Derisky Business
“Derisky Business” is a show that explores economic security issues within the broader national security and foreign policy landscape. Hosts Emily Kilcrease and Geoffrey Gertz dive into the weeds on issues like export controls, tariffs, and trade, linking these issues to broader debates on how to advance U.S. global economic leadership during times of geopolitical turbulence. Listen for new episodes bi-weekly, and check out other podcasts from the Center for a New American Security at cnas.org/connect/podcasts. This podcast is supported in part by Amazon and by general support to the CNAS Energy, Economics & Security Program.
Episodes

Thursday Oct 24, 2024
Thursday Oct 24, 2024
Join Emily Kilcrease and researcher Eleanor Hume to discuss the latest edition of CNAS's Sanctions by the Numbers series, examining how the U.S.'s sanctions policy on China has shifted under the Biden administration.
Find the full report and its findings here: Sanctions by the Numbers: Comparing the Trump and Biden Administrations’ Sanctions and Export Controls on China

Thursday Oct 17, 2024
Thursday Oct 17, 2024
That escalated quickly! Emily and Geoff discuss why the U.S. aim to deny China access to the computing power necessary for frontier AI capabilities has led to an ever expanding set of new export controls. They are joined by Reed Albergotti of Semafor to talk about what this means for the Middle East's tech ambitions and by Pablo Chavez to share his analysis on the drive for sovereign AI around the world.
Check out Emily's remarks on America's evolving export control strategy and Reed's reporting from the Middle East: "How the UAE Got the U.S. to Bless its AI Ambitions" and U.S. Closer to Green Lighting NVIDIA Chips for Saudi Arabia.
Also read Pablo's two articles, Toward Digital Solidarity and Vassals vs. Rivals: The Geopolitical Future of AI Competition.

Thursday Oct 03, 2024
Thursday Oct 03, 2024
Ambassador Jovita Neliupšienė, the European Union's Ambassador to the United States, joins Emily and Geoff for a wide-ranging conversation on Europe's growing role as a economic statecraft power, the importance of the transatlantic alliance in addressing the strategic challenges posed by Russia and China, and why all Americans should drink champagne
Ambassador Neliupšienė recommends listeners tune in to the Trade-Off podcast about the people, politics, and power inside Europe’s trade policy.
Further Reading:
EU Competitiveness: Looking Ahead (The Draghi Report)
Containing Crisis: Strategic Concepts for Coercive Economic Statecraft from CNAS
The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World by Anu Bradford

Thursday Sep 19, 2024
Thursday Sep 19, 2024
NRC Media reporter Marc Hijink joined co-host Emily Kilcrease at a CNAS event to discuss his book, Focus: The ASML Way. For decades, ASML - the most valuable technology company in Europe - operated in the shadows, despite the fact that roughly 90 percent of all chips worldwide are made with ASML’s machines. In recent years, the Dutch manufacturing company has found itself at the center of a geopolitical storm between China and the United States and Europe. In this conversation, we delve into the history of the company, how it came to dominate the industry, and how it is navigating increasingly fraught geopolitical waters.

Thursday Sep 05, 2024
Thursday Sep 05, 2024
Geoff and Emily talk about the tensions between social media platforms and governments around the world, including Telegram’s troubles in France and X’s spats with Brazil and Europe. Carrie Cordero, CNAS General Counsel and Robert M. Gates Senior Fellow, joins to talk TikTok and why it’s so complicated to ban the app in the United States.
Carrie Cordero is the Robert M. Gates Senior Fellow and General Counsel at CNAS. Her research and writing interests focus on homeland security and intelligence community oversight, transparency, surveillance, cybersecurity, and related national and homeland security law and policy issues.

Thursday Aug 22, 2024
Thursday Aug 22, 2024
On this international episode of Derisky Business, recorded at the United States Studies Center in Sydney, Australia, Dr. Mike Green joins the podcast to discuss how Australia and other Pacific countries view economic security issues, what countries in the region think about the U.S. presidential election, and how he is preparing for armageddon.
Mike’s Recommended Reading/Listening: Planning Armageddon: British Economic Warfare and the First World War, The Empire Podcast

Thursday Aug 08, 2024
Thursday Aug 08, 2024
Richard Fontaine, CEO of the Center for a New American Security, joins Emily and Geoff to discuss his new book, co-authored with Robert Blackwill, Lost Decade: The US Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power, and his fever dreams for a trade agreement in Asia.
Richard Fontaine is the Chief Executive Officer of the Center for a New American Security. Prior to coming to CNAS, he was foreign policy advisor to Senator John McCain and worked at the State Department, the National Security Council, and on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Richard's recommended reading
Lost Decade: The U.S. Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power by Richard Fontaine and Robert Blackwill
The Rise and Fall of the Economic Pivot to Asia by Richard Fontaine and Robert Blackwill
The Price of Nostalgia, Adam Posen
Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality by Frank Wilczek

Thursday Jul 25, 2024
Thursday Jul 25, 2024
Dan Rosen, leading expert on China's economy and head of the Rhodium Group's China practice, joins Emily and Geoff to talk about the recently concluded third plenum meetings in China, what China's economy wants to be when it grows up, and the impacts of China's economic downturn on U.S.-China relations.
Emily Kilcrease is senior fellow and program director in the Energy, Economics, & Security Program at the CNAS. Her research focuses on economic statecraft and economic security.
Geoff Gertz is senior fellow in the Energy, Economics, & Security Team at the Center for a New American Security. His research focuses on technology competition, digital policy and data governance, and geoeconomics.
Read new research from the CNAS Energy, Economics & Security team:
Sanctions by the Numbers: 2023 Year in Review
Disorderly Conduct: How U.S.-China Competition Upended the International Economic Order & What the U.S. Can Do to Fix It
Dan's Recommended Reading: Forging a Positive Vision of Economic Statecraft by Daleep Singh.

Thursday Jul 11, 2024
Thursday Jul 11, 2024
Emily and Geoff discuss the U.S. presidential election and what that might mean for economic security policy. They get into trade policy, what both candidates would do to compete with China, and where U.S. partners and allies fit in to both candidates' vision.
Emily Kilcrease is senior fellow and program director in the Energy, Economics, & Security Program at the CNAS. Her research focuses on economic statecraft and economic security.
Geoff Gertz is senior fellow in the Energy, Economics, & Security Team at the Center for a New American Security. His research focuses on technology competition, digital policy and data governance, and geoeconomics.
Read new research from the CNAS Energy, Economics & Security team:
Sanctions by the Numbers: 2023 Year in Review
Disorderly Conduct: How U.S.-China Competition Upended the International Economic Order & What the U.S. Can Do to Fix It

Wednesday Jul 03, 2024
Wednesday Jul 03, 2024
On June 26, CNAS hosted an event to discuss a new report, Disorderly Conduct: How U.S.-China Competition Upended the International Economic Order and What the United States Can Do to Fix It. Report authors shared key findings and recommendations on how to delineate a new economic strategic framework toward China that serves both the security and commercial interests of the United States. The conversation also featured Peter Harrell, Nonresident Scholar for the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Peter Harrell is a Nonresident Scholar for the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Emily Kilcrease is senior fellow and program director in the Energy, Economics, & Security Program at the CNAS. Her research focuses on economic statecraft and economic security.
Geoff Gertz is senior fellow in the Energy, Economics, & Security Team at the Center for a New American Security. His research focuses on technology competition, digital policy and data governance, and geoeconomics.
Adam Tong is associate fellow in the Energy, Economics, & Security Team at the Center for a New American Security. His research focuses on U.S. - China economic competition, China's economic statecraft, and sanction resilience.