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John Amble is the Editorial Director of the Modern War Institute at West Point and Co-Director of the Urban Warfare Project. He is also a military intelligence officer in the U.S. Army Reserve and a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan. Before assuming his current role, John served as managing editor of War on the Rocks, a digital media outlet featuring commentary on global security, foreign affairs, and strategy. He holds a BA from the University of Minnesota and an MA in Intelligence and International Security from King's College London, where he also conducted PhD research in the Middle Eastern Studies program. He has been featured in print and broadcast media in the United States, Canada, and the Middle East, and his work has appeared in various academic journals and other outlets. He also is the co-editor of Strategy Strikes Back: How Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict, which was released by Potomac Books in 2018. He researches and writes primarily on terrorism, intelligence, the Middle East, and the military. We should note, the views that John shares with us today are his alone and do not necessarily represent West Point, the U.S. Army, or the Department of Defense.
Daily Dad Jokes (04 Jan 2024) Email Newsletter: Looking for more dad joke humour to share? Then subscribe to our new weekly email newsletter. It's our weekly round-up of the best dad jokes, memes, and humor for you to enjoy. Spread the laughs, and groans, and sign up today! Click here to subscribe ! Listen to the Daily Dad Jokes podcast here: https://dailydadjokespodcast.com/ or search "Daily Dad Jokes" in your podcast app. Interested in Business and Finance news? Then listen to our sister show: The Daily Business and Finance Show. Check out the website here or search "Daily Business and Finance Show" in your podcast app. Jokes sourced and curated from reddit.com/r/dadjokes. Joke credits: TentativeGosling, DrawerInternal1017, Significant-Ad-8684, adderall5, ilikesidehugs, WorstMathTeacher, TheQuietKid22, ilikesidehugs, NoLongerGage, Frank-Dr3bin, genxfrom66, , paulvs88, crowbar_k, TheQuietKid22, John_Amble, TeaVinylGod, -Rhyvinn-, jkmurray777, Slim-Trim1, chunderbun, -Rhyvinn-, GroovyPanda89 Subscribe to this podcast via: Spotify iTunes Google Podcasts Youtube Channel Social media: Instagram Facebook Twitter Tik Tok Discord Interested in advertising or sponsoring our show with +15k daily streams? Contact us at mediasales@klassicstudios.com Produced by Klassic Studios using AutoGen Podcast technology (http://klassicstudios.com/autogen-podcasts/) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Ryan sat down with John Amble of the Modern War Institute to unpack the challenges Israel is likely to face in Gaza; Israel's world-renowned urban warfare training facilities; comparisons with other battles in cities such as those that took place in the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Mosul; and how the initial Hamas attack overwhelmed Israel's preparations to defend itself. John and Ryan close by reflecting on how three Islamist militant groups have shocked the world and armies that were, on paper, better prepared than they were: the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Islamic State in Iraq, and now Hamas in Israel and Gaza.
Arctic geopolitics are characterized by features that set the region apart from others. Eveything from governance structures to the way Arctic states engage with one another to the way they tackle shared challenges and address disputes—these all look different in the Arctic than elsewhere. But Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine led to a disruption in Arctic engagement, with the seven other Arctic states suspending participation in Arctic Council activities for the duration of Russia's chairmanship of the organization. This raises important questions: Is a return to engagement and cooperation even possible in the future? And what are the long-term implications of halting engagement likely to be? To explore these tricky issues and better understand Russian, American, and other stakeholders' strategic interests in the region, John Amble is joined on this episode by Dr. Elizabeth Buchanan, codirector of MWI's Project 6633 and the author of a new book, Red Arctic: Russian Strategy Under Putin.
In this episode, John Amble speaks with Chris Dougherty of the Center for a New American Security. He and his colleagues have conducted a wargame that sought to identify what strategic options the United States and Taiwan have to deter a particular fait accompli move by China against Taiwan. What they concluded was that the best option is something they describe as “the poison frog strategy.” Listen as he describes what that entails, and why it's the most viable means of implementing deterrence against China.
