School of War

Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, returns to School of War to analyze the latest military developments across the world. Why has the Iran war entered such a dangerous and uncertain phase? What role will the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea play in its next stage? And what do Iran and Ukraine reveal about the changing shape of global conflict?

02:22 - Why the Iran War Suddenly Paused

04:44 - An Uneasy Ceasefire and Dueling Blockades

05:35 - The Challenge of Escorting Ships Through Hormuz

07:19 - Why America's Convoy Strategy Isn't Working

09:15 - The Navy's Readiness Dilemma

09:59 - Blockade vs. Convoy

12:08 - Why the U.S. Must Take More Risk at Sea

14:10 - America's Munitions Problem

15:05 - The Weapons Shortages Shaping the War

16:29 - America's Drone Defense Gap

21:11 - The Electronic Warfare Deficit

23:13 - The Red Sea and the Houthi Threat

26:15 - How Iran and Ukraine Are Connected

30:37 - Russia's Options for Escalation

35:04 - Is a Long Blockade Better Than Escalation?

This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.

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Ben Milligan, a former U.S. Navy SEAL, Bronze Star recipient, and author of By Water Beneath the Walls: The Rise of the Navy SEALs, joins School of War to discuss the origins and evolution of one of America's most storied special operations forces. How did the Navy SEALs grow out of the Underwater Demolition Teams of World War II? What does it take to become a SEAL? How did the Vietnam War shape the institution into the force we know today? And what role should the SEALs play as the U.S. military shifts its focus from the war on terror to great power competition?

02:10 – Why Ben Became a SEAL

03:34 – Joining Before 9/11

05:17 – Inside BUD/S

09:17 – Who Makes It Through?

11:26 – What Elite Training Builds

14:29 – The Origins of the SEALs

23:18 – The Origins of UDT

27:10 – Korea Changes the Mission

38:06 – Birth of the SEALs

43:36 – Vietnam Transforms the SEALs

47:33 – The Capture-Kill Raid

49:50 – Lessons for the War on Terror

54:36 – Great Power Competition

56:13 – What Makes Special Operations "Special"?

59:31 – The Future of the SEALs

This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Swan, a White House reporter for The New York Times, joins School of War to discuss the reporting behind his new book, Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, co-authored with Maggie Haberman. How does Donald Trump make geopolitical decisions? What drove him to join Israel’s war against Iran? How has his thinking on Ukraine evolved? And how does China fit into all of this?

02:23 - Inside Regime Change

05:29 - Trump's View of the World

09:04 - Why Trump Sees Iran Differently

11:25 - Trump's Proxy Strategy

12:44 - Steve Witkoff's Worldview

13:43 - The Principles Behind Iran Policy

14:45 - North Korea vs. Iran

16:15 - Ron Dermer's Prediction

17:58 - Why the 12-Day War Matters

20:48 - Netanyahu's Case for War

25:20 - Trump's Inner Circle on Iran

28:01 - Trump's Turn on Ukraine

30:36 - Trump's Approach to China

31:55 - Taiwan and the China Challenge

33:16 - The Future of Trump's Foreign Policy

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast, or at The Free Press

This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System — the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at https://www.palantir.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Diggle, emeritus professor of Greek and Latin at Cambridge University, and John Underhill, professor of geoscience and energy transition at the University of Aberdeen, join School of War to discuss their decades-long search for the real Ithaca of Homer’s Odyssey. Based on their recent Antigone journal article, “In Search of Ithaca,” they explain why the island we’ve called Ithaca for centuries may actually be the wrong one. Can modern geology solve a 3,000-year-old mystery? Have we finally found the true home of Odysseus? And what would that mean for one of the greatest stories ever told?

02:44 – The mystery of Homer's Ithaca

04:45 – Can Homer be treated as history?

06:19 – The Bronze Age world of Odysseus

09:25 – Why modern Ithaca doesn't fit Homer's description

12:02 – Robert Bittlestone's hypothesis

17:15 – The geology expedition begins

23:17 – The million-euro search for Ithaca

28:37 – Disproving the original theory

31:19 – The geological breakthrough

35:09 – The discovery that changes everything

37:22 – Homer never actually calls Ithaca an island

41:24 – Solving a 3,000-year-old mystery

46:22 – Telemachus' journey finally makes sense

50:54 – Would Robert Bittlestone have agreed?

57:43 – The hidden cave

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Mike Doran, senior fellow and director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at the Hudson Institute, returns to School of War to examine why the war with Iran continues despite devastating military setbacks for Tehran. Is President Trump’s Iran strategy truly different from President Obama’s, or are the similarities overstated? What does the fight over the Strait of Hormuz reveal about the limits of American power? And what does this war tell us about the future of U.S. strategy in the Middle East—and its broader competition with China?

01:22 - Recap of the Iran War

06:03 - Iran's Leverage

09:05 - MoU Misunderstandings

12:28 - The Crux of the MoU Dispute

15:42 - The Nuclear Status Quo

17:58 - Iran's Degradation Since October 7

21:13 - The Democrats' View

22:02 - The Right's View

23:25 - Trump's "Obama-Style" Rhetoric

28:10 - Should America Reimpose the Blockade?

28:53 - The Drone and Ballistic Missile Problem

31:10 - Drone Warfare Has Changed Everything

32:01 - The Vulnerability of America's Gulf Allies

37:21 - Is the MoU Still in Effect?

39:34 - Why Nobody Is Buying Iranian Oil

46:32 - China and the Bigger Picture

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast

Find more at The Free Press.

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