School of War

Mike Doran, senior fellow and director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at the Hudson Institute, returns to School of War to examine why the war with Iran continues despite devastating military setbacks for Tehran. Is President Trump’s Iran strategy truly different from President Obama’s, or are the similarities overstated? What does the fight over the Strait of Hormuz reveal about the limits of American power? And what does this war tell us about the future of U.S. strategy in the Middle East—and its broader competition with China?

01:22 - Recap of the Iran War

06:03 - Iran's Leverage

09:05 - MoU Misunderstandings

12:28 - The Crux of the MoU Dispute

15:42 - The Nuclear Status Quo

17:58 - Iran's Degradation Since October 7

21:13 - The Democrats' View

22:02 - The Right's View

23:25 - Trump's "Obama-Style" Rhetoric

28:10 - Should America Reimpose the Blockade?

28:53 - The Drone and Ballistic Missile Problem

31:10 - Drone Warfare Has Changed Everything

32:01 - The Vulnerability of America's Gulf Allies

37:21 - Is the MoU Still in Effect?

39:34 - Why Nobody Is Buying Iranian Oil

46:32 - China and the Bigger Picture

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Vance Serchuk, executive director and Partner at the KKR Global Institute, and former senior national security adviser to Senator Joe Lieberman, was uniquely positioned to witness one of the most influential partnerships in modern American foreign policy: the “Three Amigos” of John McCain, Joe Lieberman, and Lindsey Graham. What made their partnership so effective? What vision did they share for America’s role in the world? And what does the end of the “Three Amigos” mean for the future of American foreign policy?

02:21 - Lindsey Graham and the Three Amigos

10:42 - First Impressions of Lindsey Graham

13:20 - Lindsey Graham’s Sense of Humor

15:47 - Graham’s Spontaneity

21:44 - The Three Amigos’ Bond Through Travel

23:31 - Oversight on the Front Lines

24:56 - The Russian Threat

27:00 - The Three Amigos’ Shared Convictions

28:28 - Russia’s Invasion of Georgia

32:56 - Senator Graham’s Political Courage

33:27 - What Made the Three Amigos Different

37:24 - Graham’s Political Instincts

37:56 - Why the Three Amigos Worked

39:33 - The Power of Political Friendship

42:28 - Graham’s Work in the Trump Era

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Edward Fishman, senior fellow and director of the Greenberg Center for Geoeconomics at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins School of War to discuss his New York Times best-selling book, Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare. How has the United States turned the global economy into a strategic weapon? What are the strengths and limits of sanctions? And how are China, Russia, and Iran adapting to a new era of economic warfare?

02:46 - Edward Fishman's background

04:26 - Understanding economic chokepoints

05:35 - The dollar as a strategic chokepoint

07:02 - Semiconductors as a strategic chokepoint

09:24 - The Iraq embargo and modern sanctions

11:05 - Airpower vs. economic warfare

12:14 - Are sanctions a "nuclear weapon"?

13:23 - America's sanctions strategy toward Iran

14:25 - Trump pulling out of the JCPOA

16:20 - The limits of economic warfare

18:00 - Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, and the MoU

20:44 - Shadow fleets and Iranian oil

22:54 - The evolution of Russia sanctions

27:59 - China and the economic arms race

29:53 - How nations mitigate economic chokepoints

34:20 - What makes a strategic chokepoint?

39:40 - Chokepoints beyond economics

41:05 - Can Iran institutionalize control over the Strait of Hormuz?

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David, a U.S. military veteran who has been fighting voluntarily alongside Ukrainian forces, joins School of War to discuss how four years on the front lines have transformed modern warfare. How has combat in Ukraine changed since Russia’s 2022 invasion? Why have first-person view drones become the defining weapon of the war? What misconceptions does the West still have about the Russian military? And what lessons must the United States absorb before its next major conflict?

02:49 - David’s military history

05:56 - What brought David to Ukraine

07:37 - Russia's failed invasion of Kyiv

10:24 - How Ukraine turned the tide in 2022

17:04 - How Ukraine adapted to Russia's invasion

19:06 - America's role in Ukraine's early success

23:59 - How the battlefield has evolved since 2022

28:15 - Experiencing Russian artillery 

37:22 - From artillery warfare to drone warfare

40:41 - Why FPV drones are terrifying

44:20 - The modern "gray zone" 

49:26 - Why Russia is still a military threat

01:00:49 - What Ukraine must do to survive

01:11:41 - Is the U.S. military learning the right lessons?

01:15:55 - The future of warfare and America's defense industry

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Richard Bell, historian, professor at the University of Maryland, and author of The American Revolution and the Fate of the World, joins School of War to discuss how the American Revolution became a global conflict that stretched from Boston to the Caribbean, Europe, India, and beyond. How did George Washington's strategy force Britain to fight a world war? Why was France's intervention decisive to American victory? And what does the revolution reveal about the nature of coalition warfare?

00:53 - Rick Bell's background

02:05 - The American Revolution was a global war

06:09 - What led to the Boston Tea Party

12:45 - Patriot motivations

14:38 - Who was Edmund Burke?

16:50 - Britain divided over the Revolution

20:47 - Why France backed the Patriots

23:45 - France and Spain vs. Britain

27:01 - The Caribbean: Britain's crown jewel

30:08 - The forgotten theater of the Revolution

35:49 - Washington's global coalition strategy

38:55 - Germany and the Hessian soldiers

41:50 - The Patriots' European officers

43:10 - The myth of guerrilla warfare

44:50 - Final thoughts

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