In the wake of summits in Alaska and Washington, the war in Ukraine has become as much about competing diplomatic positions as it is about hard realities on the front. Ryan sat down with Dara Massicot and Mike Kofman to discuss what Putin really walked away with, how European leaders are trying to shore up Kyiv’s position, and whether the conversation over security guarantees could reshape the balance of the conflict. Along the way, they dig into the debate over territorial concessions, battlefield attrition, and what all of this means for Ukraine’s ability to endure.

This episode is supported by Legion. Trusted by special operators and the Defense Department, Legion builds secure, agentic AI for the most sensitive environments — on local servers, in isolated networks, or in government clouds — without ever training on customer data. Learn more at: https://warontherocks.com/legion 

We're diving into a major development at the intersection of tech, trade, and national security: the U.S. government’s decision to allow NVIDIA's H20 chips back into the Chinese market. Brad Carson (former defense official and member of Congress) of Americans for Responsible Innovation and Liza Tobin (former CIA and National Security Council staffer) of Garnaut Global join Ryan to explore what this reversal says about America’s approach to protecting its tech edge, whether NVIDIA's justifications hold water, why normal Americans should care about this, and what it could mean for the future of AI and semiconductor strategy. 

In a time of rapid change and global danger, how should the warriors of the future be educated? Ryan sat down with Vice Adm. Peter Garvin, president of the National Defense University, to tackle this question — one that cuts to the core of American military power. Garvin offers a frank assessment of how professional military education needs to evolve to prepare leaders for a world defined by great-power rivalry, disruptive technologies (including and especially AI), and dynamic battlefields.