One year ago this week, Russian forces invaded Ukraine. Twelve months on, how should we think about the way the war has taken shape? What lessons about modern war should we be learning? What assumptions about the modern battlefield has the conflict challenged, and what assumptions has it reinforced? And what features will characterize the war in the months ahead? In this episode, John Amble is joined by retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan. With decades of military and leadership experience, he has been one of the sharpest and most insightful observers of the war in Ukraine. Listen as he describes his views of the conflict so far and illuminates what we might expect as the war enters its second year.
In this episode, John Amble speaks to Sandor Fabian about a very specific approach to national defense: resistance. The war in Ukraine has made clear that comparatively small states can be vulnerable to the threat of aggression from larger neighbors. Resistance, Sandor argues, is the most viable means of defense for these states. But effectively embracing it as a strategic approach would require dramatic changes in force structure, training, equipment, doctrine, and more. And if small US allies choose to do so, it would have important implications for US special operations forces and for NATO.
We're thrilled to announce a new podcast, launched in partnership with West Point's Department of Social Sciences, called Social Science of War. Each episode will leverage a unique strength of the department—pairing deep practical experience with leading scholarship—to tackle subjects of importance to the Army. In this episode, John Amble speaks briefly to Colonel Heidi Demarest, acting head of the Department of Social Sciences, and Major Kyle Atwell, who teaches in the department and will serve as the host for season one of the new podcast. After introducing the show, you'll hear the very first episode in its entirety, in which Kyle is joined by retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, former commander of US Army Europe, and Dr. Rob Person, an associate professor of international affairs at West Point. They explore what the Army should be learning about the future of land warfare from the ongoing war in Ukraine. Enjoy the conversation and be sure to subscribe to Social Science of War wherever you listen to podcasts!
As the US Space Force nears its third birthday, John Amble is joined by Dr. Moriba Jah on this episode to explore just how crowded the space domain is—especially with the surprising amount of detritus created over more than six decades of the Space Age. Dr. Jah is an aerospace engineer who has worked for NASA and the Air Force Research Laboratory. He is now an associate professor at the University of Texas, where he monitors space and works to track thousands of objects—a number that continues to grow—orbiting Earth.
How does cyberspace differ from the other warfighting domains—land, sea, air, and space? What challenges do those differences pose? Does cyber require unique approaches to talent manage to ensure the US military can recruit, promote, and retain the talent it needs? What resources are needed to effectively compete in cyberspace, and are those different from the resources necessary for a conflict scenario? How would the cyber dimension of a modern war play out, and are there lessons from the ongoing war in Ukraine that illuminate this question? In this episode, John Amble is joined by Captain Maggie Smith, PhD, and Dr. Erica Lonergan of the Army Cyber Institute to explore these questions and others. For more analysis on a wide range of cyber-related topics, check out the Competition in Cyberspace Project, a joint initiative of the Modern War Institute and the Army Cyber Institute.
While Ukrainian forces have fought to defend against Russia's invasion since February, the war's conduct has been influenced by international involvement—namely, the supply of weapons and equipment Ukraine has received from its foreign supporters. But as the United States, its European allies, and other countries around the world have offered military assistance, they have also been active on another front: putting in place a massive sanctions regime targeting Russia. That's the subject this episode explores. John Amble is joined by Edward Fishman, a former government official who worked extensively on sanctions policy and is now an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
The decisions by the governments of Sweden and Finland to apply to join NATO mark a major departure from both countries' longstanding policies of nonalignment. But how, specifically, will it affect these countries’ defense capabilities—and those of NATO? How much needs to be done to achieve interoperability? And most fundamentally, while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine clearly triggered these decisions, why did both countries make this major decision at this particular moment? To unpack those questions and many more, John Amble is joined on this episode by Rasmus Hindren, the head of international relations at the European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, a senior nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council, and an experienced defense policy practitionerin his home country of Finland.
Almost every listener will be familiar with the Turkish-made TB-2 Bayraktar drone. Most will have seen the many reports of its operational effectiveness in the hands of Ukrainian forces defending against Russia's invasion of their country. But beyond that media coverage, the story of the drone's development, its particular capabilities, and its performance not just in Ukraine but in other recent conflict, as well, is an interesting one. To discuss these topics and explore the broader implications of the TB-2's effectiveness in Ukraine, John Amble is joined on this episode by Dr. Can Kasapoglu, director of the Security and Defense Studies Program at EDAM, a Turkish think tank, and a nonresident fellow at the Jamestown Foundation.
