School of War

The U.S. military needs more drones, and it needs to build them without Chinese parts. Today, Defense Innovation Unit Deputy Director Travis Metz joins School of War to discuss how America can build drones quickly, cheaply, and on U.S. soil; what America can learn from Ukraine’s drone war; and the Pentagon’s new billion-dollar effort to upgrade its aging military technology.

2:23 - Why America Is Behind on Drones

4:32 - The Drone Dominance Program

6:51 - Breaking Dependence on China

10:23 - The Different Types of Drones

13:34 - Ukraine’s Mid-Range Strike Revolution

16:00 - Cheap Drones at Long Range

18:47 - AI, Autonomy, and Electronic Warfare

21:47 - How Drone Dominance Works

24:33 - Building an American Drone Industry

33:55 - Lessons From Fort Benning

39:19 - Cheap and Expendable Drones

42:01 - Testing Drones for Different Missions

50:14 - The Next Phase of Drone Dominance

55:09 - How Many Drones Does America Need?

1:02:49 - Recreating Ukraine’s Innovation Cycle

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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In prerevolutionary Russia, it was not uncommon for children to dream of becoming terrorists when they grew up. “It was a respected profession,” says Northwestern University professor Gary Saul Morson, who now sees troubling parallels between modern-day America and an era in Russia when terrorism became fashionable and radicals came to see violence as an expression of moral virtue. Today, Morson joins School of War to discuss what Fyodor Dostoyevsky understood about the terrorist mind, why good people can be persuaded to support terrible acts, and what America loses when it stops teaching the history of communism in schools.

3:09 America and Revolutionary Russia
3:47 The Rise of Modern Terrorism
4:38 When Terrorism Became a Respected Profession
6:10 Why Terrorists Had So Much Power
6:22 Why Russian Liberals Failed to Oppose Terrorism
7:26 The Danger of Celebrating Political Violence
9:36 Dostoevsky’s Radical Youth
11:31 Dostoevsky’s Arrest and Mock Execution
13:15 Understanding the Psychology of Revolutionaries
14:29 How Dostoevsky Predicted Totalitarianism
17:55 Why Communism Was Worse Than the Czars
20:11 Why Liberals Must Oppose Extremism
22:02 The Psychology of Left-Wing Totalitarianism
24:53 What Young People Don’t Know About Communism
28:16 How Good People Come to Support Evil
34:06 What Left and Right-Wing Extremists Have in Common
36:17 How Do We Fight Political Extremism?

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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Pennsylvania senator Dave McCormick, a West Point graduate, Desert Storm veteran, and former CEO of Bridgewater Associates, is concerned about America’s wealth gap, which he says is approaching “a version of capitalism I don’t think we want.” Today, McCormick joins School of War for a candid conversation about why the right needs a better answer to socialism, lessons in modern warfare from his recent closed-door meeting with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky, and why he regrets his 2002 LA Times op-ed supporting the Iraq War: “I was completely wrong.”

02:01 — From Desert Storm to Princeton

05:05 — Nine Months Traveling the World

06:58 — The “End of History” and the Return of Socialism

08:00 — Can America Remain the World’s Superpower?

09:47 — Is the U.S. Military Stuck in the Past?

12:27 — What Ukraine Is Teaching America About Modern Warfare

13:41 — Rebuilding America’s Defense Industrial Base

17:15 — America’s AI Race With China

22:56 — How AI Will Transform American Jobs

24:03 — Wealth Inequality and the Future of Capitalism

25:56 — Why Socialism Is Appealing to Young Americans

30:52 — The Fight Over AI Data Centers

35:05 — Iran and the Future of the Middle East

41:17 — McCormick: “I Was Completely Wrong” About Iraq

44:08 — Balancing Iran With the Threat From China

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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Is the tank obsolete? As drones and precision strikes transform modern battlefields, some have predicted that armored vehicles may soon meet the fate of the cavalry charge. Today on School of War, Colonel Jose A. Reyes and Lieutenant Colonel David “Cam” Smith of the 1st Cavalry Division make the opposite case. Drawing on their experience operating and commanding tanks, they join Aaron MacLean to explain how armored vehicles are adapting to an increasingly drone-centric battlefield—and why the future of warfare may still belong to the cavalry.

3:18 — Reyes and Smith’s Backgrounds

8:40 — The History of Tanks and Maneuver

11:15 — Is the Tank Obsolete?

12:43 — “The Tank Is Alive and Well”

15:17 — Combined Arms at Every Echelon

20:12 — Transforming Armored Warfare

27:02 — The Battlefield Data Problem

30:01 — Ukrainian Innovation and Battlefield Data

33:25 — Electronic Warfare and FPV Drones

38:13 — Cheap Drones and the Cost of Defense

42:44 — Armor and the Problem of Attrition

43:49 — The Future of Unmanned Armor

46:51 — Unmanned Resupply and Medevac

48:25 — Casualty Evacuation in Ukraine

52:16 — What the Army Needs Next

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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As war in Ukraine grinds towards its fifth year and tensions strain the transatlantic alliance, former British prime minister Boris Johnson says he remains convinced that the West has the power to prevail: “Putin has got to lose.” Today, Johnson joins School of War to discuss how the West can bring the Russian president to the negotiating table, why Europe’s dream of “strategic autonomy” is a “sham, a snare and a delusion,” and why he believes predictions of American decline and Chinese dominance have it backward.

02:20 — When Boris Johnson Knew Putin Would Invade Ukraine

05:46 — Why Europe Didn’t Believe an Invasion Was Coming

09:12 — Did Boris Johnson Stop a Ukraine-Russia Peace Deal?

11:19 — Could Ukraine Trade Land for Peace?

13:43 — What Johnson Saw on Ukraine’s Front Lines

17:06 — How Economic Warfare Could Pressure Putin

18:00 — “Putin Has Got to Lose”

20:00 — The Growing Divide Between America and Europe

22:19 — Can Britain Still Defend Itself?

26:20 — JD Vance’s Critique of Europe

30:12 — Britain, Free Speech, and the Culture War

34:39 — Can Europe Achieve “Strategic Autonomy”?

39:07 — Why America Should Still Care About NATO

41:01 — The Fight Over the Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia

46:12 — Why Johnson Is Still Betting on America Over China

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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