Welcome back to The Security Affair, the flagship podcast from the Centre for International Security and Economic Strategy (CISES), where we examine the ideas, events, and decisions shaping global security and diplomacy.

Hosted by Alexander Anderson, Director of Policy at CISES, this episode asks: how has economic power become central to U.S. strategy? Alexander is joined by Liam Walsh, whose work focuses on U.S. foreign policy and the role of economic strategy in national security.

Together, they explore how Washington increasingly treats economic strategy as national security, drawing on the 2025 U.S. National Security Strategy and the growing emphasis on supply chains, industrial policy, and control over strategic economic networks. The conversation examines how economic coercion, financial power, and emerging technologies are reshaping American statecraft in an era where direct military confrontation is constrained by nuclear deterrence.

They discuss whether the U.S. is redefining — rather than abandoning — the post-war rules-based order; how initiatives such as Pax Silica reflect a shift toward network-based competition; and what this means for American strategy toward China, allies, and middle powers. The episode also considers the role of military power alongside economic tools, including recent U.S. actions in cases such as Venezuela, and the risks of growing fragmentation in the global economy.

Liam reflects on the limits of national security strategies as guiding documents, the dangers policymakers may be underestimating, and what listeners should take away when thinking about economic power in contemporary U.S. grand strategy.

Next Friday, we’ll turn to how gender shapes nuclear governance and what it means for global security and nuclear strategy.