Guest Dr. John Pennell and co-host Dr. Heidi Lane join Dave Brown to discuss Pennell’s book Assessing Russia’s Actions in Ukraine and Syria, 2014-2022, which examines Russia’s broader approach to war—one that blends political warfare, military force, influence operations, and strategic intent.

Co-Host/Guests:

Heidi Elizabeth Lane, Ph.D. is a professor of strategy and policy and director of the Greater Middle East Research Study Group at U.S. Naval War College. She specializes in comparative politics and international relations of the Middle East with a focus on security sector development, ethnic and religious nationalism, counter-terrorism and rule of law in transitioning societies.

John A. Pennell, Ph.D. is a former U.S. Senior Foreign Service Officer (Minister-Counselor rank) with wide experience in global security. Currently, he’s a contractor with the U.S. Department of War’s (DOW) Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) as Editor-in-Chief of PRISM: The Journal of Complex Operations. He’s also a Non-Resident Fellow with the Irregular Warfare Institute (IWI) and a Senior Fellow with Narrative-Strategies. John holds degrees in War & Defense Studies from King’s College London, the National War College and American University. He’s a lifetime member of the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) and Information Professionals Association (IPA). His book on Russia’s irregular warfare activities in Syria and Ukraine is available from Bloomsbury, Amazon, Waterstones, etc. or on his website at www.drglobalbedouin.com.

Articles/References:

1. https://www.amazon.com/Assessing-Russias-Actions-Ukraine-2014-2022/dp/1666962236

Guests Robert Burrell and John Collison join Dave Brown to discuss this comprehensive volume which provides the first canon for SOF, interagency, and conventional forces to understand irregular warfare, and the emerging areas of Resilience and Resistance within international competition, and deterrence. The book highlights the asymmetric strategies of adversaries to subvert the international order, including the malign activities of the CCP, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and violent extremist organizations, (and includes case studies on Cuba, Laos, Tibet, and Colombia).

Guests:

Robert S. Burrell, Ph.D. is a resilience and resistance interdisciplinary scholar using data-driven and human-centric methodologies to analyze intrastate conflict ranging from nonviolent protest through belligerency. His methodological frameworks can be found in his new book Resilience and Resistance. He also serves as a 2025 fellow for the Irregular Warfare Initiative. He currently works as Senior Research Fellow with the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida. He has a PhD in history from the University of Warwick and master’s degrees from San Diego State University and the U.S. Naval War College.

John Collison is a Core One contractor supporting Special Operations concept development. John is a retired Army Lieutenant-Colonel with over 26 years of active-duty service in the Civil Affairs and Infantry career fields. He served on the USSOCOM Staff, the Army Staff and held various assignments in both Civil Affairs and Infantry units as an Operations Officer, Executive Office, Company Commander and Platoon leader. John’s overseas assignments and deployments include Cambodia, Egypt, Honduras, Bosnia, Iraq, and Alaska.

Articles/References:

1. Resilience and Resistance: Interdisciplinary Lessons in Competition, Deterrence, and Irregular Warfare, JSOU Press, July 2025
2. Authored by: Robert S. Burrell, John Collison, A. Jackson, David Oakley, Brian Petit, Chris Mason, John H. Mongan, David DiOrio, Thomas A. Marks, Aaron Baty, Gabriele Pierini, Christopher Marsh, David Maxwell, Namrata Goswami
3. Edited by: Robert S. Burrell