Air Power and International Security

Dec 22 2023 39 ep. 37 mins 1

Air Power and International Security Podcast artwork

Welcome to the Air Power and International Security Podcast. Brought to you by the University of Portsmouth's Military Education Team (PME), this show aims to develop understandings of the use of air and space power in the contemporary world. PME are a group of scholars working at RAF Cranwell and RAF Halton dedicated to the study of air and space power. In these episodes we will explore various issues relating to the theory and practice of military power across all domains (not just air!), international security and current affairs, and the history of military aviation and space power.

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39. War Crimes in Ukraine

Dec 22 2023 34 mins

What can be done to punish Russia's illegal war against Ukraine? How extensive are the war crimes being committed by Russian forces? These are just some of the questions that Dr Frank Ledwidge (University of Portsmouth) answers in this episode. Frank is a former barrister and military intelligence officer, who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, and has also been involved

38. Aerial Reconnaissance and Photography during the First World War

Dec 18 2023 47 mins

In today’s show we have Dr Jim Beach talking about the role aircraft played in intelligence gathering during the First World War. From as early as September 1914, aerial reconnaissance was playing a significant role in finding the German army on the Western Front, and by 1918 aerial photography was capturing around 20,000 images per month, which is a truly staggering figure. Dr

37. Information Operations and the War in Ukraine

Oct 29 2023 37 mins

In today's show, we have Dr Pablo Brauer talking about information operations and how they’ve been employed during the war in Ukraine. With the prevalence of disinformation and misinformation, information operations have never been more important than there are today. We'll be asking Pablo how information operations are employed, what types of info ops exist, and how Russ

36. Clausewitz and Artificial Intelligence

Oct 22 2023 37 mins

In this episode, we're exploring the limitations of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in making or advising on command decisions in war. With many advocates of AI suggesting that it will transform war, it's worth going back Clausewitz and what he teaches us about the nature of war. War cannot be reduced to algorithms, says Clausewitz, and so AI will only ever have a limited role

35. Air Power over Dunkirk

Oct 15 2023 36 mins

Today we have Dr Harry Raffal on the show to tell us all about the role of air power during Operation Dynamo, more commonly known as the evacuation from Dunkirk, in 1940. Harry is the resident historian at the RAF museum, and did his PhD on this very subject. The role of the merchant navy rescuing the trapped soldiers has become the defining image of Dunkirk, for obvious reasons.

34. UN Peacekeeping Missions

Oct 08 2023 41 mins

UN Peacekeeping missions have a long history. Although these operations play a vital role in international security, there have been various mistakes and failures associated with them. In today's show, we have Dr Margot Tudor (City University London) explaining the origins of Peacekeeping, what the UN's early objectives looked like in relation to these missions, and what of

33. The UK in Space

Oct 01 2023 41 mins

In this show, we ask Aleix Nadal about what the UK is doing in the space domain. It's no secret that the UK isn't exactly a major player in terms of space power, so we'll be asking Aleix about the types of capabilities the UK has access to, the strategies and structures that govern UK space power, and what the future of UK space power looks like. Aleix is currently doi

32. A Russian Way of War? Attrition in Ukraine

Sep 25 2023 48 mins

In today’s show, we'll be discussing why Russia has resorted to using an attritional approach against Ukrainian forces given the huge costs that attritional warfare often incurs. Such a strategy is completely unlike how a NATO army would choose to fight – they would preferably use what the British Army refers to as the manoeuvrist approach. Given that NATO hasn’t fought a

31. General Giulio Douhet and Strategic Bombing

Sep 18 2023 39 mins

Welcome to series three of the Air Power and International Security Podcast! Today we have a fantastic episode dedicated to General Giulio Douhet, one of the most important figures in the conceptual development of air power, and his ideas regarding the employment of strategic bombing. General Douhet is known for his advocacy of bombing civilians, so we're asking how these ideas

30. What is Strategy?

Jul 09 2023 47 mins

On this show we’ve talked a lot about strategy – whether that’s national strategy, military strategy, or how air, space, and cyber power contribute to strategy. But we’ve not really addressed the issue of strategy itself, which is as complex as it is important. Today we’ll be tackling some of this complexity with Paul O’Neill (RUSI), who talks us through the different t