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What do behavioral health, social isolation, stalking, extremism, and national security have in common?

In this episode of At the Boundary, Jim Cardoso sits down with psychiatrist and national security researcher Dr. Jacob Holzer to explore an important but not often discussed aspect of national security.

Dr. Holzer hosted a GNSI Policy Dialogue panel on the topic titled, Behavioral and Mental Health Aspects of National Security: The Invisible Front Lines with guests Mond Mugiya, Director at Control Risks and retired FBI profiler and Ryan Wagoner, MD, is the chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at the University of South Florida. The panel will premiere on the GNSI YouTube channel later this week. 

The episode provides a sample of the intriguing panel conversation. The discussion explores the psychology of extremism, the role of social media in shaping beliefs and behaviors, the rise of digital stalking targeting public officials, and emerging research on how individuals become vulnerable to radicalization. Dr. Holzer also examines common traits that appear across insider threats, lone-actor violence, espionage, and other security challenges, while highlighting the opportunities and limitations of identifying risk before violence occurs.

Subscribe to At the Boundary for conversations on national security, defense strategy, intelligence, cybersecurity, emerging technologies, foreign policy, and the issues shaping the future of global security. Supported by discussion of social isolation, radicalization pathways, stalking of public officials, and insider threat research. 

Links from the episode:

Ours to Keep? Diego Garcia, Mauritius, the UK, the US and Security in the Indian Ocean - By Guido Rossi, PhD

How Mental Health and Behavioral Factors Shape National Security - Youtube Link

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At the Boundary  from the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida,  features global and national security issues we’ve found to be insightful, intriguing, fascinating, maybe controversial, but overall just worth talking about.

A "boundary" is a place, either literal or figurative, where two forces exist in close proximity to each other. Sometimes that boundary is in a state of harmony. More often than not, that boundary has a bit of chaos baked in. The Global and National Security Institute will live on the boundary of security policy and technology and that's where this podcast will focus.

The mission of GNSI is to provide actionable solutions to 21st-century security challenges for decision-makers at the local, state, national and global levels. We hope you enjoy At the Boundary.

Look for our other publications and products on our website publications page.

Text the ATB Team! We'd love to hear from you!

In this episode of At the Boundary, Todd Schmidt, PhD, speaks with Richard Harrison and Peter Garretson, PhD, about their new report, Space Nuclear Weapons Analysis.

The conversation covers the growing commercialization and militarization of space, as well as the importance of adopting a more proactive approach to space security by investing in space-based infrastructure and technologies.

The episode also describes what a nuclear weapon’s detonation would look like in space (whether in low Earth orbit or at high altitude) and what impacts it would have on everyday Americans and the world at large. Harrison and Garretson then outline their recommendations for addressing these threats, discussing how policymakers and decision-makers should think about strategic deterrence, space security, nuclear defense, and left-of-launch capabilities. 

As space becomes increasingly central to modern life and national security, this discussion highlights why the United States must prepare now for emerging threats in the space domain.

Links from the Episode:

• “Is America Ready for a Nuclear Explosion in Space?” by Richard Harrision and Dr. Peter Garrettson.

• Race to the Bottom: Is Seabed Mining Worth the Cost? By Dr. Linda Nhon
• Ours to Keep? Diego Garcia, Mauritius, the UK, the UK and security in the Indian Ocean by Dr. Guido Rossi

• Why Canada is Essential to North American Defense GNSI Video Series episode

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At the Boundary  from the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida,  features global and national security issues we’ve found to be insightful, intriguing, fascinating, maybe controversial, but overall just worth talking about.

A "boundary" is a place, either literal or figurative, where two forces exist in close proximity to each other. Sometimes that boundary is in a state of harmony. More often than not, that boundary has a bit of chaos baked in. The Global and National Security Institute will live on the boundary of security policy and technology and that's where this podcast will focus.

The mission of GNSI is to provide actionable solutions to 21st-century security challenges for decision-makers at the local, state, national and global levels. We hope you enjoy At the Boundary.

Look for our other publications and products on our website publications page.

Text the ATB Team! We'd love to hear from you!

How did Iran's nuclear program evolve from a U.S.-supported initiative during the Cold War into one of the world's most contentious national security challenges?

In this episode of At the Boundary, GNSI Non-Resident Senior Fellow Manolis Priniotakis sits down with Dr. Seena Azodi, Director of the Middle East Studies MA Program at George Washington University and author of Iran and the Bomb: The United States, Iran, and the Nuclear Question.

