Ep 242: Michael Sobolik on On Donald Trump’s Trade War with China
Michael Sobolik, senior fellow at Hudson Institute and author of Countering China’s Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance, joins the show to discuss the current state of relations between the U.S. and China as Xi Jinping and Donald Trump are scheduled to meet in South Korea next week.
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00:00 The Broader Competition: US-China Relations
02:51 Trump's Trade Strategy: A Historical Perspective
09:35 China's Strategic Objectives: Beyond Economics
14:16 Xi Jinping's Goals: The Summit Agenda
18:20 Export Controls: A New Era of Trade Tensions
22:36 The Stakes of No Deal: Economic and Strategic Implications
26:35 Decoupling from China: Challenges and Opportunities
33:05 Defining a Good Deal: Beyond Trade
37:22 TikTok: The Information Warfare Front
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Ep 241: Julian Jackson on Nazi-Occupied France and Pétain
Julian Jackson, Emeritus Professor of Modern French History at Queen Mary University of London and author of France on Trial: The Case of Marshal Pétain, joins the show to discuss the rise and fall of “the Lion of Verdun”; Philippe Pétain.
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01:06 Introduction
01:53 How Pétain became the “Hero of France” in WW1
11:32 France sues for peace with Germany in 1940
18:52 The legality of the armistice
27:49 Churchill’s take on the armistice
33:48 What Was Vichy France?
41:43 Vichy’s treatment of the Jews
53:05 Distancing France from extermination
58:13 Why does Pétain stay a servant to the Nazis
01:07:38 Vichy and Pétain on trial today
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Ep 240: Lance R. Blyth on Mountain Warfare
Lance R. Blyth, command historian at the North American Aerospace Defense Command and author of Ski, Climb, Fight: The 10th Mountain Division and the Rise of Mountain Warfare, joins the show to discuss the history and tactics of fighting at altitude.
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• 01:31 Introduction
• 01:41 Marine
• 04:55 L.A. riots
• 07:22 From horses to skis
• 10:13 Antecedents
• 13:56 Advantage
• 15:40 The Germans
• 17:55 The Winter War
• 22:51 French surrender
• 25:58 Specialized divisions
• 31:37 Volunteers
• 33:49 Training
• 36:50 Delay and Italy
• 42:16 No doctrine
• 45:29 The Gothic Line
• 52:00 Success
• 55:35 Afghanistan
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Ep 239: Charles C. Mann on How the System Works
Charles C. Mann, author of “How the System Works” in The New Atlantis, joins the show to discuss the complexity and vulnerability of the hidden processes that sustain human life on our planet.
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• 01:49 Introduction
• 02:31 Interconnected
• 05:43 Medical care
• 09:20 Feeding humanity
• 11:56 Three advances
• 20:42 Water
• 26:34 Energy
• 36:05 Keeping pace
• 38:35 Hurdles
• 41:12 Solutions
• 45:26 Public health
• 56:38 Concerns
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Ep 238: James Titterton on Medieval Deception
James Titterton, historian and author of Deception in Medieval Warfare: Trickery and Cunning in the Central Middle Ages, joins the show to discuss strategies and stratagems in the age of castles and knights.
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• 01:29 Introduction
• 02:18 High Middle Ages
• 09:03 Oathbreakers
• 12:01 Sources
• 16:21 Doctrine
• 22:07 Bribery
• 31:23 Spies and feints
• 39:26 Plausibility
• 42:19 Professionals
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This podcast seeks to learn what war teaches. There has been a steady decline in the study of military history and its associated theoretical discipline, strategy.This podcast seeks to fill that gap through in-depth interviews on military and diplomatic history. Our guests have included former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Cold War historian John Lewis Gaddis, and former China Select Committee chairman Mike Gallagher. We discuss the battlefield commanders, diplomats, strategists, policymakers, and statesmen who have had to make wartime decisions in the ancient and modern eras. The subject of an episode may be an historical battle, campaign, or conflict; the conduct of policy in the course of a major international incident; the work of a famous strategist; the nature of a famous weapon; or the legacy of an important military commander or political leader.
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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