Hypersonic missiles have become an increasingly frequent focus of defense and security discussions in recent years and the subject of growing public attention. But what truly sets them apart, beyond just velocity, from existing missile technology? Do they represent a game changer on the strategic landscape, or are they better understood as just an evolutionary step in missile development? What implications do they have from a defense perspective? To address those questions, John Amble is joined on this episode by Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
This episode of the MWI Podcast tackles the topic of no-fly zones. Almost immediately after Russian forces invaded Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy began calling for a no-fly zone to be implemented over his country to negate the effects of Russian airpower. It’s a call that NATO leaders have resisted. To discuss why, and to offer a very unique perspective on what putting a no-fly zone in place actually entails, John Amble is joined by retired US Air Force Colonel Mike Pietrucha, a veteran aviator with extensive combat experience—including taking part in the enforcement of no-fly zones over both northern and southern Iraq and in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
What did we learn about modern war in 2021? What issues defined the most important conversations in defense circles? In this special year-end episode of the MWI Podcast, John Amble speaks to the directors of MWI's four themed projects, each aimed at advancing our understanding of a particular aspect of modern war—the Urban Warfare Project, the Irregular Warfare Initiative, Project 6633, and Shield Notes—along with one of the curators of the Full Spectrum series of articles on cyber and information operations that we published this year. They explain the events that were most significant in the past year, the topics that garnered the most attention, and what they expect for 2022.
Recently, large numbers of Russian military forces have been moved to areas near Russia's border with Ukraine. This has set off a wave of reporting and analysis about what it likely means. But there’s a considerable degree of nuance and substantial context that both need to be accounted for to best understand what the troop movements indicate, to predict what comes next, and to identify what strategic options are available to the united States and NATO. To examine all of that in this episode of the MWI Podcast, John Amble is joined by Michael Kofman, the director of the Russia Studies Program at the Center for Naval Analyses.
In this episode, John Amble speaks with Chris Dougherty of the Center for a New American Security. He and his colleagues recently conducted a wargame that sought to identify what strategic options the United States and Taiwan have to deter a particular fait accompli move by China against Taiwan. What they found as the best option is something they describe as “the poison frog strategy.” Listen as he describes what that entails, and why it's the most viable means of implementing deterrence against China.
In this episode, John Amble speaks to Sandor Fabian about a very specific approach to national defense: resistance. Specifically, Sandor argues that resistance is the most viable means of defense for small states facing the threat of aggression from a larger neighbor. But effectively embracing it as a strategic approach would require dramatic changes in force structure, training, equipment, doctrine, and more. And if small US allies choose to do so, it would have important implications for US special operations forces and for NATO.
In this episode, John Amble speaks to Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau. A key pillar of the US defense enterprise, the National Guard is also fundamentally unique. Composed of fifty-four separate entities, it is inherently joint given its Army and Air Force components. It must also balance two, parallel missions—both as a source of combat capability for the joint force and a mechanism to respond to a wide range of emergencies domestically. After twenty years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, this conversation explores what the future holds for the National Guard.
President Joe Biden recently made his first trip to Europe. Between meetings with G-7 leaders and a bilateral meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, he attended his first NATO summit. Those events offer an opportunity to assess issues of European security, and specifically the current state of NATO. To do so, John Amble is joined in this episode by Lauren Speranza, director of transatlantic defense and security at the Center for European Policy Analysis.
In this episode of the MWI Podcast, MWI's John Amble speaks to James Verini. An award-winning journalist, he spent months reporting from Mosul as Iraqi forces, backed by US troops, fought to retake the city from Mosul. In the conversation, he not only discusses the fighting he reported on, but also offers important context about Mosul, its people, and its history—all of which is crucial to make sense of urban conflict. As he describes, Mosul also shows how urban conflict's destructive nature and political instability interact with one another in important ways. That is equally true in other sites of recent urban conflict, including during the outbreak of fighting in recent weeks between Israel and Hamas in Gaza City.
