
The Unexplained War: Stumbling Toward World War III
From Talk Cocktail by Jeff Schechtman
April 4, 2026 · 43 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the escalating Iran conflict and its potential to lead to World War III, featuring insights from defense analyst David Shlapak.
War without strategy. Drones without limits. Data without wisdom. How the Iran conflict is stumbling toward World War III — and no one can explain why. My guest on this recent WhoWhatWhy podcast, RAND senior defense analyst David Shlapak , has for decades made a living by imagining how wars spiral out of control — war-gaming the scenarios where miscalculation becomes catastrophe, where deterrence fails, where World War III stops being theoretical. Today, those scenarios are no longer simulations. They’re unfolding in real time over Iranian airspace, and the people running them may not have thought through what happens next. Get full access to Talk Cocktail Podcast at jeffschechtman.substack.com/subscribe
People in this episode
Guest: David Shlapak
Topics covered
- Iran conflict
- World War III
- military strategy
- drones
- deterrence
Keywords
- war strategy
- military analysis
- global conflict
Mentioned in this episode
Places: Iran
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