Russia’s waging of war in Ukraine brings back to Europe scenes of aggression and devastation not seen there for decades. It’s one of the many instances of warfare in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, deploying both traditional and thoroughly modern weapons. David Kilcullen is a former soldier and diplomat, a strategist, counterinsurgency expert and author whose books include The Dragons and the Snakes: How the Rest Learned to Fight the West and The Ledger: Accounting for Failure in Afghanistan (co-authored with Greg Mills). He sits down with Toby Manhire to discuss current conflicts in the complex global arena – reflecting both back and forwards on how we got to this, what’s happening at the front and behind the scenes, and how tensions might play out in the coming months and years.

Supported by Te Ope Kātua o Aotearoa / New Zealand Defence Force.