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At the Water's Edge

At the Water's Edge

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The At the Water’s Edge Podcast explores national security and geopolitics from an insider’s perspective, looking at how national power, industrial policy, diplomacy, and military might shape our world and America’s place in it.All rights reserved by WRKdefined Ciencia Política Política y Gobierno
Episodios
  • Air Dominance Was Our Advantage. It May Also Be Our Blind Spot with Ethan Brown

    Air Dominance Was Our Advantage. It May Also Be Our Blind Spot with Ethan Brown
    Feb 24 2026
    Ethan Brown returns to At the Water’s Edge to discuss the second volume of his JTAC trilogy, Visual Friendlies: Tally Target, which examines the evolution of close air support during the surge years in Iraq (2006–2008) and Afghanistan (2011–2013). We explore how 20 years of uncontested air dominance reshaped American warfighting culture — from precision targeting in dense urban battle spaces to the rise of persistent ISR and smartphone-level situational awareness tools at the platoon level. Key topics include: How close air support evolved during the surge years The relationship between ground commanders, JTACs, and pilots Risk mitigation culture in the post-9/11 wars Whether technological dominance created institutional dependency NATO’s role at the tactical edge of the fight Jointness as one of GWOT’s enduring legacies The political-military divide and the importance of clearly defined end states We also discuss what must be unlearned from GWOT as the U.S. military prepares for potential large-scale conflict in contested environments — where air superiority and persistent coverage may not be guaranteed. This episode is a candid reflection on tactical excellence, institutional adaptation, and strategic ambiguity. Ethan Brown is a former U.S. Air Force Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) specialist who served 11 years, including time embedded with the 75th Ranger Regiment as part of Air Force Special Tactics. He is the author of the JTAC trilogy, a detailed examination of close air support and air power integration during the post-9/11 wars. Visual Friendlies: Tally Target Available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Casemate Publishers. Subscribe to At the Water’s Edge for weekly long-form conversations on national security, civil-military relations, and emerging strategic challenges.
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    1 h y 4 m
  • Protests, Resistance Units, and the Future of the Iranian Regime

    Protests, Resistance Units, and the Future of the Iranian Regime
    Feb 17 2026
    In this episode of At the Water’s Edge, Scott sits down with Zolal Habibi, an activist affiliated with the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), to examine the structure, strategy, and claims of Iran’s organized opposition movement. The conversation explores recent protest activity, internet shutdowns, disputed casualty figures, and the role of so-called “resistance units” operating inside Iran. Scott presses on difficult questions: When do protests evolve into insurgency? How durable is the Islamic Republic’s security apparatus? What would political transition actually look like? And how realistic are competing visions — from secular republic to monarchy restoration? Topics include: The significance of Tehran’s bazaar strikes Nationwide protest dynamics and generational shifts Internet blackouts and information verification challenges Claims of organized “resistance units” operating inside Iran Casualty reporting and the difficulty of independent confirmation The historical designation and delisting of the MEK Armed resistance and the “right to resist” debate Competing opposition visions: republic vs. monarchy Kurdish autonomy and territorial integrity U.S. policy toward the Islamic Republic What a post-regime transition plan might entail This episode presents the perspective of an organized Iranian opposition figure. Claims regarding casualties, arrests, and internal dynamics are contested and difficult to independently verify under blackout conditions. The purpose of this discussion is analytical: to examine how resistance movements conceptualize escalation, legitimacy, and political transition. This discussion does not advocate for any particular faction. Instead, it examines how one organized resistance constituency conceptualizes escalation, legitimacy, and regime change — and where those assumptions warrant scrutiny. Future episodes will examine regime durability, fragmentation risks, and competing analytical perspectives.
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    1 h y 8 m
  • America Can Fight for a Week with Jahara "Franky" Matisek (PhD)

    America Can Fight for a Week with Jahara "Franky" Matisek (PhD)
    Feb 10 2026
    Episode: Jahara “Franky” Matisek (USAF Lt Col) — Fixing America’s Broken Arsenal Guest: Lt Col Jahara “Franky” Matisek, U.S. Air Force | PhD Political Science | prolific writer on strategy, security assistance, and the defense industrial base What this episode is about America’s military can execute at breathtaking speed—but sustaining a long war is a different game. In this conversation, Lt Col Jahara “Franky” Matisek breaks down why the U.S. defense industrial base struggles to surge production, why supply chains are more opaque than most policymakers admit, and why “resilience” can’t be wished into existence with slogans and PowerPoint. Key topics Why the U.S. can be “tactically awesome” for a short fight—then hit limits in missiles, munitions, and sustainment The “black box” problem: the government often lacks visibility into tier-2 and tier-3 suppliers Why throwing money at production doesn’t automatically remove chokepoints (casings, propellant, and other bottlenecks) The mine-to-missile reality: minerals, refining, machining, certification, and how China shows up at multiple points in the chain The tradeoff between efficiency (markets) and resilience (surge capacity)—and why the market won’t fund resilience “as a charity” Continuing resolutions, short funding cycles, and how uncertainty drives small suppliers out of the defense ecosystem The workforce constraint: skilled trades, machinists, and why you “can’t Zoom-call the bolts into a submarine” Strategic infrastructure beyond the obvious: power grids, pipelines, and data centers as a bedrock of modern command-and-control Why “digital warfighting” runs into practical limits: electricity, cooling, transformers, copper, and long lead times Notable quotes “We can do great war stuff for about a week. Anything longer than that gets really hard.” “Resilience isn’t something the market provides out of charity.” “You can’t Zoom-call the nuts and bolts of making a submarine.” “The defense industrial base is a black box—and that’s terrifying in a crisis.” Referenced reading Foreign Policy: “How to Fix America’s Broken Arsenal” (Matisek and co-authors) Additional related work discussed: resilience and industrial base commentary (FPRI) Follow / connect Scott Kelly — Host, At the Water’s Edge Lt Col Jahara “Franky” Matisek — USAF, scholar-practitioner on strategy and the defense industrial base Call to action If this episode made you rethink “deterrence,” share it with one person in defense tech, infrastructure, or policy—and drop a comment with the single chokepoint you think would break first in a major-power conflict.
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    59 m
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