Ep 276: Charlie Laderman on Regime Change in Iran

School of War

Charlie Laderman, associate professor at the University of Florida’s Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education, joins the show to discuss parallels between Reagan’s policy towards Cold War Poland and the crisis in Iran today.

Charlie Laderman, associate professor at the University of Florida’s Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education, joins the show to discuss parallels between Reagan’s policy towards Cold War Poland and the crisis in Iran today.
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Times
02:45 Comparing Iran and Poland
05:56 Reagan’s plan 
10:15 Reheating the Cold War  
12:26 ’81 coup
15:53 Sanctions and pressure
20:19 Constant agitation  
27:38 End of the Cold War
34:45 The violence of the Iranian regime 
37:55 Structural differences   
44:32 Exiled opposition
 
Read the article discussed in the episode - <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2025/09/30/freedom-for-iran-learning-from-u-s-support-for-polish-anti-communists-in-the-1980s/">Freedom for Iran: Learning From U.S. Support for Polish Anti-Communists in the 1980s</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>