Phil Walter - Blogs of War

U.S. Objections to the Afghan Taliban: Ends, Ways, or Means?

With reconciliation between the Afghan Taliban and the Afghan Government being the goal, it is clear that the U.S. does not object to Afghan Taliban ends, but instead its ways and means.

Covert Contact

Exploring Divergent Options with Phil Walter

Divergent Options is a new effort to build a body of concise analysis (1,000 words or less) on national security topics from a global talent pool. The project was launched by Phil Walter and he joins me on Covert Contact to discuss the effort and the important gap that it is seeking to fill.

Covert Contact

Cutting Through the Hybrid Warfare Hype

The conflict in Ukraine sparked a huge surge in interest in hybrid warfare. Phil Walter joins me in this episode to look at the less helpful aspects of that surge, discuss why the concept still matters, and to propose actions that could put us on better footing to deal with

Covert Contact

Are Ungoverned Spaces Inherently Dangerous?

In episode 40 of the Covert Contact podcast Phil Walter joins me to discuss some of the concepts laid out in his recent post on Blogs of War about ungoverned spaces and how they’re viewed from a national security perspective. Phil challenges some of the lazy assumptions and imprecise

Guest Posts

Phil Walter: Behavior Change and the Instruments of Power

Phil Walter has served in the military, the intelligence community, and the inter-agency. The views expressed here are those of the author alone and do not contain information of an official nature. He tweets @philwalter1058 and blogs at www.philwalter1058.com. This is a companion piece to episode 33 of

Covert Contact

Understanding and Influencing Enemy Behavior

Phil Walter joins me again to discuss behavior. Why do the actors we seek to influence, friend and foe alike, behave the way that they do? What advantage does a deep understanding of the underlying motivations for their behavior give us? It’s easy to be dismissive of an enemy’

Covert Contact

Phil Walter on Life After War

Phil Walter joins me to talk about his transition from the the battlefield, to home, and eventually into a role where he has the opportunity to work on national security policy. I’m thankful to Phil for sharing his personal story because I think it might help others who are