Can military superiority compensate for bad strategy?

In this special episode of The Focus, Dr John Bruni speaks with Sir Lawrence Freedman—one of the world’s foremost authorities on strategy and war—about the strategic failures shaping today’s increasingly interconnected conflicts.

Using the Iran War as a starting point, Sir Lawrence explains why strategy remains an art rather than a science, why overwhelming military power cannot guarantee a satisfactory political outcome, and why states must consider how a war will end before they begin it.

The conversation examines whether Iran has proved more strategically effective than the United States, the internal struggle over Iranian policy, the independence of the Houthis, and the growing connections between the conflicts involving Iran, Russia and Ukraine.

John and Sir Lawrence also discuss:

• The difference between military action and political strategy
• Bismarck and Moltke’s disagreement during the Franco-Prussian War


• Pete Hegseth and the dangers of strategic boasting
• The emerging Adversarial Entente


• Why the current disorder may benefit China
• Europe’s capacity to defend itself against Russia


• America’s changing relationship with its allies
• The “hurting stalemate” in Ukraine
• SAGE International’s Threshold Conditioning model
• The danger of escalation and war by miscalculation


• China’s strategy towards Taiwan


• How Australia can resist coercion below the threshold of war


• The most important lesson for the next generation of strategists

This is a wide-ranging discussion about the enduring relationship between force, politics and strategic judgement—and what happens when governments possess enormous military power but lack a realistic political end state.

ABOUT SIR LAWRENCE FREEDMAN

Sir Lawrence Freedman is one of the world’s leading scholars of strategy and war. His influential books include Strategy: A History, Command and The Future of War. His work has shaped contemporary thinking about military power, political decision-making and the changing character of conflict.

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Could the November 2026 US midterms reshape Donald Trump’s presidency—and how far would the consequences travel beyond America?

Dr John Bruni welcomes Professor Scott Lucas to The Focus for a discussion of the prospect of a Democratic “blue wave”, the pressures facing the Republican Party, and the capacity of America’s institutions to hold presidential power accountable.

At the centre of the conversation is a question with global implications: if Trump faces a serious electoral setback, what happens next?

The discussion explores Republican loyalty, JD Vance’s political future, election integrity, press freedom and the relationship between domestic political pressure and America’s behaviour abroad. For Australia and other US allies, these questions have direct implications for the reliability of American leadership and the assumptions underpinning their security.

Show Notes:

ABOUT SCOTT LUCAS

Professor Scott Lucas is Professor of International Politics at the Clinton Institute, University College Dublin, and Professor Emeritus of International Politics at the University of Birmingham. He is also the founder and editor of EA WorldView, which provides news and analysis of US politics and international affairs.

An academic and journalist, Scott specialises in American politics and foreign policy, media and propaganda, and intelligence services. He brings decades of experience to examining presidential power, the resilience of democratic institutions and the global consequences of political change in Washington.

Read Scott’s analysis at EA WorldView.

Have your say:
Would a major Republican defeat weaken Trump’s hold on the party? And should Australia be doing more to prepare for uncertainty in Washington?

Watch The Focus:
https://www.youtube.com/@thefocus_SAGEIntl

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https://sageinternational.com.au

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Host: Dr John Bruni
Guest: Professor Scott Lucas
Producers: Neil Smart & Lin Siah
A podcast of SAGE International.

Challenge the assumption, test the system, identify the consequence

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Hitting Russia harder might inflict more damage. But what turns that damage into victory—and what would victory actually look like?

Former US Army Europe commander Lieutenant General (Ret.) Ben Hodges joins Dr John Bruni on The Focus Podcast to examine Ukraine’s options, Russia’s vulnerabilities and the difficult choices facing Western governments.

At the centre of the conversation is a hard strategic question: how does striking Russia’s oil and gas export capacity translate into a decisive military outcome?

And there is a wider dilemma. If Russian energy exports are squeezed while conflict in the Middle East puts supplies under pressure, how much economic pain can Ukraine’s supporters absorb? Military forces themselves need fuel—and the ability to sustain a war matters as much as the ability to strike.

We explore:


• The link between economic damage and battlefield results.


• What a credible strategy for Ukrainian victory requires.


• The energy pressures facing both military forces and civilian economies.


• Whether Western ambition is matched by the resources and resolve to deliver.

A direct conversation about the gap between hitting harder and achieving a lasting strategic result.

What do you think: what would turn pressure on Russia into a decisive outcome? Leave your view in the comments.

Subscribe to The Focus Podcast from SAGE International for more conversations on geopolitics, defence and statecraft. If this discussion makes you think, share it.

#Ukraine #BenHodges #Russia

Show Notes:

ABOUT BEN HODGES

Lieutenant General (Ret.) Ben Hodges served as Commanding General of United States Army Europe from 2014 to 2017 and previously commanded NATO Allied Land Command in İzmir, Turkey, from 2012 to 2014.

A 1980 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, he served in the US Army for nearly four decades. His operational experience included commanding the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq and serving as Director of Operations for Regional Command South in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

He retired in January 2018 and subsequently held the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis.

