Ep 190: Michael Doran on “Restraint” and the Middle East

School of War

Michael Doran, senior fellow and director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at Hudson Institute, joins the show to discuss “restraintism” as a factor in Trump’s choices in the Middle East.

Michael Doran, senior fellow and director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at Hudson Institute, joins the show to discuss “restraintism” as a factor in Trump’s choices in the Middle East.▪️Times     •      01:46 Introduction    •      02:20 What is it?     •      05:01 Left, right, center     •      06:56 Syria ’07       •      11:47 Iraq Study Group       •      17:21 Populist expression     •      27:34 Balance        •      30:20 Obama v Trump     •      34:56 Oscillation    •      42:16 Back to JCPOA?        •      45:49 Snapback     •      47:44 Syria ’25    •      52:09 Iran and Turkey <a href="https://bit.ly/41EloxN">Follow along</a> on Instagram, X <a href="https://x.com/schoolofwarpod">@schoolofwarpod</a>, and YouTube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@SchoolofWarPodcast">@SchoolofWarPodcast</a> Find a transcript of today’s episode on our <a href="http://schoolofwar.substack.com/">School of War Substack</a>

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This podcast seeks to learn what war teaches. There has been a steady decline in the study of military history and its associated theoretical discipline, strategy.This podcast seeks to fill that gap through in-depth interviews on military and diplomatic history.&nbsp;Our guests have included former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Cold War historian John Lewis Gaddis, and former China Select Committee chairman Mike Gallagher. We discuss the battlefield commanders, diplomats, strategists, policymakers, and statesmen who have had to make wartime decisions in the ancient and modern eras. The subject of an episode may be an historical battle, campaign, or conflict; the conduct of policy in the course of a major international incident; the work of a famous strategist; the nature of a famous weapon; or the legacy of an important military commander or political leader.&nbsp;&nbsp; Aaron MacLean is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute. He has worked as a foreign policy advisor and legislative director to Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and spent seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps. <a href="https://schoolofwar.substack.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Visit our Substack for episode transcripts</a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/school.of.war/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Follow along on Instagram</a>