Strategy Matters
Strategy Matters is produced by the Strategy and Policy Department at the U.S. Naval War College. Co-hosts Dr. Vanya Bellinger and LtCol Brendan Neagle speak with experts to explore the theory and history of war, focusing on lessons for modern strategists. The show examines strategic concepts and historical cases relevant to contemporary military and policy challenges. Views expressed are those of the speakers and do not represent official positions of the Naval War College, DON, or DOD.
Episodes
Episode 24: Communicating War: Lessons from Vietnam
This episode of Strategy Matters examines whether American media coverage shaped the trajectory of US involvement in Vietnam. Host Vanya Eftimova Bellinger sits down with historians Dr. Nicholas Evan Sarantakes and Dr. Cavender Sutton to take up the question. Their conversation shows that, despite how it was later remembered, the Saigon Press Corps was largely supportive of the war. The hostility
Episode 23: Family as Strategy: How the Kims of North Korea Are Challenging the World Since 1948
This episode of Strategy Matters supports the Korean War case study by examining the conflict and developments on the Korean Peninsula from an unusual angle: through the Kim family regime that has ruled North Korea since 1948. In modern times, no other political dynasty has matched the Kims' longevity and influence, or presented such a vexing strategic problem for the rest of the world. Host Dr. V
Episode 22: The Soviet Union's War: Communist Ideology, Stalin, and Soviet Strategy in WWII
This episode of Strategy Matters supports the World War II in Europe case study with a close look at the Soviet Union's approach to the conflict. Host Dr. Vanya Eftimova Bellinger discusses the Soviet perspective with Dr. David R. Stone and Dr. Michelle Paranzino. The episode commences with a brief exploration of the conditions and the ideology shaping the Soviet Union, its state on the eve of Wor
Episode 21: The Profession of Arms: Defining Military Professionalism
How do we define military professionalism, and what makes a military professional? This episode of Strategy Matters explores this important topic, interwoven with many of the themes and the historical cases in the Strategy and War course. The host, Dr. Vanya Eftimova Bellinger, talks with two professors at the Strategy and Policy Department who specialize in the topic: Dr. Marybeth Ulrich and LTC
Episode 20: Britain’s Southern Campaign and the Fight for America
This episode of Strategy Matters supplements the Strategy and War case study on the American War for Independence with a close look at the Southern Campaign. Host LtCol Brendan Neagle is joined by Dr. Stan Carpenter, Dr. Andrew Zwilling, and Dr. Joshua Meeks. Stan, author of Southern Gambit: Cornwallis and the British March to Yorktown, walks through why Britain turned south in 1778, how the campa
Episode 19: Pericles: Strategist or Squill-Head?
This episode of Strategy Matters examines the strategic leadership of Pericles during the Peloponnesian War. Host Dr. Vanya Eftimova Bellinger is joined by Dr. Michael Pavković and Dr. Robert Stone, who open with Pericles' background, the geopolitical context and his position within the Athenian political system. The conversation turns to the defensive strategy he designed for Athens as a maritime
Episode 18: Decisive Point or Ulcer? The Theorists on Secondary Theaters
This episode of Strategy Matters takes up one of the recurring strategic choices of war: whether to open a secondary theater of operations. Host LtCol Brendan Neagle is joined by Dr. Tim Hoyt and Dr. Kevin McCranie for a discussion that supplements the Strategy and War’s case studies on Carl von Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, Julian Corbett, Alfred Thayer Mahan, and Mao Tse-Tung. The guests define what make
Episode 17: Between Strategic Rivalry and Uneasy Cooperation: How the Relationship Between Iran and Iraq Shapes the Modern Middle East
This episode of Strategy Matters focuses on the regional dynamic between Iran and Iraq and supports the case study on America and the Greater Middle in the Strategy and Policy Course. Host Dr. Vanya Eftimova Bellinger discusses this consequential relationship between the two neighboring countries with historian Dr. Samuel Helfont and political scientist Dr. Shanin Berenji. The episode begins with
Episode 16: Henry Kissinger and Cold War Strategy
In this episode of Strategy Matters, we explore Henry Kissinger’s impact on the Late Cold War, focusing on how his background and scholarly interests shaped his emphasis on balance-of-power politics, strategic stability, and the alignment of strategy with capabilities. Host Brendan Neagle is joined by two professors at the United States Naval War College: Dr. Richard Moss and Dr. Marc Genest. The
Episode 15: The Reality of War with Limited Objectives: The US Media and Vietnam
In this episode of Strategy Matters, we explore whether US media coverage influenced the course of the US involvement in Vietnam. Host Vanya Eftimova Bellinger is joined by the historians Dr. Nicholas Evan Sarantakes and Dr. Cavender Sutton. The discussion reveals that, contrary to later perceptions, the Saigon Press Corps largely supported the war. The animosity between the military and media cam
Episode 14: Reassessing Chiang Kai-shek: Strategy, Defeat, and Legacy
This episode of Strategy Matters focuses on Chiang Kai-shek, the often-overshadowed rival of Mao Zedong, to assess his leadership, ideology, and strategic legacy. Host Brendan Neagle is joined by historians and Strategy and Policy Professors Ken Swope and Anatol Klass. The discussion provides a broad spectrum of factors that affected Chiang’s strategic decision making and effectiveness as a leader
Episode 13: Propaganda in WWII: The Strategic Lessons for Winning the Information Battlefield
