While Western leaders, media, and institutions have condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its conduct of the ongoing war—characterizing it as a brutal act of naked aggression—to many Russians, their military forces are heroes, protecting the Russian nation, its place in the world, and its very identity. What explains this extraordinarily different perspective? This episode features a discussion with Dr. Jade McGlynn, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London and author of two recently published books that combine to shed light on this question. As she explains, there is a complex set of layers through which the war is understood—layers composed of history, issues of identity, and national narratives. This means that, effectively, Russians are watching an entirely different war than those in the West.
After twenty years of America’s post-9/11 wars and the US military’s struggle to build capable and effective security forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, there...
This episode of the MWI Podcast features a discussion with Ali Wyne. He is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a...
The Modern War Institute talks Sebastian Junger's new book "Tribe" and about his on the ground experience in Afghanistan. Hosted by Cadet Mitchell Magill.