In his studies, Dr. Azodi found a lack of information on Iran’s nuclear history and politics from the Iranian’s point of view, most being from the western perspective. The conversation in this episode will take you through his findings as he compiled this information. They will discuss the historical context, events leading up to Tehran’s decisions, and the growing tension between Iran and the United States.  

This is an excellent deep dive into Middle East affairs and nuclear strategy from two experts in their fields. 

Subscribe to At the Boundary for expert conversations on global affairs, defense strategy, cybersecurity, emerging technologies, great-power competition, and the issues shaping the future of national and international security.

Links from this episode:

• “Iran and the Bomb: The United States, Iran and the Nuclear Question” by Dr. Sina Azodi.

• The Journal of Strategic Security: Volume 19, Number 2

• “Leaning Seaward: Japan as a Maritime Great Power” by Dr. Geoffrey Gresh

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At the Boundary  from the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida,  features global and national security issues we’ve found to be insightful, intriguing, fascinating, maybe controversial, but overall just worth talking about.

A "boundary" is a place, either literal or figurative, where two forces exist in close proximity to each other. Sometimes that boundary is in a state of harmony. More often than not, that boundary has a bit of chaos baked in. The Global and National Security Institute will live on the boundary of security policy and technology and that's where this podcast will focus.

The mission of GNSI is to provide actionable solutions to 21st-century security challenges for decision-makers at the local, state, national and global levels. We hope you enjoy At the Boundary.

Look for our other publications and products on our website publications page.

Text the ATB Team! We'd love to hear from you!

What does it take to build a national security institute from the ground up?

Retired Marine Corps General Frank McKenzie joins Jim Cardoso on “At the Boundary” one last time, before moving on to lead the Citadel.

As the founding executive director of the Global and National Security Institute (GNSI) and executive director of Cyber Florida, General McKenzie helped transform the University of South Florida into a growing hub for national security research and policy. Now, as he prepares to leave USF and become the 21st president of The Citadel, he reflects on the lessons learned from building two influential organizations and preparing USF students to become next generation of leaders.

Host Jim Cardoso discusses the origins of GNSI and Cyber Florida, the importance of the role universities play in supporting national defense, and the rapid growth of initiatives like the Future Strategist Program. General McKenzie also shares his thoughts on leadership, and why preparing students for uncertainty may be one of higher education’s most important missions.

Whether you're interested in national security, defense policy, cybersecurity, higher education, military leadership, or the future workforce, this episode offers a rare look at the vision behind one of America's fastest-growing university-based national security enterprises.

Subscribe to At the Boundary for conversations on global affairs, defense strategy, cybersecurity, emerging technologies, and the issues shaping the future of national and international security.

Links for the Episode:

• Drs. Rob Burrell and Peter Garretson’s video on the book, “Scramble for the Skies: The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space”
 
 

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At the Boundary  from the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida,  features global and national security issues we’ve found to be insightful, intriguing, fascinating, maybe controversial, but overall just worth talking about.

A "boundary" is a place, either literal or figurative, where two forces exist in close proximity to each other. Sometimes that boundary is in a state of harmony. More often than not, that boundary has a bit of chaos baked in. The Global and National Security Institute will live on the boundary of security policy and technology and that's where this podcast will focus.

The mission of GNSI is to provide actionable solutions to 21st-century security challenges for decision-makers at the local, state, national and global levels. We hope you enjoy At the Boundary.

Look for our other publications and products on our website publications page.

Text the ATB Team! We'd love to hear from you!

What happens when people are financially incentivized not just to predict events but to shape them?

On this episode of At the Boundary, GNSI Senior Director Jim Cardoso sits down with authors of a recent guest essay on prediction markets for the New York Times, Dr. Amy Nelson, senior fellow at the Future Security Program at New America and Dr. Sean Guillory, CEO of Betting Intelligence, to unpack one of the most unexpected emerging national security threats: prediction markets.

Once considered a niche sites, platforms like PolyMarket and Kalshi have exploded into billion-dollar industries influencing politics, geopolitics, elections, and public discourse. But as these markets grow, so do concerns about insider trading and coercion.

Drs. Nelson and Guillory explain how prediction markets are evolving beyond harmless speculation into systems that can incentivize real-world actions and create new vulnerabilities for democracies. The conversation explores Congress’s growing scrutiny, and why adversaries could weaponize these platforms in the future.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Links from this episode:

• "A Journalist Covered a Missile Strike. Then the Death Threats Started"- By Amy Nelson and Sean Guillory.

