Podcast
School of War
Hosted by The Free Press · EN
In School of War, CBS News National Security Analyst and Free Press columnist Aaron MacLean sits down with secretaries of state, top military historians, war planners, and key political decision-makers to help understand the lessons of war.
Tune in as School of War takes you to the front lines.
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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44episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Niall Ferguson on Cold War II and the Rise of Anti-History
4d ago01:20:58Tap to summarizeSir Niall Ferguson, Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and columnist at The Free Press, joins the show in front of a live audience to discuss the perilous moment we find ourselves in and how it all relates to history. What is the status of the Iran war? What is influencing President Donald Trump’s policymaking? How do we defeat a dangerous wave of “anti-history”? And are we on the brink of a world war, a cold war, or something in between? 03:35 - Historical analogies for today 09:51 - Short war illusion 15:14 - We’re in a Cold War II 18:12 - Putin’s essay from 2021 19:50 - Russia-Ukraine war 25:29 - The American mythos of WWII 26:58 - Anti-history 30:04 - The life work of Bill Buckley 31:37 - Return of antisemitism and socialism 32:52 - President Trump’s worldview 36:37 - The war in Iran 47:45 - The new state of warfighting 53:53 - President Trump’s treatment of Ukraine 57:17 - Risks of Taiwan conflict 01:03:57 - Limits to air power 01:06:58 - Reversal of historical revisionism 01:12:30 - Story about Aaron’s father Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more at The Free Press.
Transcribe →Grading Operation Epic Fury, with Christian Brose
1w ago00:51:42Tap to summarizeChristian Brose, president and chief strategy officer of Anduril Industries and author of The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare, joins the show to help us evaluate American performance against Iran so far and discuss the state of defense innovation in America. What is on the cutting edge? Where are we falling behind? And what happens if the war comes home? Times: 01:58 - Audit of Operation Epic Fury 05:04 - Munitions and weapons shortages 08:30 - New lower-cost weapons 10:56 - The Barracuda cruise missile system 15:04 - Lessons from the battlefield 15:41 - Missile defense systems 21:47 - Software, data, and AI 24:39 - Homeland defense 27:02 - Containerization 28:05 - Industrial capacity 31:36 - Bringing Americans back into defense manufacturing 34:43 - The defense budget 39:02 - Anduril fundraising Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more at The Free Press.
Transcribe →The New Middle Eastern Balance of Power, with Elliott Abrams
1w ago00:43:16Tap to summarizeElliott Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and chairman of the Vandenberg Coalition and the Tikvah Fund, joins the show to discuss Israel, Iran, and the new power dynamics in the Middle East. What new alliances have emerged since the chaos on October 7, 2023? How has the current war with Iran reshaped the region? With a storm of competing interests, fragile partnerships, and global stakes, can stability emerge, or is the Middle East heading toward an even wider conflict? 02:10 - Israel today 04:02- Israeli airport security 05:58 - Netanyahu’s domestic political situation 09:07 - Bibi’s secret visit to the UAE 10:15 - American military aircrafts in Israel 12:01 - Israel-UAE relationship 15:57- October 7th Middle East aftermath 17:17 - Erosion of Iranian proxies 19:20 - Israeli-Saudi relationship 20:27 - Egypt’s global decline 22:24 - Turkey’s role 29:09 - Israel-Lebanon relationship 28:30 - Hezbollah factor 32:25 - How to handle Hamas 36:31 - Iran and the future of the Strait of Hormuz Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more at The Free Press.
Transcribe →China’s War on Faith and Trump’s Trip to Beijing, with Governor Sam Brownback
2w ago00:48:54Tap to summarizeSam Brownback, former Kansas senator and governor, co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Summit, and author of China’s War on Faith, joins School of War to discuss the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of religious minorities and how its domestic oppression shapes America’s broader strategic posture toward China. How is Beijing using the digital revolution as a tool of political control? Should freedom of religion be treated as a central front in the U.S.-China rivalry? With President Trump currently in China for a summit with President Xi Jinping, the world is watching a clash that extends beyond economics and military power into a conflict over faith, freedom, and the moral future of humanity. Times: 03:25 - Trump’s China summit 05:25 - Clash of civilizations 06:18 - History of Christianity in China 08:41 - Governor’s transformative past 11:07- Systems of communism 15:53 - Chinese surveillance technology 17:22 - Peter Xu history 19:40 - Dangers of the CCP 20:53 - Treatment of religious minorities 26:12 - Technologies for oppression 29:00 - Trump’s handling of disentanglement 32:25 - American religious freedom 35:20 - The Falun Gong 37:46 - Confrontation vs. accommodation 42:59 - Story of Wang Chun Yan Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more at The Free Press.
Transcribe →Trump Heads to China: Who Has the Upper Hand? With Dan Blumenthal
2w ago00:37:48Tap to summarizeDan Blumenthal, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joins the show to discuss the president’s upcoming summit in Beijing with President Xi Jinping. What are President Trump’s goals? How will war with Iran affect the meeting? And what do these discussions mean for the future of conflict in the Indo-Pacific? 02:12 Trump’s summit with Xi Jinping 03:38 Trump’s goals at summit 04:48 China’s leverage over Iran 05:57 China’s principal interest in the Middle East 08:14 U.S. sanctions on Iran and China 10:22 China’s diversified energy imports 13:05 American-Chinese competition 15:34 Defense industrial base issues 16:03 AI factor 16:34 China’s industrial leverage 19:05 Economic showdown 24:43 The Taiwan issue 26:22 Global conflict lessons for Taiwan 28:46 Division of Taiwanese politics 31:46 Stakes for the future Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more at The Free Press.
