 155mm ammo…
- Mountain Warfare · 45 min · Season 6 Episode 7A long held military truism is about commanding the high ground in any fight: often regarded as a precursor to victory. In the days of digital evangelism, much is made of this…
- Battlefield AI · 44 min · Season 6 Episode 6The disorderly arrival of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to the battlefield foretells of what is to come. The similarities to the hype around cyber warfare in the 2010s is all too…
- The State and The Soldier · 41 min · Season 6 Episode 5That the military is subordinate to political (civil) authority seems like a no brainer. Headlines are made when challenges to this norm occur (see Trump 47 as an example), but…
- Training is credibility · 59 min · Season 6 Episode 4In military circles, training can mean all things to different groups. Some think it is for making friends and building partnerships. Other parts of the national security…
- Debriefing the latest UK Strategic Defence Review · 42 min · Season 6 Episode 3The was much to like about the 2025 UK SDR: an uncomfortable but honest diagnosis of the state of Britain's military; a characterisation of the world order and future threats…
- The Russian Meat Grinder · 23 min · Season 6 Episode 2Given the way Russian military cheifs send their troops into combat without regard for rates of attrition and casualties, it seems to bamboozle many Western commentators that the…
- Air combat power vs IAMD · 41 min · Season 6 Episode 1After more than 3 years of war in Ukraine, the Russian military is not a spent force: indeed, the combination of more flying hours for more aircrew, 3 years of combat experience…
- SDR Threat series: How to deter Russia? · 32 min · Season 5 Episode 10The West has not deterred Russia from destabilising Europe, the Caucasus, North and Sub Saharan Africa, or the Middle East. Moscow has undertaken war-like activity in NATO states…
- SDR Threat series: National Security without US guarantees · 38 min · Season 5 Episode 9President Trump might have shocked some European leaders but the writing has been on the wall for decades: European states will have to take responsibility for their own…
