Today I’m speaking with Dr Mike Martin, a former British Army Officer who has since become a prominent speaker and writer on conflict, particularly its causes. Mike has published several books on the subject, including ‘An Intimate War: An Oral History of the Helmand Conflict 1978-2012’—which landed him in some hot water—and ‘Why We Fight’, a deep dive into the evolutionary reasons for war and conflict. More recently, Mike has been engaged by the Australian Defence Force to deliver a course on the impact cultural understanding can have on a conflict as a way to improve our collective understanding of the wars we have been a part of and are likely to be involved with in the future. Some of the topics we covered on this podcast include:

His reasons for delving into the profession of arms, both as a participant as well as a scholar of it

The true nature of war

Sense of belonging and the pull of ideology

The importance of the local context, particularly when fighting a war

The failings of the war in Afghanistan

Mike’s personal battle with getting his book ‘An Intimate War’ published

The five social problems we need to solve to prevent violence

The current crisis in the United States


You can find out more about Mike and his work on http://www.threshedthought.com/, including information on his books ‘An Intimate War – An Oral History of the Helmand Conflict 1978-2012’, ‘Crossing The Congo’ and ‘Why We Fight’.