Fmr. CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus on the Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine and Gaza

·1 hr·5 clips

Former CIA Director General David Petraeus explains how warfare has fundamentally changed since World War II, including the return of guerrilla tactics and rise of unmanned systems.

Host Andre Gonowela welcomes back General David Petraeus, retired U.S. Army general and former CIA director, to discuss his co-authored book 'Conflict, The Evolution of War, from 1945 to Gaza'. Petraeus begins by outlining how warfare evolved since World War II, noting the return of guerrilla warfare, insurgency, terrorism, and now full-scale conventional warfare in Ukraine. He emphasizes the constant importance of strategic leadership, using Ukraine's President Zelensky as an example. The discussion moves to post-WWII wars of decolonization, highlighting cases like French Indochina and British Malaysia where the term 'hearts and minds' emerged. Petraeus defines insurgency as irregular warfare, contrasting it with conventional combat. He then provides a detailed account of the Iraq insurgency's origins, explaining how the decision to disband the Iraqi military and bureaucracy without reconciliation created enemies. He compares Afghanistan to Iraq, noting Afghanistan's greater challenges due to sanctuary in Pakistan, illiteracy, and lack of infrastructure. Petraeus argues Afghanistan was sustainable unlike Vietnam, criticizing the drawdown timeline announced by President Obama. He analyzes the Ukraine war as a blend of World War I-style trench warfare and futuristic drone combat, praising Ukrainian innovation in producing 1.5 million drones. On Gaza, he describes the diabolical challenge of Hamas's tunnel network under civilian areas but refrains from judging Israeli actions without full context. He proposes a clear-hold-build strategy similar to the Iraq surge for Gaza. Finally, Petraeus advises the next U.S. president to focus on deterrence in the Indo-Pacific by shifting to unmanned systems and recognizing that actions in Ukraine or the Middle East affect global perceptions.

As heard by us

Petraeus links military technology, maintenance, and withdrawal decisions across Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, and the Middle East.

The Burn Bag Podcast gives General David Petraeus space to map the evolution of warfare since World War II, from the constraints imposed by nuclear weapons to the pressures now shaping Ukraine, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific.

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You want to understand why a war can outlast the forces that leave it.

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