A Conversation with the Chairman: General Martin E. Dempsey

This is the second of a two-part podcast set on the concept, and uses, of Strategic Intelligence. In this episode, Marc and Tom discuss how intelligence functions within democratic societies in an effort to look at how a theory of intelligence can emerge. Following up on the first part of the podcast, we look at what such a theory needs to answer before it can actually operate in a democracy. In the second segment, we sit down for a long discussion with BG (Ret'd) Dr James S. Cox, Vice-President, Academic Affairs with the Canadian Military Intelligence Association. After a 35 year career in the Canadian military dealing with Intelligence in a variety of settings, Jim completed a PhD looking at developing a theory of Intelligence that is truly interdisciplinary in nature. In this wide ranging discussion, Jim, Marc and Tom tease out how such a theory can be built from the ground up, pragmatic operations of intelligence. For the full show notes for this podcast, check out brokenmirrors.ca Image: Jo Naylor, CC

28 Mars 20141h 41min

Ryan Evans sat down with an august panel of gentlemen and a gentlelady to discuss issues related to contemporary nuclear strategy. The guests: Elbridge Colby, Fellow, Center for a New American Security Thomas C. Moore, Defense Consultant and former Senior Professional Staff Member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee under then-Ranking Member Dick Lugar Stanley Orman, former British Defence official, our very own nuclear Yoda, and author of An Uncivil Civil Servant. William Rosenau, Senior Analyst with CNA Strategic Studies' Center for Stability and Development Usha Sahay, Assistant Editor at War on the Rocks and Director of Digital Outreach at the Council for a Livable World They discussed everything from Iran to submarines to the recent nuclear cheating scandal. Pour yourself a drink and have a listen. Image: SCFiasco, Flickr, Creative Commons

17 Feb 201450min

Max Fisher of the Washington Post and Ryan Evans sat down recently with Peter Singer and Allan Friedman of the Brookings Institution to discuss their new book, Cyberwar and Cybersecurity: What Everyone Needs to Know. It was a fun, wide-ranging, drink-fueled discussion at the Jefferson Hotel's Cabinet Room. Have a listen! Image: Niklas Morberg, Flickr, CC

7 Jan 20141h 5min

JM Berger, Will McCants, and Clint Watts sat down with Ryan Evans at the Jefferson Hotel to talk about a range of subjects related to counter-terrorism. What could be more appropriate for Christmas? Have a listen! Image: Department of Defense

24 Dec 201358min

This is the first of a two-part podcast set on the concept, and uses, of Strategic Intelligence. In this episode, Tom and I lay out the actual, social function of Strategic Intelligence and look at it place in the long history of divination. Strategic surprise, or intelligence failures, often are neither: a surprise or a `failure``, at least on the part of Intelligence Agencies. What they often are is a breakdown in communications between the players involved; a breakdown that is often facilitated by a gross misunderstanding of what Strategic Intelligence can and cannot do. In the second segment, we sit down for a long discussion with Steven Strang, Director of Research and Innovation at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Steven is one of the top people in Canada when it comes to understanding how certain groups, mainly terrorists, communicate to their audiences and how this communication can, and should be interpreted by Intelligence agencies. Steven has also trained many of the analysts working in the various Canadian agencies, and has presented world wide. For the full show notes for this podcast, check out brokenmirrors.ca Image: Jef Poskanzer Flickr

18 Dec 201355min

Last night, I sat down to talk nuclear strategy with William Rosenau of the Center for Naval Analysis, defense analyst Elbridge Colby, Robert Zarate of the Foreign Policy Initiative, and Stanley Orman – a former nuclear arms wizard who saved the U.S. and U.K. nuclear arsenals from corrosion in the 1960s. It was a fascinating discussion during which I learned a great deal about nuclear arms, the Cold War, and giants of strategy like Thomas Schelling, Herman Kahn, and Albert Wohlstetter. Have a listen and read Stanley's new book, An Uncivil Civil Servant. Ryan Evans is the assistant director of the Center for the National Interest and the editor-in-chief of War on the Rocks. Image: Free Grunge Textures, Flickr

10 Dec 201358min

Editor's Note: We are pleased to feature this talk by Sir Lawrence Freedman, which took place this week at the British Embassy in Washington, DC. Special thanks to the King's College London Alumni Office and the British Embassy. The event was a part of Principal Rick Trainor's final tour of the United States before he ends his 10 year tenure at King's. Sir Lawrence Freedman has been Professor of War Studies at King's College London since 1982. He became head of the School of Social Science and Public Policy at King's in 2000 and was appointed Vice-Principal in 2003. Photo Credit: Cecil Stoughton, White House, 29 December 1962. President Kennedy is presented the flag of the 2506 Cuban Invasion Brigade. Miami, Florida, Orange Bowl Stadium.

7 Nov 201353min