BOOK

Future War and the Defence of Europe (Oxford University Press, 2021)
By John R. Allen, Frederick Ben Hodges and Julian Lindley-French.

An examination of Europe’s defence challenges, the future of NATO and the transatlantic relationship, and the ways changing technology is reshaping deterrence and warfare. The authors consider what European states and their allies must do to preserve peace and build credible defence capabilities.

Book information — Oxford University Press

ABOUT THE HOST

Dr John Bruni is the founder and CEO of SAGE International and host of The Focus Podcast. His work examines geopolitics, defence, international security and strategic decision-making.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

What would a credible strategy for Ukrainian victory require—and are Western governments prepared to sustain it?

Share your thoughts in the comments, subscribe to The Focus Podcast, and share this episode with others interested in the choices shaping European security.

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You’ve heard the extraordinary UAP claims. But how do you judge them when the evidence remains out of reach?

Harvard astrophysicist Professor Avi Loeb joins Dr John Bruni on The Focus to examine the claims surrounding Jay Stratton—and the questions that matter if you want to separate compelling testimony from verifiable evidence.

At stake is more than whether we are alone. It is how we decide whom to trust, what governments should disclose, and what would actually count as proof.

We explore:
• Jay Stratton’s claims: what can we independently verify?
• The limits of second- and third-hand testimony.
• Why so much of the UAP story centres on the United States.
• What decades of alleged encounters tell us—or fail to tell us—about intent.
• How scientific investigation can move the discussion forward.

For anyone caught between “it’s all nonsense” and “the government knows everything,” this conversation offers a way to ask better questions while keeping an open mind.
What evidence would persuade you that a UAP has a non-human origin? And what would you need to know about how that evidence was collected? Tell us in the comments.

Subscribe to The Focus for conversations that help you question claims, weigh evidence and understand what matters.

The Focus | Episode 120


Host: Dr John Bruni, SAGE International

Guest: Professor Avi Loeb

Challenge the Assumption. Test the System. Identify the Consequence

#AviLoeb #JayStratton #UAP

Show Notes:

ABOUT AVI
Professor Avi Loeb is the Frank B. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science at Harvard University, director of the Galileo Project and chair of the UAP Science Advisory Council. He previously chaired Harvard’s Department of Astronomy (2011–2020) and was the founding director of its Black Hole Initiative. A bestselling author and astrophysicist, Avi investigates how scientific observation can help answer one of humanity’s biggest questions: are we alone?
BOOKS (Bestsellers) —
• Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars (2023; paperback 2024)
An exploration of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and what contact could mean for humanity.
Book details
• Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth (2021)
A New York Times bestseller presenting Avi’s argument that the interstellar object ‘Oumuamua could have been evidence of extraterrestrial technology.
Book details

FURTHER READING & RESOURCES

Avi’s article discussed in this episode
“First Triangulation Results in Search for UAP by the Galileo Project Observatories” — Medium, 24 September 2026.
Why measuring an object’s distance matters when judging its speed—and what the Galileo Project’s initial observations revealed.


https://avi-loeb.medium.com/first-triangulation-results-in-search-for-uap-by-the-galileo-project-observatories-eacc4798a538

The Galileo Project
Explore the project’s research, observatories and scientific approach to investigating possible extraterrestrial technology.


https://galileo.hsites.harvard.edu/

Scientific American on the UAP Science Advisory Council
“The White House goes all in on aliens with new UAP Science Advisory Council” — 2 July 2026.
Background reporting on the council and Avi’s role.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-white-house-goes-all-in-on-aliens-with-new-uap-science-advisory-council/

MORE FROM AVI

Continue exploring Avi’s research and ideas on his own YouTube channel:


Professor Avi Loeb on YouTube

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India has spent decades pursuing strategic autonomy. But what happens when the world around it begins choosing sides?

In this episode of The Focus Podcast, Dr John Bruni is joined by LTGEN (Ret.) Ravi Shankar to examine India's increasingly complex strategic position as instability surrounding Iran reshapes the Middle East and reaches deep into South Asia.

At the centre of the discussion is a larger question:

Can India preserve strategic autonomy as the international system becomes increasingly organised around competing security relationships and centres of power?

Show Notes

LTGEN (Ret.) Ravi Shankar brings a distinctly Indian military and strategic perspective to a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape.

LTGEN (Ret.) Ravi Shankar is a former Director General of Artillery in the Indian Army and a leading commentator on Indian defence, military strategy and regional security. He writes and speaks extensively on India’s strategic challenges, military modernisation, China, Pakistan and the changing character of warfare.

🔗 Contact Shankar, The Gunners Shot YouTube Channel: / @gunnersshot

Website: https://gunnersshot.com/

LinkedIn: / palepu-ravi-shankar-08480214

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What if Russia’s most dangerous weapon isn’t the one that starts a war — but the one that keeps us permanently on the edge of one?

From drones over European airports and sabotage to cyberattacks, disinformation and military intimidation, Russia is testing NATO below the threshold of open conflict. But how far can Moscow push before someone miscalculates?

