A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast

Usually Michael Neiberg is the interviewer in our ON WRITING series. In this episode he sits down with podcast editor Ron Granieri as the interviewee. They're talking about his new book When France Fell: The Vichy Crisis and the Fate of the Anglo-American Alliance. The two examine the conflict between Free and Vichy France and the interaction with the Allies in the early days and throughout World War II. They discuss relationships rife with bad assumptions, mistrust, failed promises and difficult personalities which leads to a much better understanding of the United States' dealings with its oldest ally.

The WAR ROOM Staff learned of the recent loss of one of the great thinkers in the world of strategic thought. Colonel (retired) Arthur F. Lykke was a faculty instructor in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College in the late 80's and nearly 35 years ago he introduced the national security world to three little words - END, WAYS and MEANS. Art left us in the final weekend of November 2021 but we were fortunate enough to sit down and talk with him as he shared his thinking behind the now famous three-legged stool that every serious military thinker, statesperson and strategic leader has contemplated, critiqued, discussed or implemented in the course of their studies and duties. We offer this special re-release of part 2 of the 2-part podcast with him in honor of his contribution to strategy. Until we meet again Art, thank you.

The WAR ROOM Staff learned of the recent loss of one of the great thinkers in the world of strategic thought. Colonel (retired) Arthur F. Lykke was a faculty instructor in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College in the late 80's and nearly 35 years ago he introduced the national security world to three little words - END, WAYS and MEANS. Art left us in the final weekend of November 2021 but we were fortunate enough to sit down and talk with him as he shared his thinking behind the now famous three-legged stool that every serious military thinker, statesperson and strategic leader has contemplated, critiqued, discussed or implemented in the course of their studies and duties. We offer this special re-release of part 1 of the 2-part podcast with him in honor of his contribution to strategy. Until we meet again Art, thank you.

Since its birth, the United States has benefited from the protection of two vast oceans to the east and west. The events of 9/11, of course, brought new attention to the defense of the homeland and recent cyber attacks redefined thoughts of secure borders. A BETTER PEACE welcomes Matt Cavanaugh, Franky Matisek and Bert Tussing to the virtual studio to discuss their part in the Homeland Defense Institute. They join podcast editor Ron Granieri to examine how information is being used to divide and attack the civilian population. They look at examples of cyber attacks and the use of misinformation in Eastern Europe and discuss how Information as a part of DIME has come to the forefront in the cyber age.

WAR ROOM has presented our readers and listeners with a number of discussions in the past on Women in Peace and Security. In this episode our Editor-in-Chief, Jacqueline Whitt sits down in the virtual studio with Lauren Buitta, founder and CEO of Girl Security. Lauren began her career as a policy analyst in 2003, and she quickly recognized the underrepresentation of women in the national security arena. In response, she launched Girl Security - the only organization dedicated to advancing girls, women, and gender minorities in national security through supportive pathways. Their conversation includes the barriers young women encounter as well as the incredibly successful mentorship program Girl Security has developed to counter mindsets and misrepresentations.

What is readiness? The state of being fully prepared for something? But what is that something? And what does fully prepared mean or more importantly cost? The military has used readiness as a metric of success for years driving budgets and training and acquisition efforts across the force. A BETTER PEACE welcomes our own Tom Galvin to discuss the War College's latest look at readiness. He joins podcast editor Ron Granieri in the virtual studio to discuss what he has termed enterprise readiness. The topic spans ideas such as intellectual readiness, strategic agility, large scale warfare and the role of national readiness and nesting into the the country's strategic communications. The publications referenced in this episode can be found here in the Practitioner's Corner. - https://publications.armywarcollege.edu/publication.cfm?categoryID=30

A little over two years ago we sat down with the students and advisors of Integrated Research Project (IRP) #6. Their task was to examine leadership development requirements in the multi-domain operations environment in the year 2040. Due to a hardware malfunction we thought we had lost the recordings of these conversations, but just recently we were able to recover the files. Though the conversation has a couple of dated references, we thought the topic was still worth airing. A BETTER PEACE is happy to welcome Chance Geray, Tim Monroe and Jason Schmidt to the studio for the last of three episodes to discuss what the team found looking forward twenty years. In this final episode they tie together all of the research findings from the IRP. They look at current leadership development trends, the challenges of the future battle environment and what has to be done to ensure that the U.S. continues to have the most capable leaders for tomorrow. They’ll lay the foundation for the changes necessary to ensure U.S. military leadership is prepared for future warfare and peacekeeping.

In the last episode we introduced you to Integrated Research Project (IRP) #6. A little over two years ago we sat down with the students and advisors of the study to examine leadership development requirements in the multi-domain operations environment in the year 2040. Due to a hardware malfunction we thought we had lost the recordings of these conversations, but just recently we were able to recover the files. Though the conversation has a couple of dated references, we thought the topic was definitely worth airing. A BETTER PEACE welcomes Jason Schmidt, Rick O'Donnell and Greg Hillebrand to the studio for the second of three episodes to discuss what the team found looking forward twenty years. In this episode they look at how the military has traditionally developed leaders and current trends in that arena. They consider what will still apply in the future and what has to be added to ensure U.S. military leadership is prepared for the challenges of future warfare and peacekeeping.