In this episode of Strategy Matters, we explore the legacy of the forgotten World War II propaganda hero, Sefton Delmer, to uncover best practices for shaping the information domain. Vanya Eftimova Bellinger talks with the Ukrainian-born British journalist Peter Pomerantsev, the author of How to Win the Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler. In the episode, Pomerantsev disavows co
Episode 12: Interwar Learning: An Interview with Trent Hone, Author of “Learning War”
This episode of Strategy Matters aligns with the Interwar Case 5 of the Strategy and Policy Course: The Interwar World. Co-host Brendan Neagle interviews Trent Hone, the author of Learning War and Mastering the Art of Command: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and Victory in the Pacific. The interview focuses on U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps adaptation in the interwar period between World War I and Worl
Episode 11: NATO and the Warsaw Pact: Collective Security in the Post - WWII World
In this episode of Strategy Matters, we explore the strategic logic behind the formation of NATO in the aftermath of World War II. The discussion examines the post-World War world from Western and Soviet perspectives and highlights how economic challenges, political instability, and ideological competition shaped early Cold War security decisions. Guests Dr. David Stone and Dr. Timothy Hoyt emphas
Episode 10: World War on the Peripheries: Strategic Lessons from Colonial Theaters in WWI
Episode ten of Strategy Matters aligns with the fourth case study in the Strategy and Policy Course at the Naval War at the U.S. Naval War College. Much of the case study focuses on the European theaters of World War I, but in the podcast, we are exploring the extra-European or colonial theaters of the conflict. Although distinct, they were seldom decisive. Nonetheless, the colonial theaters in WW
Episode 9: Napoleon in the American Mind: How European War Shaped U.S. Strategy
Episode Nine of Strategy Matters aligns with the third case study in the Strategy and Policy Course at the Naval War at the U.S. Naval War College. In this episode, we shift our focus on the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars to explore how the military and political upheavals of 1793–1815 shaped strategic thinking in the early American republic. Although the United States stayed
Episode 8: Interview with John Ferling, Author of Whirlwind and Shots Heard Round the World
This is a special episode of the Strategy Matters Podcast. Host Brendan Neagle talks with historian Dr. John Ferling to explore the strategic lessons of the American Revolution. This special episode reaches back to provide additional perspective on the third Strategy and War case study at the U.S. Naval War College. Although the timing of this episode does not align directly with the American Revo
Episode 7: WWII in Europe: Between Political Visions and Operational Realities
In episode seven, Admiral (ret.) Lars Saunes and Dr. Michelle Paranzino discuss how the outcome of the Second World War shaped the politics and security in Europe. This episode complements the Second World War case study within the Strategy and War course. It also addresses one of the primary themes in the study of war: the strategic implications of military operations. The United States
Episode 6: Dilemmas of Strategic Imagination: The Ottoman Empire's Role in World War I
In Episode 6, Dr. Burak Kadercan and Dr. Jesse Tumblin explore the current case study in Strategy and War Course, World War I, from a different angle: the strategic challenges the Ottoman Empire faced. At its height, the Ottoman Empire ruled on three continents: Europe, Asia, and Africa. However, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it lost much of its European domains and struggled to
Episode 5: From Humiliation to Hegemon: The Influence of 1894-1905 on Chinese Strategy
Episode five features Dr. David Stone and Dr. Kenneth Swope from the U.S. Naval War College, who examine how two pivotal conflicts between 1894 and 1905 reshaped China’s place in East Asia. This episode compliments the Russo-Japanese War case study within the Strategy and War Course. While examining the period between the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905),
Episode 4: A Fort Between Two Waters: Symbolism, Strength, and Strategy in a Hybrid War
Guests Katrina Ponti and Jonathan Romaneski join host Brendan Neagle to unpack the historical significance and strategic effects of operations at Fort Ticonderoga during the American War of Independence. The discussion complements the course materials for American War of Independence case study in the Strategy and War Course at the U.S. Naval War College. The guests explore how the fort
Episode 3: Strategic Leadership Matters: Demosthenes and Brasidas in the Peloponnesian War
Guests Michael Pavković and Josh Hammond join host Vanya Eftimova Bellinger to profile the strategic leadership of two of the most compelling figures of the Peloponnesian War: Demosthenes and Brasidas. They compare Brasidas’s formative experiences in Sparta with Demosthenes’s in Athens, exploring how these backgrounds shaped each man’s approach to strategic leadership. The discussion highlights ke
Episode 2: (Mis)reading Mahan: Strategy and Sea Power, Past and Present
Guests John Maurer and James Holmes join host Vanya Eftimova Bellinger to discuss the influence of Alfred Thayer Mahan’s theories on the strategic environment of the twentieth century and beyond. The guests definitively settle the question of how to pronounce Mahan’s name correctly before diving into how various strategic leaders applied, or misapplied, Mahan’s theories to the formulation of marit
Episode 1: Friction and Flow – Comparing and Contrasting Clausewitz’ and Sun Tzu’s Theories of War
Guests Vanya Bellinger and Andrew "Dex" Wilson join host Brendan Neagle to compare and contrast the foundational theorists of war: Clausewitz and Sun Tzu.Guests:Andrew R. Wilson is the John A. van Beuren Chair of Asia-Pacific Studies. Professor Wilson has lectured at military colleges and civilian universities across the United States and around the world. The author of a
