Radio War Nerd EP153—Terrorism Expert Max Abrahms on "Rules For Rebels" & DC's Think-Tank Culture

Guest: Max Abrahms, author & Assistant Professor at Northeastern U Recorded: October 14, 2018 The War Nerd talks to terrorism expert Max Abrahms about his new book, "Rules For Rebels: The Science of Victory in Militant History" - a study of various rebel groups in different contexts that boils down strategies that work, versus strategies that are proven failures. Abrahms also talks to us about his early career beginnings in the Washington DC think-tank world in the leadup to the Iraq War, and the lessons he learned from watching them get everything wrong without ever paying a price for being wrong. We also discuss some of Max's controversial articles on the Syrian war, Syrian refugees, and all the comfortably-employed pundits who got ISIS disastrously wrong. Great, wide-ranging interview. Afterwards, at 1:53:00 Ames and the War Nerd discuss the dismemberment assassination of Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi crown prince MBS, darling of the Washington-London elites. Buy Max Abrahms' new book "Rules For Rebels: The Science of Victory in Militant History"by Oxford University Press. And follow @MaxAbrams on Twitter.