Transcribe →America’s Coming Population Crash—and China’s, with Nicholas Eberstadt
3w ago00:54:45Tap to summarizeNicholas Eberstadt, the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute, joins School of War to discuss global population decline. What does a shrinking and aging population mean for the United States? What does it mean for China, whose demographic crisis may be even more severe? How could population decline reshape economic growth, military power, and geopolitical competition? And what happens to the international order when the world stops growing? 03:02 Population decline in America 006:15 Deaths exceeding births in the US 07:31 Global birth crash 14:49 Grounds for optimism 17:12 Small family trend 18:17 GDP relationship with population size 19:23 Individual prosperity vs. National strength 21:24 Rise in human life expectancy 24:36 Ben Carson’s prediction 27:11 Ukraine’s military revolution 30:47 American bad habits 33:48 AI and the labor market 37:25 Chinese depopulation crisis 48:50 What would a world war look like today? 51:48 US Alliance relationships Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more at The Free Press.
Transcribe →Is Trump Forcing the Strait of Hormuz Open? With Rich Goldberg and Garrett Exner
3w ago00:44:16Tap to summarizeRich Goldberg, senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and Garrett Exner, adjunct fellow at Hudson Institute, return to School of War to discuss the complicated news out of the Strait of Hormuz. What is President Donald Trump’s new plan, “Project Freedom”? Does it put the ceasefire at risk? What’s really happening in this critical waterway? Times: 02:31 - President’s statement 04:00 - Understanding Project Freedom 07:15 - Attacks against tankers 09:53 - Central Command statement 12:15 - Ceasefire breakdown 16:25 - Coordination cell or escort 18:00 - Trump buying time 20:40 - US Navy escort option 23:06 - Missile defense 24:45 - Economic impacts 27:01 - Iran under pressure 31:50 - Live news US vessel transit 34:15 - Human factor of outbound transit 37:30 - American gas production 39:28 - Predictions in America’s favor Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more at The Free Press.
Transcribe →NORAD and Protecting America From Nuclear Attack, With Lance Blythe
4w ago00:53:23Tap to summarizeLance R. Blyth, command historian of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), joins School of War to discuss the evolution of North America’s air defense. How has NORAD adapted to shifting threats over the decades? Are today’s threats manageable? Are we in a new Cold War? And what can the command, with operations deep inside a Colorado mountain, teach us about defending the continent in an era of renewed great-power competition? Times: 02:04 History of NORAD 07:02 Threats of the 1950s 13:50 Sensors, effectors, and connectors 15:15 Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) 19:45 SABRE travel system 21:14 Aerospace missile warning systems 22:07 Cheyenne Mountain Complex 24:13 NORAD in films 27:56 False missile launches 31:31 Adapting to new threats 34:23 New joint surveillance system 35:19 Importance of Canada 36:21 September 11 40:21 Operation Noble Eagle 43:00 Today’s threats Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more at The Free Press.
Transcribe →The Attempt on Trump’s Life and Political Violence in America, with Douglas Murray
4w ago00:59:12Tap to summarizeDouglas Murray, journalist and author of On Democracies and Death Cults, joins School of War to discuss the assassination attempt that we both witnessed in person at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday. Was there a lapse in appropriate security? Is political violence being normalized? Can it be contained? Times: 02:44 - White House Correspondents Dinner 04:38 - Shots fired 06:51 - Security at the dinner 09:58 - Bobby Kennedy and Erika Kirk 16:25 - Secret Service valor 17:25 - Israeli security style 19:42 - Trump’s ballroom 21:35 - The shooter’s manifesto 27:26 - Past American political violence 29:13 - Assassinations can change history 31:09 - Hitler comparison 34:47 - Civic hygiene 36:49 - Justifying violence on NYT podcast 40:22 - Echoes of the Russian Revolution 47:05 - Failure of the education system 54:23 - The melding of the president and media Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more at The Free Press.
Transcribe →How the British Army Learned to Win, with Huw Davies
Apr 2400:54:39Tap to summarizeHuw Davies, an associate dean and professor of British military history at King’s College London and author of several books, including The Wandering Army, joins School of War to discuss what the 18th-century British Army can teach us about modern warfare. How does battlefield failure drive military innovation? How did institutions of the past respond to change? And in an era of drones, autonomy, and AI, have we learned from the past, or are we destined to repeat it? Times: 02:40 18th century military enlightenment 06:30 War of the Austrian Succession 12:43 The British officer class 18:39 Tension between ancients and moderns 20:20 Discovering Sir Henry Clinton’s notebook 20:48 False caricature of the British Army 27:02 Challenges of North American warfare 29:32 Battle of the Monongahela 35:09 Importance of light infantry 38:17 Rifle evolution 39:00 Why armies resist change 43:40 Lessons for today 46:42 Human behavior in war 47:10 Learning curve of war technologies 49:11 Is Ukrainian drone warfare a turning point? Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more at The Free Press.
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