Headlines
Busan Was a Pause—Now Allies Must Play for Permanence
Busan Was a Pause—Now Allies Must Play for Permanence
Learn MoreInput to USTR: USMCA’s Overlooked Value
Input to USTR: USMCA’s Overlooked Value
As submitted November 2, 2025\ One question underpins the last decade of U.S. trade policy: what are trade agreements worth? Common criticisms cite everything from soaring trade deficits and manufacturing job losses to environmental degradation and infringements on national sovereignty. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is no exception. Since its entry into force in 2020, […]
Learn MoreAmerica’s Allies are Essential to Economic Security.
America’s Allies are Essential to Economic Security.
The United States trade policy has overcorrected. In 2015, a bipartisan consensus formed around the idea that America’s trade agreements were too intrusive. Agreements such as the World Trade Organization and NAFTA were seen to overly restrict the U.S.’s ability to defend itself from anti-competitive behaviors, including subsidies and dumping. A new generation of trade […]
Learn MoreLeverage Wins Headlines; Architecture Wins the Future
Leverage Wins Headlines; Architecture Wins the Future
Photo: Tower Bridge, London — a symbol of enduring architecture, connecting past and future. True strength lies not in leverage, but in the structures of trust we build together. Reflections after Busan—how America and its partners can transform temporary leverage into lasting architecture, building systems of resilience, reach, and trust that endure beyond any single […]
Learn MoreSparking an Industrial Reawakening
Sparking an Industrial Reawakening
This essay is part of the Made in Democracy series, exploring how allied nations can rebuild industrial and technological strength to sustain freedom in a more contested world. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Across capitals from Washington to Tokyo to Berlin, a quiet consensus is emerging: nations that value openness and transparency cannot secure prosperity or peace if they […]
Learn MoreMade in Democracy
Made in Democracy
This post launches my Made in Democracy series, part of my broader Mind the Gap effort to expose the distance between what democracies aspire to achieve and the tools they have prepared to achieve it. From Arsenal to Afterthought In the middle of the 20th century, the U.S. was the world’s leading manufacturer. The U.S. produced […]
Learn MoreIndustrial Renewal and Strategic Production
Rebuilding domestic and allied capacity in sectors vital to economic strength and national security—such as defense production, semiconductors, and advanced Manufacturing.
Resilient Sourcing and Input Security
Securing access to critical minerals, semiconductors, pharmaceutical inputs, and other upstream capabilities through diversified, transparent, and trusted sourcing networks.
Blunting Authoritarian Market Distortion
Countering unfair practices—such as subsidies, dumping, and technology theft—that allow authoritarian regimes to dominate strategic sectors.
Trade Expansion
Aligning trade policy with resilience strategy—opening markets, diversifying export partners, and enabling allied supply chains to scale.
Information and Software Integrity
Protecting democratic societies from authoritarian manipulation via software, digital platforms, and autonomous systems—especially those embedded in infrastructure or consumer tech.
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The World’s Worst Bet: How the Globalization Gamble Went Wrong—And What Would Make It Right.
by Mark Kennedy
by Maria Zaffaroni, Jerry Haar