A little over two years ago we sat down with the students and advisors of Integrated Research Project (IRP) #6. Their task was to examine leadership development requirements in the multi-domain operations environment in the year 2040. Due to a hardware malfunction we thought we had lost the recordings of these conversations, but just recently we were able to recover the files. Though the conversation has a couple of dated references, we thought the topic was definitely worth airing. A BETTER PEACE is happy to welcome Greg Hillebrand, Tim Monroe, and Chance Geray to the studio for the first of three episodes to discuss what the team found looking forward twenty years. In this first episode they look at some of the biggest changes in the environment that will affect leadership requirements of the future. They’ll lay the foundation for the changes necessary to ensure U.S. military leadership is prepared for the challenges of future warfare and peacekeeping.

Every year the U.S. Army seeks out 125,000 to 140,000 new recruits to maintain the desired end strength and capability of the force. In order to do that the Army Enterprise Marketing Office has to craft a message that appeals to a broad audience across the shrinking qualified U.S. population. All the while the Army has to compete with the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines and now the Space Force also trying to attract the most qualified recruits from the U.S. citizenry. A BETTER PEACE welcomes Matt Lawrence and John Horning to the virtual studio to discuss the myths and challenges Army marketing has to contend with. They join podcast editor Ron Granieri to look at what it takes to create a message campaign that entices high quality personnel and dispel the myth that the Army is "the bureaucratic meat grinder of the underprivileged."

Grand strategy is an elusive beast. Everybody wants some. We all agree it's important but nobody can agree exactly what it is. And everybody wants to teach about the topic. A BETTER PEACE welcomes Christopher McKnight Nichols and Andrew Preston to the virtual studio, who along with Doctor Elizabeth Borgwardt, have edited a fascinating new essay collection Rethinking American Grand Strategy from Oxford University Press. The two join podcast editor Ron Granieri to discuss the how the book came about, and their contributions to the grand strategy conversation.

Anyone paying attention to the last two decades of conflict has to acknowledge that understanding culture is important. Even if you think that culture is just that "squishy sh*t", you've got to be honest that it's difficult to understand enemy intent, analyze how best to train an allied force or comprehend the will of the people if can't even grasp the basics of the cultural foundations of those populations. And yet the DoD and the individual service components have a strange on-again, off-again relationship with the understanding and instruction of culture. A BETTER PEACE welcomes Kerry Fosher, Lauren Mackenzie and Allison Abbe to the virtual studio to discuss the role of cultural programs in military training and their new book The Rise and Decline Of U.S. Military Culture Programs 2004 To 2020. The three join podcast editor Ron Granieri to look at how the services have created and re-created cultural training programs over and over again seemingly forgetting lessons learned time and again. TRANSCRIPT: https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/21-113-MESSAGE-IN-A-BOTTLE-REBUILDING-CULTURAL-CAPABILITIES-AGAIN-Transcript.pdf

A hero of the Imperial German Army (by his own account), an architect of the rise of two dictatorships, a co-creator of a mystical neo-pagan religion, and an author, General Erich Ludendorff was a force to be reckoned with. A BETTER PEACE welcomes Jay Lockenour to the virtual studio to discuss his most recent look at the persona of Ludendorff as one of the most prominent Germans of the 21st century. Jay joins podcast editor Ron Granieri to talk about Ludendorff's relationship with Hindenburg, Hitler, his wife Mathilde and his behavior in the Interwar Years. TRANSCRIPT: https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/21-110-TOO-WEIRD-FOR-THE-NAZIS-ERICH-LUDENDORFF-Transcript.pdf

Michael Neiberg is back with our On Writing series and this time he's talking with Phil Caputo in the virtual studio. Phil, a Marine infantry lieutenant, is a combat veteran who served in Vietnam before becoming a Pulitzer prize winning journalist and author. His first book, A Rumor of War, has sold over 2 million copies and was eventually adapted as a two-part TV movie in 1980. He has written memoirs, travel books, fiction and award winning investigative journalism pieces and he discusses the shift of mental gears to accomodate each of the genres. TRANSCRIPT: https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/21-092-SHIFTING-MENTAL-GEARS-PHILIP-CAPUTO-ON-WRITING-Transcript.pdf

Name a topic or an interest and you can probably find a podcast about it. With over 2 million podcasts and more than 48 million episodes somebody is talking about something you want or need to hear. Today we're talking about our little corner of the podosphere. A BETTER PEACE welcomes Mary Foster, Abram Trosky, and Jacqueline Whitt to the virtual studio to talk about how they incorporate podcasts and podcasting in the classroom. They join podcast editor Ron Granieri to discuss how the medium can be used to share information in support of educational objectives as well as its utility in developing better communicators. TRANSCRIPT: https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/21-081-WERE-SO-META-PODCASTING-ABOUT-PODCASTING-Transcript.pdf