Spartan Spirit - Best for the West

This episode looks at the history of Palestine and Israel and discusses the underpinning issues around Palestinian refugees, Palestinian statehood, Israeli statehood, and potential solutions to resolving the future of Palestinians.

This episode explores the history of war crimes with a focus on how Western nations (Canada, US, UK and Australia) have managed war crimes. 

This episode explores the prevalence of stress in modern society. Note: This is an opinion piece and does not provide any medical advice, nor should it be construed as medical advice.

This episode explores the pros and cons of compulsory military service and national service in Western Society. 

This episode reviews the United Nations and North Atlantic Treaty Organization responses (lack thereof) to the Ukraine-Russia war and the Israeli-Hamas conflict; particularly through the lens of what NATO could do to support the West's perspective in these conflicts.

The elite sporting world divides competitors into two groups: Women and Men. Given the debate about how to classify intersex and transgender people, this episode considers:The history of classification in sportsWhy men generally outperform women in sports (testosterone)The options for gender classificationHow drug use might be rolled into this debate.

The Antarctic Treaty System came into effect in 1961 and was signed by 12 countries, with 7 of them making claims on Antarctic territory. There are now over 50 countries signed up to the Antarctic Treaty System, but the treaty is set to expire in 2049.  China, Russia, the USA, along with other middle-minor powers, are preparing to negotiate a new treaty, with some of them wanting to abandon the extant system that focuses Antarctic investment on scientific research. This podcast provides a brief description and history of Antarctica, followed by a snapshot of the treaty under which Antarctica is managed. It then analyzes how the major powers are positioning themselves and what the points of contention are.

The West has a conundrum on its hands when it comes to dealing with China. What is best for the West in relation to China ranges somewhere on the sliding scale of being hard-nosed and de-risking our economies and security concerns by disengaging from China and confronting their expansion, to the other end of the spectrum where we hope that we never have a conflict and that we can just keep going along trading and being pals and ignoring issues that arise out their expansion and international law violations. The question you then have to ask yourself is: which elements of engagement with China do you support and which elements require a tougher approach?  Topics covered are: Taiwan, South China Sea, China’s support for Russia, Global economics, critical supply chains, cyber threats and military threats.

This episode considers the trend towards individualism in modern western militaries and the impact that is having on capability. Many militaries around the world are relaxing their military dress codes, adopting more freedoms for their uniformed members, and allowing for a more individual-centric mind-set in how the military is run.  Topics covered:Group dynamics vs individualismWhy modern militaries are taking this approachCommentary about beards and men wearing dresses in the military

The special issue and early release (replacing the planned episode on Individualism in the Military) of this episode comes in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attack on Israel of 7 Oct 2023, and Israel's consequent response. Ethics in the conduct of war are central to this conflict. The episode details the Law of Armed Conflict and asks you to consider what you think is 'Just' and permissible in the conduct of war.