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At the Boundary  from the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida,  features global and national security issues we’ve found to be insightful, intriguing, fascinating, maybe controversial, but overall just worth talking about.

A "boundary" is a place, either literal or figurative, where two forces exist in close proximity to each other. Sometimes that boundary is in a state of harmony. More often than not, that boundary has a bit of chaos baked in. The Global and National Security Institute will live on the boundary of security policy and technology and that's where this podcast will focus.

The mission of GNSI is to provide actionable solutions to 21st-century security challenges for decision-makers at the local, state, national and global levels. We hope you enjoy At the Boundary.

Look for our other publications and products on our website publications page.

Text the ATB Team! We'd love to hear from you!

Corruption, dysfunction, and the hidden weaknesses behind Putin’s security state.

What happens when an intelligence system becomes consumed by corruption, fear, and loyalty to the regime instead of truth? In this episode of At the Boundary, former CIA operations officer Sean Wiswesser argues that the dysfunction inside Russia’s intelligence services is not an exception to the system – it is the system.

Discussing his new book, Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks: Russian Intelligence and Putin’s Secret War, Wiswesser explains how the FSB and SVR have become organizations shaped by cronyism, politicized analysis, and institutional decay. He and Dr. Jeff Rogg examine how those failures contributed to Russia’s disastrous assumptions before the invasion of Ukraine and why authoritarian intelligence systems struggle to deliver honest assessments to political leaders.

The conversation also explores Russian active measures, disinformation campaigns targeting democracies, and the growing role of intelligence services in sustaining Putin’s rule.

This is a candid examination of how secret police culture, corruption, and information warfare continue to define Russia’s confrontation with the West.

Links from the Episode:

Sean Wiswesser's Book: Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks: Russian Intelligence and Putin's Secret War

GNSI Video Series: Former Vice Chairman Joint Chiefs, John Hyten

GNSI Research Initiative: The Price of Credible Peace, Episode 3

GNSI Student Research Fellows Applications for Fall 2026

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At the Boundary  from the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida,  features global and national security issues we’ve found to be insightful, intriguing, fascinating, maybe controversial, but overall just worth talking about.

A "boundary" is a place, either literal or figurative, where two forces exist in close proximity to each other. Sometimes that boundary is in a state of harmony. More often than not, that boundary has a bit of chaos baked in. The Global and National Security Institute will live on the boundary of security policy and technology and that's where this podcast will focus.

The mission of GNSI is to provide actionable solutions to 21st-century security challenges for decision-makers at the local, state, national and global levels. We hope you enjoy At the Boundary.

Look for our other publications and products on our website publications page.

Text the ATB Team! We'd love to hear from you!

In this episode of At The Boundary, GNSI Senior Director Jim Cardoso sits down with former USAID Senior Foreign Service Officer Greg Howell to discuss the Global Fragility Act (GFA), its bipartisan origins, and what the proposed Global Fragility Reauthorization Act could mean for the future of U.S. engagement abroad.

Drawing on more than two decades of international development experience across Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Iraq, and Afghanistan, Howell explains how the GFA sought to integrate diplomacy, defense, and development into a coordinated “3D” approach to conflict prevention and stabilization.

The episode explores why the GFA was created, U.S. efforts to counter violent extremism in West Africa, and the evolving future of foreign assistance. Howell and Cardoso also examines how prevention-focused investment and long-term strategic engagement may help reduce future conflict costs while advancing broader U.S. national security interests.

Links from this episode:

• Student Research Fellows Program

• CIA article:

• Strategy Competition article

• Wiswesser’s book

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At the Boundary  from the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida,  features global and national security issues we’ve found to be insightful, intriguing, fascinating, maybe controversial, but overall just worth talking about.

A "boundary" is a place, either literal or figurative, where two forces exist in close proximity to each other. Sometimes that boundary is in a state of harmony. More often than not, that boundary has a bit of chaos baked in. The Global and National Security Institute will live on the boundary of security policy and technology and that's where this podcast will focus.

The mission of GNSI is to provide actionable solutions to 21st-century security challenges for decision-makers at the local, state, national and global levels. We hope you enjoy At the Boundary.

Look for our other publications and products on our website publications page.

Text the ATB Team! We'd love to hear from you!

In this episode of At the Boundary, the Global and National Security Institute (GNSI) at the University of South Florida takes you inside the GNSI DC Experience. A program designed to give USF students interested in national security careers a chance to tour capitol hill and meet professional mentors in policy and defense.  

