In this episode, we analyze the 2025 National Security Strategy’s aggressive pivot toward "commercial diplomacy" and the weaponization of the American economy. We unpack the document's explicit demand that allies "align their export controls with ours" as a prerequisite for favorable defense and technology cooperation. We also explore how the strategy reframes traditional sanctions into a broader system of "economic leverage" and "strategic tariffs," designed to force burden-sharing and "surgically extinguish" regional conflicts. Finally, we discuss the "Trump Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine and how the U.S. plans to use financial tools to induce nations to reject adversarial foreign assistance. (Powered by AI)