School of War

Has America Fought Well in the Iran War? With Mick Ryan

April 21, 2026·39 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

Major General Mick Ryan, Australian Army (retired), Senior Fellow for Military Studies at the Lowy Institute, adjunct fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and author of the Futura Doctrina Substack joins the show to dissect the current state of the war in Iran. Is this conflict entering a postmortem phase, or are we still in the middle of it? How has America performed so far? How does this war connect to the Pacific theater? Are we adapting for a broader global conflict, and are our adversaries adapting as well? Times: 002:20 Iran war impact on Australia 05:06 American performance in this war 06:22 Israeli partnership over NATO 08:21 Strait of Hormuz closure 13:07 Is the US prepared for a long-term war? 15:50 Importance of AI 18:17 Israeli performance 18:55 Iran frustrating US objectives 19:26 Lessons for Taiwan 20:31 Does political decapitation work? 22:41 How is the Axis learning from this conflict 25:44 China’s interest in the Middle East 29:04 Grim predictions of the road ahead 30:40 Iranian hardliners 31:16 Importance of getting the strait open 34:29 Pilot rescue mission Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more at The Free Press.

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