Host Jim Cardoso is joined by USF Future Strategist Program (FSP) students Dontavious Ellis and Santiago Zambrano, along with GNSI events planner Sophia Montero, to discuss how this unique program connects students directly with the U.S. national security ecosystem. They also discuss the trip itinerary and personal goals to check out while they are there. 

Checkpoints include Capitol Hill and the Pentagon along with visiting a few leading think tanks and intelligence professionals. The DC Experience offers unparalleled exposure to real-world decision-making, policy development, and strategic leadership.

Links from the Episode:

• GNSI Announces Student Cohort for DC Experience 

• Tad and Guido’s article

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At the Boundary  from the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida,  features global and national security issues we’ve found to be insightful, intriguing, fascinating, maybe controversial, but overall just worth talking about.

A "boundary" is a place, either literal or figurative, where two forces exist in close proximity to each other. Sometimes that boundary is in a state of harmony. More often than not, that boundary has a bit of chaos baked in. The Global and National Security Institute will live on the boundary of security policy and technology and that's where this podcast will focus.

The mission of GNSI is to provide actionable solutions to 21st-century security challenges for decision-makers at the local, state, national and global levels. We hope you enjoy At the Boundary.

Look for our other publications and products on our website publications page.

Text the ATB Team! We'd love to hear from you!

What happens when a military power relies on troops made of coerced recruits and convicts?

In this episode of GNSI At the Boundary podcast, Drs. Guido Rossi and Tad Schnaufer join the show to unpack their latest research paper on Russia’s flawed mobilization strategy in the Ukraine war. Drawing from their article in the Journal of Strategic Security, they explore how Russia’s early assumptions of a short, low-intensity conflict with minimal resistance collapsed into a prolonged, high-intensity war requiring mass manpower.

Facing constraints on full mobilization, the Kremlin turned to alternative sources of fighters, these being conscripts, convicts, contractors, and coerced recruits, or also known as “ersatz soldiers.” The result of such recruits is a fragmented force structure, mounting casualties, and growing long-term social and strategic risks.

Links from the Episode:

 • Conscripts, Convicts, and Contractors: Ersatz Soldiers and Russia's Total Mobilization Workarounds – By Drs. Tad A. Schnaufer and Guido Rossi

• GNSI Announces Student Cohort for ISI Programme 

• USF Article on Calvin Pham’s grandfather

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At the Boundary  from the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida,  features global and national security issues we’ve found to be insightful, intriguing, fascinating, maybe controversial, but overall just worth talking about.

A "boundary" is a place, either literal or figurative, where two forces exist in close proximity to each other. Sometimes that boundary is in a state of harmony. More often than not, that boundary has a bit of chaos baked in. The Global and National Security Institute will live on the boundary of security policy and technology and that's where this podcast will focus.

The mission of GNSI is to provide actionable solutions to 21st-century security challenges for decision-makers at the local, state, national and global levels. We hope you enjoy At the Boundary.

Look for our other publications and products on our website publications page.

Text the ATB Team! We'd love to hear from you!

In the beginning of this episode of “At the Boundary”, host Jim Cardoso shares some highlights of the first ever GNSI International Security Experience Strategy Competition. This includes a short interview with a member of the winning team, UCF’s Canon Wesley, about the experience. This competition is the first of its kind at USF, and is a unique learning opportunity of undergraduate students interested in the national security field.  

Then for the main interview, GNSI’s Tad Schnaufer, PhD, is joined by Gregory Leighton, author of “Ideology and Holy Landscape in the Baltic Crusades” to explore why medieval history still shapes today’s global security landscape.

What began as a discussion of the Baltic Crusades quickly reveals deeper insights into how ideology, narrative, and identity influence modern conflicts, including NATO strategy, Russia’s worldview, and the war in Ukraine.

Links from the Episode:

• GNSI Announces Student Cohort for DC Experience

• Tad and Guido’s article

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At the Boundary  from the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida,  features global and national security issues we’ve found to be insightful, intriguing, fascinating, maybe controversial, but overall just worth talking about.

A "boundary" is a place, either literal or figurative, where two forces exist in close proximity to each other. Sometimes that boundary is in a state of harmony. More often than not, that boundary has a bit of chaos baked in. The Global and National Security Institute will live on the boundary of security policy and technology and that's where this podcast will focus.

The mission of GNSI is to provide actionable solutions to 21st-century security challenges for decision-makers at the local, state, national and global levels. We hope you enjoy At the Boundary.

Look for our other publications and products on our website publications page.