S6E20: Preparing for War: Adaptable Forces and Societies

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1. 

   S7 · E2 · 6 Oct 2026 · 34 min

   S7E2: What Does a Return to Realpolitik Mean? With Professor John Bew

   What is realpolitik, and why is the world said to be returning to it? Professor John Bew CMG traces the idea back to its origins. The world may well be entering a new age of realpolitik, but the harder question is defining which kind. The term is usually associated with an unsentimental use of power to further national interests, often seen as a rejection of a more idealistic, values-based approach to international relations. But that's not where it came from. Realpolitik was first coined in 1853 by Ludwig von Rochau, a German liberal, who used it to describe something different: the ability…

2. 

   S7 · E1 · 22 Sep 2026 · 33 min

   S7E1: Avoiding Strategic Surprise: Lessons from NATO with Dr Florence Gaub

   NATO expert Dr Florence Gaub explains how strategic foresight helps NATO anticipate and avoid strategic surprise in an uncertain world. Strategic surprise happens when new information fundamentally changes how we see the world. In an increasingly uncertain global landscape, predicting exact outcomes is nearly impossible – and that unpredictability heightens the risk of surprise. Yet as Lord Mervyn King explored in Season 6, genuine 'Black Swan' events – to quote Nicholas Taleb – are rarer than we think. Dr Florence Gaub describes how we can use strategic foresight to anticipate possible –…

3. 

   S6 · E22 · 14 Jul 2026 · 39 min

   S6E22: Delivering National Security Strategies

   Former UN Ambassador and National Security Advisor Sir Mark Lyall Grant discusses the challenges facing delivery of Western security strategies. In this season of Talking Strategy we have explored many of the key themes of today's security and defence strategies, but the test of a strategy is what changes as a result. A perfectly written strategy that makes the wrong assumptions, or that cannot be delivered, is meaningless at best, and often worse. In the final episode of this season, we examine the vital question of how defence strategy is delivered. With so many Western strategies built on…

4. 

   S6 · E21 · 30 Jun 2026 · 34 min

   S6E21: Dr Jack Watling on Ukrainian Adaptation to War

   In our 100th episode, we talk to RUSI senior research fellow Dr Jack Watling about the transformation in Ukraine in response to Russia's War. Against what many considered a materially superior adversary, Ukraine has not only withstood Russian aggression, but has fought back with courage, ingenuity and commitment from the whole of society. We discuss how it has achieved this, not just through the armed forces, but in mobilising its people and industry. We also consider what lessons there are for others facing the threat of modern war. Dr Jack Watling is one of the UK's foremost commentators…

5. 

   S6 · E19 · 2 Jun 2026 · 32 min

   S6E19: Adversarial Strategy: Russia's Preparations for a Long War

   We look at how Russia's armed forces are learning lessons from combat and examine Moscow's ambitions in its war against Ukraine. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine is part of a long-term, much larger project of turning Russia into a regional hegemon with influence on other continents, while it builds relationships with China and others who may help its goals. In this episode, Dr Andrew Monaghan, RUSI Senior Associate Fellow, unravels the threat and the depth of Russian long-term preparation for war. Dr Monaghan is a senior British expert on Russia with extensive publications. He has directed…

6. 

   S6 · E18 · 19 May 2026 · 36 min

   S6E18: Bullion to Bullets: Mobilising the Financial Markets

   The Centre for Economic Security's Dr Rebecca Harding argues for the importance of financial markets as the fourth pillar in supporting effective mobilisation. Conversations about industrial mobilisation often focus on the triumvirate of government, armed forces and industry. In this episode we add a fourth pillar, that of finance, and the need for governments to consider how the economic system can be co-opted to the task of providing defence and security for their nations. Something that the US government recognised during the Civil War when, in 1861-1862, it issued the emergency paper…

7. 

   S6 · E17 · 5 May 2026 · 37 min

   S6E17: Industrial Mobilisation: Harnessing the Capacity of Defence Primes Andrea Thompson

   Despite an increasing focus on SMEs, effective industrial mobilisation must also better harness the power of traditional defence firms. Andrea Thompson from BAE Systems explains how. The excitement in defence ministries about improving how they engage with dynamic and innovative small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is understandable but represents only a partial element of what is needed for industrial mobilisation. As Christian Broze explained in the previous episode, the traditional defence primes remain crucial actors and often have the capacity for mass that SMEs lack. Effectively…

8. 

   S6 · E16 · 21 Apr 2026 · 41 min

   S6E16: Harnessing Disruptors in the Defence Industrial Ecosystem: Anduril Industries

   The preparedness of Western armed forces for conflict is something that has featured prominently in many defence reviews. Christian Brose, Anduril's President & Chief Strategy Officer, describes how governments can build effective relationships with innovative, disruptive small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the defence industrial ecosystem, and how they can develop new strategies for achieving greater military capability to meet preparedness requirements. It is clear there is no one-size-fits-all approach; Christian argues that today, government and the defence industry need to follow…

9. 

   S6 · E14 · 8 Apr 2026 · 34 min

   S6E15: Integrating Today's Forces for Air and Missile Defence

   Rear Admiral Archer M Macy Jr describes today's military, organisational, human and cultural risks and opportunities in integrating forces for air and missile defence. Many modern defence reviews focus on the need for integration. Arguably, nowhere is the need more important today than in providing air and missile defence. State and non-state adversaries have shown varying abilities to combine their attacks in ways that pose multiple dilemmas. Using small, slow-moving and low flying drones intended to swamp defences, coordinated with aircraft and cruise, hypersonic and ballistic missiles,…