In this episode of The Global Signal, we’re joined by Joseph Schneider, a national security entrepreneur, former U.S. Army Green Beret officer, and strategic advisor with over four decades of experience across the defense, aerospace, and security sectors, to examine how the United States can advance global stability over the long term. The conversation challenges Cold War-style thinking on U.S.–China relations, exploring why collaborative, forward-looking engagement may better serve American interests and what a realistic “win-win” strategy could look like in practice. We then turn to Africa’s rising strategic importance, focusing on the continent’s emerging middle class and its role in shaping America’s future power and influence, before concluding with a discussion of what a credible 30- to 50-year U.S. national strategy would require—and why long-term clarity, rather than reactive policymaking, will define U.S. leadership in the decades ahead.

In this episode of The Global Signal, we sit down with Dr. Paul Poast, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Chicago, to explore the evolving dynamics of global order, alliance politics, and the lessons history offers for contemporary international cooperation. Dr. Poast, a Senior Nonresident Fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a Foreign Affairs Columnist for World Politics Review, brings his expertise on international security, military alliances, and the economic dimensions of war to our conversation.

We discuss how shifting U.S. foreign policy priorities are reshaping global alliances and security landscapes and examine NATO’s role in supporting Ukraine and sustaining long-term regional stability. Drawing on his recent book Wheat at War, Dr. Poast also unpacks how the Allies coordinated economic resources during the First World War, the emergence of innovative supranational institutions under extreme pressure, and the lessons this history holds for managing critical supply chains and global crises today.

In this episode of The Global Signal, just over one month following the release of the U.S. National Security Strategy, Dr. Jordan Despanie, Technology and Security Policy Fellow at RAND Corporation, explores the intersection of innovation, biosecurity, and U.S. strategic planning. Drawing on his experience founding life sciences ventures and contributing to national-level research, Dr. Despanie offers insight into how scientific capability, government systems, and strategic priorities interact.

The discussion examines how budgetary constraints shape innovation in defense procurement, strategies for optimizing collaboration between government, contractors, and think tanks, and approaches to building sustainable, long-term U.S. strategic engagements in regions like Somalia, Nigeria, and Venezuela. Listeners gain a rare perspective on aligning innovation, institutional capacity, and national security in an era of rising global competition.