A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast

Alliances are difficult beasts to manage. Priorities don't always align; gains for some are sacrifices for others. Resources aren't equally provided or distributed. It is a difficult dance for leaders to balance participation in alliances for the greater good while maintaining the strategic autonomy of their sovereign nation. Marcus Antonini spent his year at the U.S. Army War College as a member of the Advanced Strategic Art Program (ASAP) examining the concept of strategic autonomy, primarily within the context of NATO. Marcus joins host Darrell Driver to discuss the concepts that he studied in ASAP as well as the Russia-Ukraine Integrated Research Project he participated in. Their conversation covers meetings with French counterparts at École Militaire as part of the program as well as his previous experience leading the Bomber Task Force in U.S. European Command. 









France actually has its own strategic voice; it's an autonomous voice outside of NATO, and it has the power factors to back that up to some extent. So they can be slightly out of tune with what NATO is saying based off of what challenges in the security realm that they perceive themselves.

















MARCUS ANTONINI is a B-2 bomber pilot, a strategist and a colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He is currently serving as the Nuclear Deterrence Operations Panel Chair on the Air Staff. He holds advanced degrees from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the USAF School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. He is a distinguished graduate of the AY24 Resident Course at the U.S. Army War College and a member of the Advanced Strategic Arts Program and the Russia-Ukraine Integrated Research Project.











The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force or Department of Defense.







Photo Description: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg meets with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris







Photo Credit: Erik Luntang, Courtesy of NATO fickr stream

The Carlisle Scholars Program at the U.S. Army War College is a unique experience for a select seminar of students each academic year. After completing the majority of the academic requirements in an accelerated 10 weeks of course work, the remainder of the year focuses on research, writing, and advising senior leaders. Bernardo Gonzalez-Lazaro Sueiras, Rick Luce and Luigi Valentini are in the studio to explain the results of their study that investigated the issue of interoperability in NATO. They join guest host Tom Galvin to reveal the issues and successes they found after many hours of interviews and examination of NATO member nations and their military leaders.

Talent management is simple. All that is necessary is to match the many people in any particular rank and specialty who are moving at a given time to the right job that matches talent, enables professional growth, meets personal and family needs, and maximizes unit effectiveness and efficiency. Maybe it is not so simple after all. Sarah Kaiser and Jacy Park join host Lou Yuengert to discuss the results of their research on talent management in the Army and larger Department of Defense (DoD). Sarah researched the DoD Career Intermission Program (CIP), of which she is also a participant. Jacy examined the Army's current talent management efforts. They share their findings with Lou and highlight the successes and shortcomings of both efforts with recommendations for improvement. Listen in to their conversation in the next installment of our How Should the Army Run (HSTAR) series.

It’s time once again to feature some of the smart conversations that occur around the country through the Eisenhower Series College Program. For over 50 years, the Eisenhower Program has reached out to colleges and town halls across the nation to introduce War College students to audiences that are often unfamiliar with members of the U.S. military. This episode features Don Mozer and Luis Peral as they examine the current efforts of the U.S. military support to the ongoing drug interdiction mission of the nation. With the benefit of Don's recent tour in NORTHCOM and Luis's decades of law enforcement and prosecutorial experience between them, they share their perspectives with podcast host Ron Granieri. Their conversation aims to understand the nature of a very real threat to national security as well as consider possible strategies to combat that threat in the present and well into the future.

The U.S. Army War College continues to support the Army Chief of Staff's (CSA) focus on warfighting. In this episode, podcast editor Ron Granieri sits with Isaac Henderson, Pamela Lovasz, and Rick Luce—three recent graduates of the resident course Carlisle Scholars Program—to discuss their research examining the challenges and possibilities of implementing a warfighting mindset across the force. Whether it's adapting a concept like shoot, move, and communicate to non-combat career fields, folding Department of the Army civilians into the culture, or the overarching concept of trust in mission command, these three professionals share the insights of their study over the last year.

It’s time once again to feature some of the smart conversations that occur around the country through the Eisenhower Series College Program. For over 50 years, the Eisenhower Program has reached out to colleges and town halls across the nation to introduce War College students to audiences that are often unfamiliar with members of the U.S. military. This episode features Ajai Dabas, Wade Smith and Matthew Taylor discussing great power competition. They join podcast editor Ron Granieri to discuss their professional experiences, primarily in the Indo-Pacific theater. Their insights highlight not only China's actions and motivations in the region but, more importantly, the crucial importance of alliances as well. All three guests share their thoughts on strong partnerships in INDOPACOM as the primary tool to defeat unchecked Chinese aggression and expansion.