The Islamic State has largely fallen out of the western press with the weird exception of ISIS brides. And when we talk about the Islamic State, western press often ignores its broader crimes. The plight of the Yazidi, specifically, is largely ignored by press and NGOs.

The plight of the so-called “ISIS bride,” however, is very much in fasion. But I wanted that photo and that testimony to lead off this post. Today’s episode is mostly about the women of the Islamic State, but the Yazidis are a crucial part of that story and we shouldn’t forget them.

When Islamic State still had a caliphate that galvanized Western militaries, young men and women from around the world left their homes to join up. Their reasons were varied but their passion seems unwavering. Now the Islamic State is fractured and the Caliphate is in ruin but many of the fighters and so-called ISIS brides remain. Now, some of them want to go home, and Western media has looked at them with a shockingly sympathetic eye.

Today’s show is a long interview with journalist Norma Costello, who has spent time in al-Hol where many of the women of the Islamic State now live. She’s written about them in UnHerd.

Around the beginning of the pandemic, family and friends of Isis members began to gently craft a new narrative about their women. They had never supported the caliphate. They were innocents forced to travel there by men. They were, in their own way, victims. These grown women had been “trafficked” into Isis territory. Ignore the fact that many of them bought their own tickets.

After we’re done talking about the Islamic State, Norma and I switch gears and get onto a very Angry Planet topic: Irish tankies and their strained relationship with Russia and its war in Ukraine.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan stood before the American public and promised to put lasers in space. The Strategic Defense Initiative was meant to be the ultimate bulwark against communist intercontinental ballistic missile. It didn’t work.

Deriseively called Star Wars, the system never worked. To this day, methods for shooting an ICBM out of the sky are shoddy at best and fantasy at worst.

Joining us today is Joe Cirincione. In his own words on his substack at joecirincione.substack.com. He is a national security expert and author with 40 years of experience on these issues in Washington, D.C. and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has held a number of prestigious roles in the nation’s capitol.

To see the clip of science fiction authors Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven talking about meeting with Reagan and “winnninng the Cold War with Star Wars” go here:

https://youtu.be/i-lSr2ud8Nc

Angry Planet has a Substack! Join to get weekly insights into our angry planet and hear more conversations about a world in conflict.

https://angryplanet.substack.com/subscribe

You can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dictatorships of the last century had some famous youth groups. Hitler had his Youth, Lenin had his Young Pioneers, and Mussolini had his Opera Nazionale Balilla.

Such groups once attracted huge followings but have largely fallen out of favor in the West. But, like so much else with the irredentist Vladimir Putin, he’s bringing it back.

To help us understand this new youth movement and what it means for the future, we have the perfect guest.

Ian Garner is a historian and analyst of Russian culture and war propaganda. He’s got a new book that’s coming out this spring Z Generation Into the Heart of Russia’s Fascist Youth. He’s also a professor. Queens University Kingston Ontario.

Angry Planet has a Substack! Join to get weekly insights into our angry planet and hear more conversations about a world in conflict.

https://angryplanet.substack.com/subscribe

You can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You know, we wanted to talk about European (and especially German) views of the war in Ukraine today. And we still will. What’s an IRIS-T, for example. What’s up with those Leopard tanks? But then a Russian Su-27 fighter jet crashed into an American MQ-9 Reaper above the Black Sea and the guest we planned to have on, well, she knows a lot about drones.

With us today is Ulrike Franke. Franke is a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. She’s an expert in all things Germany, drones, and AI. She got a PhD from Oxford and she hosts a podcast on German defense, the name of which I will absolutely butcher if I attempt to pronounce.

Angry Planet has a Substack! Join to get weekly insights into our angry planet and hear more conversations about a world in conflict.

https://angryplanet.substack.com/subscribe

You can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Angry Planet talks with Caleb Larson who has been working as a journalist in and around Ukraine’s Donbas region where much of the war is currently being fought. He paints a picture of the situation on the ground and tells us where to buy groceries in time of war.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the planet slowly broils, we keep hoping that some technological revolution will save us. Not just carbon capture or seeding the oceans with iron to grow algae that will drink in all the carbon dioxide right out of the atmosphere, but solutions that we can power our homes with and drive around. But what if we’ve put all of our money on the wrong horse? David Ko and Richard Busellato former hedge fund managers, have a different solution, but can it really save the Earth?

After you listen to the show, you can check out:

https://rethinkingchoices.com/

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1973, as most American troops left Vietnam, President Richard M. Nixon ended compulsory military service for males over the age of 18. It was an end of system that had been in place since the Second World War and came in answer—at least in part—to an ever-growing anti-war, anti-draft movement. Historian and writer Max Boot joins us to talk about the history of the draft and the all-volunteer force that now has 50 years under its belt.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What’s the biggest Chinese threat to the United States? Well, if you ask security expert Stephanie Carvin, it’s not a balloon—no matter how large and how many missiles it takes to shoot down. So, what should we really be worried about from China’s security apparatus? Well, you could start with more traditional spying, but there’s a lot more to it than that.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All three Angry Planet guys are on the show today. Kevin went to South Korea in September and he’s here to tell us all about it.

• “A shrimp stuck between two whales.”
• Shopping for a frigate in a glossy catalog
• Why America doesn’t remember the Korean War
• The Don Draper connection
• “MASH was about Vietnam.”
• A nuclear penninsula?
• No one knows what’s going in in North Korea.

Angry Planet has a Substack! Join to get weekly insights into our angry planet and hear more conversations about a world in conflict.

https://angryplanet.substack.com/subscribe

You can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Only Nixon can go to China. The now-forgotten aphorism once represented so much in American politics. After Nixon met with Mao, relations between the Communist country and America thawed. Trade opened up and, the popular notion went, with economic benefits would come a lessening of authoritarianism in China and the eventual end of Communism.

Here in 2023 the idea that economic modernization and prosperity would lead to a flourishing of democracy in China seems quaint. What happened? And do the West’s preconceptions of what democracy and freedom are vibe with what’s actually going on in China.

That’s what we’re here today to talk about. With us is Sungmin Cho, the author of the new article Does China’s Case Falsify Modernization Theory? Cho is a professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.

Angry Planet has a Substack! Join to get weekly insights into our angry planet and hear more conversations about a world in conflict.

https://angryplanet.substack.com/subscribe

You can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.