War on the Rocks

Lt. Gen. (ret.) Francis Beaudette, former commanding general of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, joins Ryan to discuss how his family history, service, and books shaped his path into and time in the Army...

Ukraine's expanding use of drones at all ranges has changed the war's momentum. This episode examines how Kyiv is reaching deeper into Russian territory, disrupting operations and logistics as well as energy...

Last fall, the U.S. Marine Corps had virtually no first-person view attack drones. That's changed quickly. This episode is about how a team of marines at Weapons Training Battalion at Quantico went from a cold start to...

When is the risk of war the highest? And what should the United States be doing about it? One of the most important but underappreciated questions in international politics is how states think about the future balance...

Rose Gottemoeller joined Ryan in Washington. They discussed how the West might think about relations with Russia once the war with Ukraine ends, as well as nuclear diplomacy and other critical issues. Gottemoeller was...

Gen. Frank Donovan, commander of U.S. Southern Command, sat down with Ryan to discuss the vision behind the command's new Autonomous Warfare Command and what it signals for the future of military operations in the...

Hungary has turned the page. After 16 years of rule by Viktor Orbán, opposition leader Péter Magyar has emerged as the winner by a landslide. Ryan is joined by Sándor Ésik, the lawyer and writer behind the Hungarian...

Michael Kofman joined Ryan at a live event earlier this year to discuss the performance of American defense technology in Ukraine and why it often falls short. They examine the challenges of fielding and iterating...

Michael Kofman joins Ryan to unpack the current state of the Russo-Ukrainian War after his recent trip to the front. They examine how drone warfare has transformed the battlefield into a dispersed contest over a vast...

Two retired U.S. admirals with deep experience at sea and in the air joined Ryan to discuss the military challenge of reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Adm. (ret.) Jamie Foggo and Vice Adm. (ret.) John "Fozzie" Miller...

On this special, crossover episode of our members-only armed services podcasts, some of our hosts sat down to discuss their experiences with indirect fire and bombardment. With the ongoing conflict in the Middle East...

What does it take to rebuild the foundation of American military power? Michael Cadenazzi, assistant secretary of defense for industrial base policy, joined Ryan at a live event a few weeks back for a fascinating...

China's top military leadership has been shaken by a new round of purges at the highest level, raising urgent questions about loyalty, corruption, and combat readiness. What do these removals, and especially the purge...

On this special, free episode of Marine Pulse, Ian Brown sat down with two Marines who recount their mission at Hamid Karzai International Airport on the day of the suicide bombing attack at the Abbey gate during the...

The Iranian regime has crushed the latest wave of protests through brute force, but the regime's survival comes at a cost. It now confronts a volatile mix of domestic opposition, weakened regional proxies, and years of...