Sometime around the year 95, a man who called himself John wrote what became known as the Book of Revelations.
In that book, he said, “Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is 666."
So, what is the deal with this number and what does it mean?
Learn more about the number of the beast and how it has been used and abused throughout history, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
From the Taliban to Hezbollah, armed nonstate actors and civil warfare have dominated the US national security debate for much of the last 20 years. Yet, most analysis shares a critical underlying assumption: that non-state actors fight very differently than states do.
In Nonstate Warfare: The Military Methods of Guerillas, Warlords and Militias (Princeton UP, 2021), Dr. Stephen Biddle argues that those ideas are not just misleading but dangerous. Through a careful review of five nonstate actors, Dr. Biddle shows that state and nonstate military methods vary more by degree than by kind. Still, degrees do matter.
To predict how “conventionally” or “unconventionally” a nonstate actor will fight, Dr. Biddle develops a theory reliant on two key variables: the stakes leaders perceive in a conflict and the strength of a nonstate actor’s institutions. The greater either variable, the more that actor will fight like we expect states to: defending and seizing ground, concentrating forces, employing heavy weapons, and implementing a stratified theater of war.
On the episode, we talk about all that and more. I ask Dr. Biddle about the flaws in status quo theories of nonstate military methods, how the lethality of the modern battlefield creates similar tactical incentives for state and nonstate militaries, and what the implications of his theory are for international politics writ large and US defense planning in particular.
Note: At the very end, I ask Dr. Biddle, who spent time on Defense Department analytical staffs focused on Afghanistan, for his opinion on the rapid advance of the Taliban. Please note that he is a private citizen and his statements do not represent the official view of the government. The podcast was also recorded on 7/13, two days before the fall of Kabul.
Dr. Biddle is a Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, a member of the Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, and Adjunct Senior Fellow for Defense Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. In addition to his academic work, Dr. Biddle has served on the Defense Department’s Defense Policy Board, on General David Petraeus’s Joint Strategic Assessment Team in Baghdad in 2007, as a Senior Advisor to the Central Command Assessment Team in Washington in 2008-9, and as a member of General Stanley McChrystal’s Initial Strategic Assessment Team in Kabul in 2009, among other government advisory panels and analytic teams.
John Sakellariadis is a 2021-2022 Fulbright US Student Research Grantee. He holds a Master’s degree in public policy from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia and a Bachelor’s degree in History & Literature from Harvard University.
We'll tell you about the terror attacks that killed American troops and Afghan civilians outside Afghanistan's main airport and how President Biden says the U.S. will retaliate.
Also, a supreme court ruling impacting renters and a new storm that could become a major hurricane before the end of the weekend. We'll tell you who's at risk.
Plus, why electronics might cost more soon, what to know about the start of college football season, and who's making Dancing with the Stars history.
Joel Pelsue, co-founder and CEO of Arts & Entertainment Ministries, is a champion of quality Christian and conservative movies and TV shows.
About 20 years ago, Pelsue says, he became frustrated with the lack of Christian discipleship within the arts community. As a musician, he knew that many artists were seeking Christian community, but didn't feel accepted by the church.
Pelsue turned his frustration into motivation, and in 2004, he founded Arts & Entertainment Ministries with his wife, Michelle.
“We are based in Los Angeles, and we mentor and disciple Christians who are engaged in [the] video game industry, film, television, writing, fine art, you name it,” he says. “If you're a creative, we're there to disciple you, and mentor you, and encourage you to be salt and light in the mainstream.”
Pelsue joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss why conservatives and Christians should engage in the arts. He also explains how the political left uses movies and television to promote their ideology, and challenges conservatives to consider how they can be a positive influence within the entertainment industry.
We also cover these stories:
At least two suicide bomb attacks outside the Kabul airport in Afghanistan kill 13 U.S. service members and at least 60 Afghans.
Republicans criticize the Biden administration in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Kabul.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, announces a new indoor mask mandate, as well as mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for K-12 teachers and staff, college professors and staff, college students, and health care workers.
Today's episode is. So. Satisfying. It's not just sanctions against all the Kraken lawyers. That alone would already be amazing. But it's ALSO consequences for world's most punchable douchebag Jacob Wohl. It's so, so good. Take a listen. You've earned it. Ok full disclosure there is a slight amount of bad news regarding Texas Democrats having to return to the state empty handed, since a couple of Democrats refuse to do the right thing and eliminate the filibuster. No sugar coating that one, but we move quickly through that and get to the awesome news! Links: Sanctions order, Texas Dems end quorum-busting efforts, FCC PROPOSES $5 MILLION ROBOCALLING FINE AGAINST JACOB WOHL AND JOHN BURKMAN
Going on a run and curious about how muggy it's going to be out? Maddie Sofia chats with producer Thomas Lu about relative humidity and why some meteorologists are telling us to pay more attention to dew point temperature, not relative humidity. Plus — how moisture in the air and temperature influence the way our body "feels" when we're outside.
Education innovator and former Chicagoan Manish Jain calls, “[t]he modern factory-schooling education system…one of the greatest crimes against humanity.”
Reset asks Jain, co-founder of Swaraj University in Udaipur, India why he believes we must “hack” our education system.
12 U.S. service members were killed in an attack at the Kabul airport on Thursday. They were among some 5,000 U.S. troops evacuating American citizens, Afghans allies, and others from Kabul. At least 60 Afghans were also killed.
New York Times journalist Matthieu Aikens describes the scene at the airport moments after the attack. NPR's Quil Lawrence reports on reaction from the Pentagon.
For more coverage of unfolding events in Afghanistan, listen to NPR's morning news podcast, Up First, via Apple, Spotify, Google, or Pocket Casts.
Nancy Pelosi stops a centrist rebellion over the budget, a new Change Research/Crooked Media poll of Virginia gives Democrats a small lead and a few warnings signs for 2022, and California Senator Alex Padilla stops by to discuss the California recall, voting rights, and more.
