The West's systemic failure to learn from modern war

About this episode

The episode discusses the failures of Western militaries to learn from modern warfare, particularly in the context of the Ukraine conflict.

"On pretty much every measure, Putin is failing and he doesn't really have a lot of options moving forward."  Russia is losing ground, its defence industry has plateaued, and Ukraine is striking deeper into Russian territory than at any point in the war. So what does that mean for how the conflict ends — and what can Australia learn from the battlefields of Europe and the Middle East? Lowy Institute Senior Fellow for Military Studies Mick Ryan joins International Security Program Director Sam Roggeveen to assess the shifting momentum in the Ukraine war, the emergence of a new theory of offensive operations, and why Western militaries — Australia included — are failing to absorb the lessons of modern warfare. Mick's latest Lowy Institute analysis paper,  Modern war and the systemic learning deficit in Western military institutions , is available free on our website. More on this topic: Ukraine is turning the tables ,  Financial Times , Christopher Miller and Max Seddon More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including  Spotify ,  YouTube  and  Apple . Follow the Lowy Institute…

People in this episode

Host: Sam Roggeveen

Guest: Mick Ryan

Topics covered

• Ukraine war
• modern warfare
• military studies
• Western militaries
• defense industry
• offensive operations

Keywords

• Putin
• defense industry
• military institutions
• offensive operations
• Ukraine
• Russia
• lessons of war

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Lowy Institute, Financial Times

Books & works: Modern war and the systemic learning deficit in Western military institutions

Places: Australia, Ukraine, Russia

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