This podcast by the professors of the Strategy and Policy (S&P) Department at the U.S. Naval War College mirrors the week-to-week case studies in the S&P curricula. Strategic questions are discussed and debated, covering the case backgrounds, how the historic strategic theories match the cases, and how strategy could best be applied. Finally, the case studies are viewed against contemporary strategic global challenges.
The views presented by the faculty do not reflect official positions of the Naval War College, DON or DOD.
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
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Episode 10: Gulf War 1990-1991
Jon O'Gorman
In this episode Jon O'Gorman hosts Michael Dennis, Burack Kadercan, and Anand Toprani. They discuss oil in the Middle East as the driver of this war, why it effects the strategic calculus of the region and our viewpoints towards it from a policy perspective and as an after effect of the Carter doctrine. The conversation then moves to the problems with strategy in the war and why the services could not agree on a strategy due to factors of service parochialism and the failure of the Gold War Nichols Act to truly fix institutionalized service mindsets. They look at technology as a poor substitute for policy and strategy and also discuss Israel and the price the United States pays for having it as its ally in the region. Finally they come back to the issue of oil as the reason for long term engagement in Iraq and the middle east and what it means for the fight against ISIS.
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Episode 9: Vietnam War
Jon O'Gorman
In this episode Jon O'Gorman hosts Timothy Hoyt, John Garofano, and David Stone. They talk about civil-military relations in the Vietnam conflict and why the decision was made to escalate in the war from just an advisory mission. They discuss Red team strategy and Vietnamese nationalism as a motive force. The conversation also covers the problems of wargaming to provide insights to conflicts and dealing with corrupt regimes. Lastly, they flash forward to Afghanistan and why history repeats itself with a seemingly similar conflict ending.
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Episode 8: Korean War
Jon O'Gorman
This week Jon O'Gorman hosts John Garofano, Nicholas Sarantakes and Marc Genest as they discuss the larger context of the Korean War. The panel discusses Communist strategy and strategic aims, why a bold aggressive attack vs. a protracted insurgency as in other places in the world in the 1940s-50s, and how President Truman faced domestic and international challenges that inhibited his ability to conduct containment of communist expansion. They also delve into the reasons for the Truman/MacArthur divide and why the U.S. willingly let the General expand the war from a limited conflict to an unlimited one. They end by looking at key takeaways from the conflict.
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Episode 7: World War II in the Pacific
Jon O'Gorman
This week Jon O’Gorman asks James Holmes, Nicholas Sarantakes, and Michael Dennis their opinions on topics ranging from the Japanese decision for war, the role of technology in war, and the choice to use multiple sequential and cumulative campaigns. The discussion shifts towards today's multiple drives in a resource-constrained environment and what this means for U.S. global power against China and Russia.
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Episode 6: World War II in Europe
Jon O'Gorman
In this episode, Jon O’Gorman asks James Holmes, George Satterfield and Nicholas Sarantakes about the European theater of the Second World War. The issues they discuss range from how the war starts in its proximate and underlying causes to how the interwar period enabled the start of the war because the peace of the First War was not enforced. They also look at seapower and airpower theory and the ethics of strategic bombing in the context of this war, as well as talk about the theorists Mahan, Corbett and Douhet. Lastly the panal brings the discussion into the contemporary realm and what this war and its beginnings can tell us about the current conflict in the Ukraine.
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Episode 5: World War I
Jon O'Gorman
In this episode Jon O'Gorman talks with guests John Maurer, James Holmes and David Stone about several topics. We start with the causes of World War I and how it is easy to start a war but not stop one. We speak about the concept of peripheral strategies and if those type of cumulative campaigns can win against a continental opponent. We then look at the saltwater side of the war and how decisions at sea effect decisions made on land. We explore how Germany's strategic options both at sea and on land are limited. We discuss problems of the culminating point of victory for Germany vs. Russia and with the allies as a whole. We end with a shift to the contemporary realm and how this conflict has lessons learned and dire warnings about the war in Ukraine and the rise of communist China today.
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Episode 4: Russo-Japanese War
Jon O'Gorman
This week Jon O'Gorman asks James Holmes, Kevin McCranie, and David Stone about the Russo-Japanese war. We discuss the naval implications of this war, why countries are risk adverse when it comes to fleets and how both Mahan and Corbett see the conflict. We also look at implications of Tsushima and the Russians vs. Japanese strategic and geographical advantages/disadvantages in the concentration of its fleet. Lastly, we talk about the contemporary relevance of the conflict in 1904 on Russia's war today in Ukraine.
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Episode 3: American Revolution
Jon O'Gorman
Jon O’Gorman hosts John Maurer, George Satterfield and Marc Genest as they debate how the British might have prevented the American rebellion and how they could have crushed it once it started. Also, once the nature of the war changed with France coming in, what options did the British have then? Contemporary parallels to Afghanistan are drawn about the nature of insurgencies.
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Episode 2: Peloponnesian War
Jon O'Gorman
In this week's episode, Jon O'Gorman asks guests Michael Pavkovic, Marc Genest and Josh Hammond about the true causes of the Peloponnesian War, why the war was so difficult to bring to an end, and the failed Peace of Nicias. We end by talking about the Thucydides Trap and its relevance on the contemporary environment.
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Episode 1: Theorists
Jon O'Gorman
In this week's episode on the Theorists, Jon O'Gorman asks John Maurer, Timothy Hoyt, and Andrew "Dex" Wilson about the attributes of Clausewitz. Sun Tzu and Mao. We debate their views on strategy, where they agree/disagree or rhyme, and their thoughts on Civil-Military relations. We also bring this into the contemporary realm and debate what some of their concepts mean for Russia in the Ukraine.