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Ryan Evans

Discussions over drinks with security, defense, and foreign policy insiders and experts. The original War on the Rocks podcast series.

War on the Rocks

Mike Kofman and Ryan brought out the mics to discuss the pressing issues in the war between Ukraine and Russia. They focused on drones, the state of the front, manpower, Putin's approach to Washington, and the contested policies around continued aid from the United States to Ukraine. This episode features meaty excerpts from an episode of The Insider, featuring an interview with Jakub Jajcay talking about his article, "I Fought in Ukraine and Here’s Why FPV Drones Kind of Suck" as well as an episode of The Russia Contingency featuring a two part conversation with Stephen Kotkin, the leading historian of Russia and authoritarianism. If these excerpts leave you wanting more, you can listen to them by becoming a member: https://warontherocks.com/membership. Our prices are going up soon so today is the perfect day to join.

How Ukraine is Adapting, Enduring, and Striking Back

The other day, I sat down with War on the Rocks contributors Bill Rosenau, Will McCants, and Afshon Ostovar - all of the Strategic Studies Center at the Center for Naval Analyses - for a conversation that ranged widely from Syria to Snowden to the think tank industry. We were hosted by the Jefferson Hotel in Washington, DC. Listen here:

First WOTR Podcast: Bill Rosenau, Will McCants, and Afshon Ostovar

I recently sat down with Lieutenant Colonel Brian A. Payne and David Kasten of the U.S. Army Irregular Warfare Center (AIWC) at the Jefferson Hotel bar here in Washington, DC. This is part one of that conversation. Brian is the Director of AWIC and David is its Chief of Interagency Coordination. Our guests show that irregular warfare was a dominant feature of American wars long before 9/11. It was a really fascinating conversation full of thoughtful analysis and war stories - over drinks of course. We hear everything from Brian's tactical response to a village band in Haiti to David not joining the French Foreign Legion and becoming a sniper instead. Listen! Needless to say, none of the views expressed by Brian and David represent the opinions of the U.S. Army, Department of Defense, or any part of the U.S. government.

Podcast: Talking COIN with the folks from the Army Irregular Warfare Center

This is Part Two of my session with Lieutenant Colonel Brian A. Payne and David Kasten of the U.S. Army Irregular Warfare Center (AIWC) at the Jefferson Hotel bar here in Washington, DC. Did you listen to Part One? If not, you missed out on bands in Haiti, coffee in Bosnia, training for human based skills, and lessons learned in war and over BBQ. In Part Two, Brian, David, and I talk 9/11 and everything (war) that came after. Tune in for your counter-insurgency fix. Does COIN have a future in the Army? Tune in. Nothing Brian and David say here represents the opinions of the AIWC, the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense or anyone else. Photo Credit: Cameron Russel

PODCAST: More Irregular Warfare Fun

Last Thursday I invited Emile Simpson and Kathleen McInnis to join me at the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel in London to talk about Emile's book, "War from the Ground Up: Twenty-First Century Combat as Politics." After navigating the impressive drinks menu (priorities), we had a great discussion about Afghanistan, COIN, and the changing face of warfare. Have a listen! Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk

Podcast: War from the Ground up with Simpson and McInnis

On Friday, I sat down for a great talk over drinks with Raffaello Pantucci, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, and Robin Simcox, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society. I got to hear their insights into a number of emerging and evolving challenges in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, and more. Once again, we were at the fantastic American Bar at the Savoy Hotel in London. Enjoy! Photo Credit: Grant Williamson

Podcast: Talking Terrorism with Pantucci and Simcox

Last night, Eli Lake of the Daily Beast and Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a WOTR contributor, joined Senior Editor Mark Stout and me at the Jefferson Hotel, where we discussed some of the more pressing issues in foreign and security policy over drinks in one of their luxurious Cabinet Rooms: The impending attack on Syria and what this says about President Obama's foreign policy. Is there an Obama doctrine? Does the government keep too many secrets? Why? Since we had a journalist and a former CIA analyst at the table, this was a fun one. Good times were had by all. Have a listen.

PODCAST: Syria, Secrets, and Some Snark

Editor's Note: War on the Rocks is proud to start featuring podcasts from its Canadian affiliate, Broken Mirrors. In this inaugural episode of Broken Mirrors, Marc Tyrrell and Tom Quiggin (me) introduce the podcast's foundations and discuss Canada/US relations. They then sit down with Ian MacLeod of the Ottawa Citizen and engage in a freewheeling discussion on intelligence and national security in terms of changes in journalism, the effects of technology, and the Snowden Affair (just because everyone else is focus only on Syria, it doesn't mean Canada has to be!). Why 'Broken Mirrors'? The number one problem with intelligence agencies and think tanks is 'mirror imaging.' We want to 'break those mirrors' - a good WOTR tradition - by taking a unique Canadian perspective on the issues. What is a 'Canadian perspective'? Three values are at the core of our Canadians viewpoint: 'civil discourse' (including the concept of a 'loyal opposition'), bridging the gap between theory and practice, and an abandonment of rhetoric. Each monthly Broken Mirrors podcast on War On The Rocks will be split into three segments: strategic, operational, and tactical/current. In the first segment on this episode, Marc and Tom talk about what Canadians bring to the debate. In the second segment, we sit with Ian MacLeod who has 30 year’s experience as a reporter in the intelligence, national security, military and terrorism fields. The discussion occurs over several glasses of wine. In the third segment, Tom’s risk assessment looks at what damage has occurred as a result of the Snowden revelations. As philosophical realists (Marc is also a self-proclaimed 'Baconian Empiricist'), we want this series to apply the best technical practices from the broadcast community. We are blessed by our genius in-house producer Tim Reilly, who also has a background in national security. By using high end production values – ‘podcast best practices- we aim to bring into the WORT community those that tend not to look at national security issues in detail. The idea of a reasoned and detailed discussion of particular issues is, as Ian notes, rapidly disappearing from the print world. We believe that our podcasts will deal both with the most important points as well as the in-depth issues giving the listener the 'fly-on-the-wall' perspective that is the hallmark of War On The Rocks podcasts. Many people don't want to listen to a two hour podcast, so we are releasing the edited version (30 to 45 minutes) through War On The Rocks. The extended material can be found on our site at brokenmirrors.ca. So, that's the story behind the 'Broken Mirrors' podcasts. Sit back, grab a drink, and enjoy