In this episode of The Spear, MWI's John Amble is joined by Maj. Tyson Walsh. In 2013, during a deployment in Afghanistan, he found himself fighting hand to hand against an enemy combatant in an unexpected place: inside the heavily secured Bagram Airfield, the largest US and coalition base in the country. Listen as he tells one of the most intense stories we have featured.
Books mentioned on the show:Campbell, Joseph and Bill Moyers. The Power Of Myth. New York, NY: Anchor Books, 1991.Campbell, Joseph. The Hero With a Thousand Faces. New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 1949.Brooks, Max and John Amble, ML Cavanaugh and Jaym Gates. Winning Westeros: How Game of Thrones Explains Modern Military Conflict. Lincoln, NE: Potomac Books, 2019.Clegg, Brian. Ten Billion Tomorrows: How Science Fiction Technology Became Reality and Shapes the Future. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 2015. Intro and Outro music composed and performed by Greg Mutersbaugh.
In this episode, MWI's John Amble speaks to Robert Work, former deputy secretary of defense. He describes his expectations for the future of conflict, including the role unmanned and autonomous systems are likely to play, how the way the military acquires new equipment will change, and more. Note: This episode was originally recorded and released in 2019.
In this episode of the Modern War Institute podcast, MWI editorial director John Amble speaks to Dr. James Giordano, the Chief of the Neuroethics Studies Program at Georgetown University and Scholar-in-Residence in the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics. Dr. Giordano discusses the rapid pace of advancement in neuroscience and neurotechnology—and what that advancement means for the future of war.
In this episode of the MWI Podcast, John Amble talks to Dr. Moriba Jah, an aerospace engineer who has worked for NASA and the Air Force Research Laboratory. He is now an associate professor at the University of Texas, where he monitors space and works to track thousands of objects—a number that continues to grow—orbiting Earth. Note: This episode was originally released in May 2019.
"The problem with classic military texts like Clausewitz and Sun Tzu is that they’re total snooze-fests" The post #WavellReviews ‘Strategy Strikes Back: How Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict’ edited by Max Brooks, John Amble, ML Cavanaugh and Jaym Gates appeared first on Wavell Room.
In this episode of the Modern War Institute Podcast, John Amble is joined by Rebecca Lissner and Mira Rapp-Hooper, authors of the new book An Open World: How America Can Win the Contest for Twenty-First-Century Order. Amid global power shifts and a changing world order, as well as tumultuous domestic political dynamics and rapid technological change, they make the case that US success in the decades to come will hinge on policymakers' pursuit of openness as a defining characteristic of American grand strategy.
In this episode of The Spear, MWI's John Amble is joined by Maj. Jacob Absalon. He shares a story from his first deployment, as a lieutenant and platoon leader in eastern Afghanistan. Toward the end of a five-day operation, after meeting with a local key leader, the platoon and a partnered Afghan National Army force came under fire from two enemy positions. He tells the story of the fight that ensued—and what came next.
In this episode of the MWI Podcast, John Amble is joined by Dr. Casey Wardynski, the assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs. He talks about a range of topics, from how the Army is adapting to recruit and retain the right people in a changing economic and social landscape to the latest developments in the Army's plans for a new talent management system.
In this episode of the MWI Podcast, John Amble talks to Dr. Moriba Jah, an aerospace engineer who has worked for NASA and the Air Force Research Laboratory. He is now an associate professor at the University of Texas, where he monitors space and works to track thousands of objects—a number that continues to grow—orbiting Earth.
We’re turning this week’s show over to Federal News Network’s Jason Miller, who recently talked to several experts about a recently-released DIA report that listed more than three dozen research reports the agency funded as part of something called the Advanced Aerospace Threat and Identification Program. The technologies ranged from the somewhat-plausible to physics-defying. On the far end of the spectrum: manipulation of other dimensions, “warp” propulsion, and travel through wormholes. Jason talked to three S&T observers about the value of these sorts of projects: Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists, whose FOIA request uncovered the list in the first place; August Cole, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council; and John Amble from West Point’s Modern War Institute.
