Episode 18: Decisive Point or Ulcer? The Theorists on Secondary Theaters
Guest
Tim Hoyt, Kevin McCranie
Files
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Description
This episode of Strategy Matters takes up one of the recurring strategic choices of war: whether to open a secondary theater of operations. Host LtCol Brendan Neagle is joined by Dr. Tim Hoyt and Dr. Kevin McCranie for a discussion that supplements the Strategy and War’s case studies on Carl von Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, Julian Corbett, Alfred Thayer Mahan, and Mao Tse-Tung. The guests define what makes a theater “secondary” and work through how each theorist would answer that question. The conversation closes by applying these frameworks to the contemporary strategist, weighing how a military strategist should judge the line between a valuable economy-of-force effort and a sideshow that turns into an ulcer.
Guests:
Dr. Tim Hoyt is a Professor of Strategy and Policy at the U.S. Naval War College, where he holds the John Nicholas Brown Chair of Counterterrorism and serves as Academic Director and Senior Mentor of the Advanced Strategist Program. He writes extensively on great power competition, irregular warfare, and terrorism.
Dr. Kevin McCranie is the Philip A. Crowl Professor of Comparative Strategy and a former chairman of the Strategy and Policy Department at the U.S. Naval War College. He specializes in maritime history and strategy and is the author of Mahan, Corbett, and the Foundations of Naval Strategic Thought.
The opinions expressed on this podcast represent the views of the presenters and do not reflect the official position of the Department of War, The US Navy, or US Naval War College.
Episode Length
49:11
File Size
47 MB
File Format
MP3
Release Date
8-24-2026
Keywords
U.S. Naval War College, Strategy and Policy, S&P, Strategy Matters, Military History, Military Strategy, Secondary Theaters, Grand Strategy, Carl von Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, Julian Corbett, Alfred Thayer Mahan, Mao Tse-tung, Naval Strategy, Maritime Strategy, Great Power Competition
Recommended Citation
Neagle, Brendan, "Episode 18: Decisive Point or Ulcer? The Theorists on Secondary Theaters" (2026). Strategy Matters Podcast. 18.
https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/strategy-matters/18
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