PODCAST: Broken Mirrors, Episode 1

Last night, some of Washington's finest national security minds met me at the cabinet room in the Jefferson Hotel bar to talk shop. Elbridge Colby, William Rosenau, and Afshon Ostovar - all of the Center for Naval Analyses - were joined by surprise guests ("surprise" because they didn't know they were meeting me for a podcast) Brian Fishman of the New America Foundation and Bill Braniff, the executive director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). We talked about President Obama's and President Rouhani's speeches at the United Nations, whether or not Rouhani's election means there is a real opening on the Iranian nuclear program, the Syrian civil war, why the attack in Nairobi has gotten so much more press than the church attack in Pakistan, and what the Elizabeth O'Bagy PhD scandal says about the think tank sector's ability to "self-police." Photo Credit: B Rosen, Flickr

PODCAST: Pivoting around and around in the Middle East

In this podcast, we take a look at a rarely discussed, structural vulnerability in advanced societies: the payments and settlements system. We first put this system in the historical context of economic warfare, then look at some potential forms of attacks, followed by a discussion with Michelle Couturier about possible local defensive measures. The vulnerability of the advanced economies to economic warfare attacks is increasing as we use primarily fiat currencies, the largest part of which exist in digital formats only with little to no reserves. At the same time, we have allowed the functioning of our local, national and international economies to migrate over at a complex network of computer systems of dubious heritage and stability. The central nervous system of our economy is now the international payments and settlements which is jointly run by a series of Central Banks and Financial Institutes. We focus the discussion on a simple proposition: what bankers are allowing to happen (consciously or not) at Central Banks and Financial Institutions (FIs) is far more fearsome than what terrorists have planned in the past. A failure of their jointly operated payments and settlements system would do more systemic damage to the advanced economies than any terrorist attack has done to date. This failure could result from an exterior attack by a state or group, an insider threat, or from technical failures in an overly complex system. For the full show notes for this podcast, and accompanying papers, check out brokenmirrors.ca. Photo Credit: Mike Gifford, Flickr.

PODCAST: The War in your Wallet: The Real Invisible Hand

This week’s Net Assessment podcast featured a deep-dive into the Vice President’s early October speech on the competition with China. Largely drowned out by the Kavanaugh SCOTUS controversy, Melanie, Chris, and Bryan give this important speech due consideration, to include administration views on Taiwan, China’s defense buildup, and its growing global influence. The crew also discussed foreign aid, the F-35, the deficit, the alleged assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, and the resignation of Nikki Haley. All of this while celebrating Melanie’s birthday.
 
 
 
Vice President’s Speech
 
 Remarks by Vice President Pence on the Administration's Policy Toward China Ethan Epstein, “How China Infiltrated US Classrooms,” Politico, January 16, 2018. Glenn Thrush, “Trump Embraces Foreign Aid to Counter China’s Global Influence,” New York Times, October 14, 2018. Jim DeBrosse, “Waiting for the Great Leap Forward,” Cincinnati Magazine, May 4, 2017. Alan Rappeport, “In New Slap at China, US Expands Power to Block Foreign Investments,” New York Times, October 10, 2018. Jane Perlez and Yufan Huang, “Behind China’s $1 Trillion Plan to Shake Up the Economic Order,” New York Times, May 13, 2017. Adva Saldinger, "A New US Development Finance Agency Takes Flight," Devex, October 4, 2018 Glenn Thrush, "Trump Embraces Foreign Aid to Counter China's Global Influence," The New York Times, October 14, 2018 
 
 
Airing of Grievances
 
 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna920191 https://www.pogo.org/investigation/2018/09/exclusive-f-35-program-facing-another-setback/ https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/16/trumps-tax-cut-didnt-reduce-the-deficit--despite-his-many-promises.html 
 
 
Attaboys
 
 https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/12/western-walkout-saudi-davos-desert-conference-over-jamal-khashoggi-undermines-kingdoms-modernization-plans/ https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/16/trumps-tax-cut-didnt-reduce-the-deficit--despite-his-many-promises.html https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/09/politics/nikki-haley-resignation/index.html

Net Assessment: The China Hand

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