Nation States with Yates

America’s communications networks are now a national security battleground. Steve Yates highlights how FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has expanded the agency’s role beyond traditional regulation to confront foreign influence, strengthen telecom supply chains, secure undersea cables, remove high-risk equipment, and harden critical communications infrastructure against espionage and cyber threats. The conversation explains why these efforts affect everything from internet reliability to America’s long-term technology leadership.

What role should government play in protecting the networks Americans depend on every day? Listen now and join the conversation.

Follow Nation States with Yates for clear, common-sense insights where Steve Yates serves as your personal national security advisor, breaking down world events in ways that matter to Main Street, not just Washington. Connect with the show at [email protected] and follow on X @NSWithYates.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

China is aggressively advancing its artificial intelligence capabilities, leveraging open-source models and state backing to challenge American technological leadership. Steve Yates breaks down the national security, economic, and cultural risks facing everyday families if the United States loses its decisive edge in compute. From military readiness to data privacy and influence operations, he delivers clear, common-sense guidance on why securing American innovation is critical to protecting Main Street.

Follow Nation States with Yates for clear, common-sense insights where Steve Yates serves as your personal national security advisor, breaking down world events in ways that matter to Main Street, not just Washington.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Steve Yates analyzes the recent US military escalation targeting Iran's Revolutionary Guard, explaining how strikes on energy infrastructure and shipping threats directly impact gas prices back home. He details why this focused counter-terror campaign differs from past endless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, how internal power struggles and a ghost leadership complicate Tehran's regime, and what China is learning as it watches the conflict unfold from afar.

Follow Nation States with Yates for clear, common-sense insights where Steve Yates serves as your personal national security advisor, breaking down world events in ways that matter to Main Street, not just Washington.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As artificial intelligence reshapes economies, supply chains, and national security, the real competition may hinge on who controls the technology, minerals, energy, and manufacturing needed to power it. Steve Yates examines Pax Silica, a U.S.-led initiative designed to strengthen trusted partnerships, secure critical supply chains, reduce dependence on China, and position America and its allies to lead the AI century through innovation, investment, and smart power.

Follow Nation States with Yates for clear, common-sense insights where Steve Yates serves as your personal national security advisor, breaking down world events in ways that matter to Main Street, not just Washington. Connect with the show at [email protected] and follow on X @NSWithYates.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

America’s race to lead the AI century will depend on far more than faster chips or bigger data centers. Steve Yates examines the State Department’s Pax Silica initiative, explaining how trusted alliances, secure supply chains, critical minerals, semiconductor manufacturing, and strategic investment could strengthen America’s economic and national security while creating new opportunities for workers, businesses, and communities.

Follow Nation States with Yates for more conversations connecting global strategy to America’s future with Steve Yates, your personal national security advisor. 

Connect with the show at [email protected] and follow on X @NSWithYates

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

America’s supply chains are more than an economic issue. They are a national security issue. Steve Yates explains how dependence on the People’s Republic of China for critical materials, medicines, semiconductors, and manufacturing creates strategic vulnerabilities, why COVID-19 exposed those risks, and what policymakers, businesses, and citizens can do to build a more resilient and secure American economy.

Follow Nation States with Yates for more conversations that connect global strategy to everyday American life.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

America’s greatest strategic advantage may not begin with military power, but with national confidence, innovation, and economic resilience. Steve Yates explains the idea of “America Maxing,” why he believes it is essential to meeting the long-term challenge posed by the People’s Republic of China, and how stronger supply chains, reduced strategic dependence, and renewed American optimism fit into that vision.

Follow Nation States with Yates for more conversations that connect national security to everyday American life.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Steve Yates breaks down “smart power,” the missing middle between open-ended military intervention and diplomacy that rewards bad behavior. Using Christian Whiton’s book Smart Power: Between Diplomacy and War as a guide, Yates looks at how America can better use culture, rhetoric, economics, intelligence, military posture and political warfare to confront China, Iran and other adversaries without repeating past failures.

Follow Nation States with Yates for clear, common-sense insights where Steve Yates serves as your personal national security advisor, breaking down world events in ways that matter to Main Street, not just Washington.

Today's topics: Steve Yates, Nation States with Yates, smart power, Christian Whiton, Smart Power: Between Diplomacy and War, national security, foreign policy, statecraft, diplomacy, war, appeasement, China, Iran, Islamism, political warfare, economic leverage, cultural influence, military posture, intelligence reform, Arab Spring, Libya, Benghazi, Taiwan, Russia, Ukraine, Abraham Accords, Trump administration, Obama administration, Bush administration, Cold War, America maxing

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trade policy is about far more than prices at the checkout line. Steve Yates examines Ambassador Robert Lighthizer’s book No Trade Is Free and explains how globalization, tariffs, manufacturing, supply chains, and U.S.-China trade have reshaped America’s economic and national security priorities. He explores why reciprocity, strategic industries, and economic resilience have become central to today’s trade debate.  

Follow Nation States with Yates for clear, common-sense insights where Steve Yates serves as your personal national security advisor, breaking down world events in ways that matter to Main Street, not just Washington.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While headlines focus on China, the Middle East, and Europe, a major geopolitical shift is unfolding much closer to home. Steve Yates explores the rise of reform-minded governments across Latin America, growing cooperation on border security and cartel enforcement, and why a stronger Western Hemisphere could benefit American families, energy security, supply chains, and economic growth. Yates argues that one of America’s biggest strategic opportunities may be right in its own backyard.

Follow Nation States with Yates for clear, common-sense insight into the global events shaping your family, finances, security, and America’s future.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.