The Global Signal

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.

Dr. Paul Poast, a University of Chicago political scientist and author of Wheat at War, explores shifting global order and alliance politics. He discusses the move to multipolarity and NATO’s evolving role. He examines social media’s impact on perceptions, the Indo-Pacific’s rising importance, predictability of conflicts, and how crises produce supranational institutions.

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.

Venezuela’s oil sector has long punched above its weight in global energy politics. In this episode of The Global Signal, Rachel Ziemba, founder of Ziemba Insights, examines Venezuela’s historical influence in oil markets, the strategic rationale behind recent U.S. actions, and the structural constraints shaping any recovery in production. The conversation looks at how investors and markets are interpreting Venezuela’s oil potential today, and how political transition could recalibrate global energy flows. A sober, market-driven assessment of a pivotal but often misunderstood oil producer.

In this episode of the Global Signal, we sit down with Christopher Riley, CEO of the Emagro Group and 20-year veteran national security strategist, to unpack how capital, infrastructure, and influence are reshaping global power. We explore Washington’s evolving approach to economic statecraft, the rise of Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds as geopolitical actors, and the emerging flashpoints in Nigeria and the Sahel. A sharp, timely look at how finance is becoming the frontline of modern geopolitics. 

As global power shifts and emerging technologies erode the boundaries between civilian and military domains, the United States faces a historic inflection point. Traditional models of deterrence, once defined by nuclear posture and military might, are being challenged by autonomous systems, contested orbital space, cyber warfare, and the weaponization of critical infrastructure.In this episode of The Global Signal, Joshua Charles sits down with Benjamin Njila Fields, a leading thinker at the intersection of defense innovation and strategic policy, to map the future of American deterrence. Together, they explore the rise of dual-use technologies, the evolving role of the private sector in national security, and how the United States must adapt to maintain stability in an increasingly multipolar world.This conversation is not about predicting conflict. It is about understanding the systems that prevent it. If you care about the future of American power, technology, and the global order, this is an episode you cannot miss.