War on the Rocks

Ryan Evans, a former think tanker and Defense Department civil servant, founded WOTR in 2013 as a podcast. It launched as a full fledged publication in July of that year. He sought to re-center experienced voices in a media landscape that was becoming increasingly dominated by more mass-media oriented content and ubiquitous clickbait.{{cite web|title= War on the Rocks is a national security site for a military "tribe" that knows what it’s talking about |first= Laura Hazard |last= Owen |date= March 30, 2017 |work= Nieman Journalism Lab |publisher= Nieman Foundation for Journalism |language= en |url= https://www.niemanlab.org/2017/03/war-on-the-rocks-is-a-national-security-site-for-a-military-tribe-that-knows-what-its-talking-about/ |access-date= June 1, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250601145840/https://www.niemanlab.org/2017/03/war-on-the-rocks-is-a-national-security-site-for-a-military-tribe-that-knows-what-its-talking-about/ |archive-date= June 1, 2025 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title= Read This If You Want to Sound Smart on National Security |first= Tobin |last= Harshaw |date= March 9, 2019 |work= Bloomberg News |language= en |url= https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2019-03-09/national-security-perspective-from-ryan-evans-of-war-on-the-rocks |access-date= June 1, 2025 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20250601150236/https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2019-03-09/national-security-perspective-from-ryan-evans-of-war-on-the-rocks |archive-date= June 1, 2025 |url-status=dead}}{{cite magazine|title= War On The Rocks Launched Today |author= SWJED |date= August 7, 2013 |magazine= Small Wars Journal |issn= 2156-227X |language= en |url= https://smallwarsjournal.com/2013/07/08/war-on-the-rocks-launched-today/ |access-date= June 1, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250601160101/https://smallwarsjournal.com/2013/07/08/war-on-the-rocks-launched-today/ |archive-date= June 1, 2025 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title= Ryan Evans |work= Center for a New American Security |language= en |url= https://www.cnas.org/people/ryan-evans |access-date= June 1, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250601150014/https://www.cnas.org/people/ryan-evans |archive-date= June 1, 2025 |url-status=dead}} The publication's opening article was written by former SACEUR James Stavridis. Contributors generally include experienced national security personnel, such as military personnel, military veterans, current and former government officials, and academics. The site hosts expert analysis and does not break news or publish leaked documents.{{cite news |first= Rob |last= Kunzig |title= "The World Doesn’t Need More Defense Journalists" |url= https://morningconsult.com/2015/10/09/the-world-doesnt-need-more-defense-journalists/ |work= Morning Consult |date=October 9, 2015 |access-date= June 1, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250601150108/https://morningconsult.com/2015/10/09/the-world-doesnt-need-more-defense-journalists/ |archive-date= June 1, 2025 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news |title= An Interview with Ryan Evans, Editor-in-Chief of War on the Rocks |url= https://css.ethz.ch/en/services/digital-library/articles/article.html/186520 |work=ETH Zurich |date= December 17, 2014 |access-date= June 1, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220329041813/https://css.ethz.ch/en/services/digital-library/articles/article.html/186520 |archive-date= March 29, 2022 |url-status=dead}} It has also been selected for inclusion in the web archives of the Library of Congress.{{cite web|title= War on the Rocks |work= Library of Congress |language= en |url= https://www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0018297/ |access-date= June 1, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250601145714/https://www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0018297/ |archive-date= June 1, 2025 |url-status=dead}}

Its audience includes many of the same sorts of people who write for WOTR, among them the highest levels of leadership in the U.S. military, who regularly appear on main WOTR podcast. In late 2013, Evans interviewed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey for Dempsey's first-ever podcast interview. Dempsey believed WOTR was the best way to reach a rank-and-file listenership. A year later, WOTR partnered with the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland to publish infographics on country-specific terrorism trends, showcasing its focus on data-driven security analysis.{{cite web|title= War on the Rocks: Country-specific trends in terrorism, 2012- 2013 infographic |date= July 31, 2014 |work= National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism |language= en |url= https://www.start.umd.edu/news/start-in-the-news/war-rocks-country-specific-trends-terrorism-2012-2013-infographic |access-date= June 1, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250601160459/https://www.start.umd.edu/news/start-in-the-news/war-rocks-country-specific-trends-terrorism-2012-2013-infographic |archive-date= June 1, 2025 |url-status=dead}} In 2019, WOTR received a $40,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation to support its podcast production.{{cite web|title= War On The Rocks Media |date= 2019 |work= MacArthur Foundation |language= en |url= https://www.macfound.org/grantee/war-on-the-rocks-media-10114908/ |access-date= June 1, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250601152420/https://www.macfound.org/grantee/war-on-the-rocks-media-10114908/ |archive-date= June 1, 2025 |url-status=dead}}

WOTR was originally bootstrapped with a $4,450 Kickstarter campaign and later a $61,846 Indiegogo campaign. Evans also raised $100,000 in late 2015 from an angel investor. In 2017, the site launched a paid membership program.

In 2017, WOTR and the University of Texas launched the Texas National Security Review, a hybrid journal that combines a section featuring peer-reviewed scholarly works with another that features essays by policymakers and practitioners.{{cite web|title= University of Texas teams up with War on the Rocks |date= July 6, 2017 |work= Clements Center for National Security |language= en |url= https://www.clementscenter.org/press/university-of-texas-teams-up-with-war-on-the-rocks/ |access-date= June 1, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250601155322/https://www.clementscenter.org/press/university-of-texas-teams-up-with-war-on-the-rocks/ |archive-date= June 1, 2025 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news |title= Scholars Launch New Journal, Texas National Security Review |url= https://www.strausscenter.org/news/scholars-launch-new-journal-texas-national-security-review/ |work= Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law |date= November 3, 2017 |access-date= June 1, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250601150119/https://www.strausscenter.org/news/scholars-launch-new-journal-texas-national-security-review/ |archive-date= June 1, 2025 |url-status=dead}}

Similar outlets with a national security focus include the Modern War Institute at the United States Military Academy, Small Wars Journal, and Defense One.

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• {{Official website}}
• {{C-SPAN|68747}}

Category:American online journalism

Category:University of Texas at Austin

Category:Mass media companies established in 2013

Category:American military podcasters