In this episode of The Focus Podcast, Dr John Bruni speaks with leading German security expert Dr Karl-Heinz Kamp about Russia’s campaign of pressure against Europe, what Moscow is trying to achieve, and whether NATO is genuinely prepared for a confrontation that may never look like conventional war.

Show Notes:

About Dr Karl-Heinz Kamp: Dr Karl-Heinz Kamp is one of Germany’s leading experts on NATO, European security and nuclear deterrence. A former President of Germany’s Federal Academy for Security Policy and Research Director at the NATO Defense College in Rome, he has also served in senior roles within Germany’s defence establishment and advised NATO on its Strategic Concept. He is currently an Associate Fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), specialising in transatlantic security, NATO and deterrence.

Karl-Heinz’s top three publications:

Nuclear NATO: How to Make it Credible and Efficient — German Council on Foreign Relations, 2024. A substantial examination of how NATO needs to adapt its nuclear deterrence posture to the changed European security environment.

Nuclear Implications of the Russian-Ukrainian Conflict — NATO Defense College, 2015. An important early analysis of how Russia’s aggression against Ukraine brought nuclear deterrence back to the centre of Euro-Atlantic security.

NATO’s Nuclear Weapons in Europe: Beyond “Yes” or “No” — NATO Defense College, 2010. One of Kamp’s notable earlier studies of NATO nuclear strategy and the future credibility of the Alliance’s deterrent.

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On September 10, 2001, the United States stood at the height of its power.

Twenty-five years later, what happened to the American moment?

In this special 25th-anniversary episode of The Focus, Dr John Bruni sits down with historian and political scientist Professor Roy Casagranda for a sweeping — and at times fiercely provocative — conversation about America before 9/11, the choices it made afterwards, and the world those decisions helped create.

Was the invasion of Iraq the great strategic mistake of the post-9/11 era?

Did two decades of war give China the time and strategic space it needed to catch up with the United States?

How did Washington’s relationship with Vladimir Putin unravel?

And is Donald Trump dismantling the post-9/11 order — or is he ultimately a product of it?

From George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin to George W. Bush, Iraq, Afghanistan, Putin, China, Trump, Iran and the remilitarisation of Germany, Casagranda challenges conventional accounts of the last quarter-century of American power.

Some of his arguments are deliberately contentious. That is precisely the point of this conversation: challenge the assumption, test the argument, and examine the consequences.

Twenty-five years after the attacks that changed America and the world, one question hangs over the entire discussion:

DID THE UNITED STATES USE ITS EXTRAORDINARY POWER WISELY AFTER 9/11 — AND IF NOT, CAN IT RECOVER WHAT IT LOST?

ABOUT PROFESSOR ROY CASAGRANDA

Roy Casagranda is a Professor of Government, political scientist, historian, public lecturer and commentator on Middle Eastern affairs.

He is widely known for his interdisciplinary approach, combining history, politics, economics, philosophy and culture to explain contemporary global events.

He is also a Golden Narrative Laureate and a regular commentator on international affairs.

ROY'S WORK

BOOKS

• The Blood Throne of Caria
• Empire of the Nightingale

CURRENT LECTURE SERIES

Sessions from the Past — Museum of the Future, Dubai (2025–2026)

Including:

• The 1000-Year Legacy of Ibn Sina
• The Roman Republic
• The Great Library of Alexandria
• The Reconquista
• Modern Ideologies and Political Thought

FOLLOW PROFESSOR ROY CASAGRANDA

YouTube:
Dr. Roy Casagranda YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@DrRoyCasagranda

Apple Podcasts:
Dr. Roy Casagranda Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/dr-roy-casagranda-podcast/id1837193563

X / Twitter:
@RoyCasagranda

Facebook:
Roy Casagranda Books & Lectures
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6157983973489

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Australia is one of the world’s most ethnically diverse societies—but is it truly multicultural?

In Episode 116 of The Focus, Dr John Bruni speaks with Associate Professor Salvatore Babones, political sociologist at the University of Sydney, about immigration, assimilation and what he calls “the multicultural myth.”

Babones argues that Australia is a multiracial society held together by a broadly shared national culture—not a collection of separate cultures living under entirely different social rules. He explains why most Australians may be “secret assimilationists,” how the language of multiculturalism can nevertheless serve a valuable social purpose, and why importing historical ethnic conflicts can undermine cohesion.

SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING

About Salvatore Babones

Associate Professor Salvatore Babones is a political sociologist at the University of Sydney. His research and commentary examine democracy, social cohesion, immigration, education and the political challenges confronting contemporary Western societies. He is the author or editor of numerous books and writes regularly for Australian and international publications.

Salvatore Babones — “Monoculturalism Is Not a Dirty Word”

The article underpinning Salvatore’s argument that Australia can be a multiracial society while maintaining a shared national culture.


Dr John Bruni — “The AfD and Meeting Reality”
Related analysis examining Germany’s migration debate, the rise of the AfD and the increasingly contentious concept of remigration.

https://jbruni.substack.com/p/when-remigration-meets-reality

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