In this episode, John Amble is joined by retired Maj. Gen. David Fastabend and Mr. Ian Sullivan. Both have been heavily involved with initiatives to conceptualize the future of warfare for the Army's Training and Doctrine Command, where Sullivan is the assistant G-2 for ISR and futures. They talk through a range of emerging and future technologies and how they will impact the way we fight the wars of tomorrow.
In this episode of the Modern War Institute podcast, MWI editorial director John Amble speaks to Dr. James Giordano, the Chief of the Neuroethics Studies Program at Georgetown University and Scholar-in-Residence in the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics. Dr. Giordano discusses the rapid pace of advancement in neuroscience and neurotechnology—and what that advancement means for the future of war.
In this episode of the Modern War Institute podcast, MWI editorial director John Amble speaks to Dr. Russell Glenn, a senior adviser for plans and policy to the deputy chief of staff, G-2, of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command. Dr. Glenn has spent nearly 25 years studying the city as a battlefield. During this conversation, he discusses the challenges it poses and what the US military should be doing to prepare to operate effectively in dense urban in the future.
In Episode VII of the Strategy Strikes Back podcast, John Amble talks to Major General Mick Ryan, commander of the Australian Defence College, about his chapter, "How Not to Build an Army: The Empire's Flawed Military Force," in Strategy Strikes Back: How Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict.
In Episode V of the Strategy Strikes Back podcast, John Amble speaks with Max Brooks, best-selling author and co-editor of Strategy Strikes Back: How Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict. Max talks about his contribution to the book: "The Case for Planet Building on Endor."
John Amble, co-editor of the book Strategy Strikes Back: How Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict, hosts Episode I of the Strategy Strikes Back podcast. Matt Cavanaugh, another co-editor of the book and the driving force behind it, joins to explain why he believes the Star Wars films offer an incredible tool with which to examine real-world issues of war.
In this episode, John Amble is joined by retired Maj. Gen. David Fastabend and Mr. Ian Sullivan. Both have been heavily involved with initiatives to conceptualize the future of warfare for the Army's Training and Doctrine Command, where Sullivan is the assistant G-2 for ISR and futures. They talk through a range of emerging and future technologies and how they will impact the way we fight the wars of tomorrow.
In this episode of the Modern War Institute podcast, MWI editorial director John Amble speaks to Dr. Russell Glenn, a senior adviser for plans and policy to the deputy chief of staff, G-2, of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command. Dr. Glenn has spent nearly 25 years studying the city as a battlefield. During this conversation, he discusses the challenges it poses and what the US military should be doing to prepare to operate effectively in dense urban in the future.
In this episode of the Modern War Institute podcast, MWI editorial director John Amble speaks to Dr. James Giordano, the Chief of the Neuroethics Studies Program at Georgetown University and Scholar-in-Residence in the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics. Dr. Giordano discusses the rapid pace of advancement in neuroscience and neurotechnology—and what that advancement means for the future of war.
In today's podcast, John Amble talks to August Cole of the Atlantic Council's Art of Future Warfare project and B.J. Armstrong, a historian and naval officer, about how we approach the critical task of forecasting the future of warfare. In the discussion, we examine the comparative merits of history and fiction as sources of lessons with which to understand, make predictions about, and prepare for warfare in the future. Somewhat sadly, this podcast's title isn't entirely accurate. This is one of those rare War on the Rocks podcasts that we did not record over drinks. I trust you'll make up for our shortcoming in this respect by imbibing on our behalf while you listen. Buy August's book, Ghost Fleet, and B.J.'s book, 21st Century Sims. B.J.'s opinions, of course, do not represent those of the U.S. Navy or the Department of Defense. Photo credit: k rupp (adapted by WOTR)
We got together a great panel of experts to talk all things cybersecurity, with a little bit of ClintonEmail.com and comedy troupes mixed in. Listen here to Jason Healey of the Atlantic Council, Shane Harris of The Daily Beast, and John Amble and Mark Stout, both of War on the Rocks, as they talk about cyber over drinks. (And yes, only Jason had a Sazerac, but alliteration won out over absolute accuracy. We trust you'll forgive us.) Image Credit: Paul Hartzog, CC