Three Questions

The National Interest

Welcome to Three Questions—a podcast for a new era of global complexity and uncertainty. Three Questions breaks down key security, trade, energy, and technology challenges in an era of escalating competition among the world’s leading powers and rapid change in America’s approach to the world. Every two weeks, host Paul Saunders, President of the Center for the National Interest and Publisher of The National Interest, sits down with leading American and international experts to ask three focused questions that yield short and accessible perspectives on these critical issues. Three Questions cuts through the chaos to bring clarity on timely topics.

  1. 2 days ago

    Soft Power, Hard Returns: American Investment in Egypt (w/ James Harmon & Cornelius Queen)

    In 2011, Congress placed $300 million in the hands of private investors with an unusual mandate: grow Egypt's economy on behalf of the American people. Fifteen years later, the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund has invested in more than 150 companies, helped create over 75,000 jobs, and grown to an estimated value of more than $500 million. And it has managed all this in a country rocked by revolution, political instability, and currency collapse. At a moment when Americans are questioning the costs of hard power in the Middle East and the value of foreign assistance, the Fund's track record raises provocative questions about how the US projects its influence abroad. Can private-sector investment succeed where troops and traditional aid have struggled? Why should taxpayer dollars back ventures in faraway markets? And can this model of "soft power" be replicated across the developing world? In this episode, Paul Saunders speaks with James Harmon and Cornelius Queen, two authors of the new book A Daring Enterprise: A US-Egyptian Partnership and the Case for Soft Power. The book looks at the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund, where Harmon is chairman and Queen is a senior vice president. Harmon, a former chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, previously served as chairman and CEO of the investment bank Schroder Wertheim & Co. and is chair emeritus of the World Resources Institute. Queen has worked on Capitol Hill and managed humanitarian aid programs in Lebanon. Order the book. Music by Sonican from Pixabay.

    32 min

  2. 1 Jun

    What Is the National Interest?

    This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1996 report of the Commission on America's National Interests, a bipartisan effort to answer a deceptively simple question: what does the United States actually need to do in the world? Far from a dry policy artifact, the report was an attempt to bring discipline to a foreign policy debate in which nearly every cause was being branded "vital." Three decades later, that challenge feels strikingly familiar. The confusion of the early post–Cold War years, when Americans struggled to define their role in a transformed world, has echoes in our own moment, even if the sources of uncertainty have changed. How should America rank its priorities when it can't possibly pursue them all? What truly counts as "vital" versus merely important, and who gets to decide? In this episode, Paul Saunders breaks down the report's framework and makes the case for why this 30-year-old document still has relevance in 2026. Saunders is the president of the Center for the National Interest and an expert with more than three decades of experience in U.S.-Russia policy. He previously served in the George W. Bush Administration from 2003 to 2005 as Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs. Read the report here: https://cftni.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Americas-National-Interests-1996.pdf Music by Sonican from Pixabay.

    22 min

  3. 18 May

    Nuclear Power’s Big Leap Forward (w/ Roger Martella)

    One year ago, President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders aimed at accelerating the deployment of nuclear energy in the United States. The impact has been dramatic, pulling forward the construction of small modular reactors by roughly five years and reshaping how industry, government, and allies plan for the future of power. The stakes could hardly be higher: energy security is the foundation beneath everything from economic growth to national defense, and the world's appetite for reliable, affordable electricity is only growing. How has industry responded to the executive orders, and what comes next? How do nuclear partnerships with allies like Japan fit into a broader strategy for energy security and American manufacturing? And how is the Trump administration balancing its "America First" agenda with the realities of global supply chains? In this episode, Paul Saunders speaks with Roger Martella, Chief Corporate Officer at GE Vernova. Martella previously served as General Counsel of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the George W. Bush Administration and as Principal Counsel for Complex Litigation for the Department of Justice's Natural Resources Section. Music by Sonican from Pixabay.

    29 min

  4. 4 May

    Strategic Implications of the Iran War (w/ Nikolas Gvosdev)

    Two months into the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, the conflict shows no signs of imminent resolution, with both sides convinced that time is on their side. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has rattled global energy markets, but neither Washington nor Tehran appears ready to back down, raising the possibility of a prolonged "no war, no peace" stalemate. How long can each side endure, and what would it take to force a settlement? How does the war intersect with the ongoing conflict in Ukraine? And what lessons is China drawing as it watches another great power struggle to bring a middle power to heel? In this episode, Paul Saunders speaks with Nikolas Gvosdev, a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College. Dr. Gvosdev serves as the editor of Orbis and was previously editor of The National Interest. Music by Sonican from Pixabay.

    35 min

  5. 20 Apr

    Rethinking Nuclear Waste: The Case for Recycling Used Fuel (w/ Christina Leggett)

    Long dismissed in the U.S. as uneconomic and proliferation-prone, the recycling of used nuclear fuel is becoming a strategic imperative the country can no longer afford to ignore. The U.S. is sitting on roughly 96,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel, the vast majority of which is reusable material rather than waste, even as global uranium demand surges and China races to build dozens of new reactors. Meanwhile, France and Russia dominate the recycling landscape, with Russia increasingly setting the terms for nuclear partnerships with non-allied countries. What do modern recycling technologies actually do, and how do they differ from the legacy processes that raised proliferation concerns decades ago? Why might commercial recycling finally be viable in the U.S. today, what role should the federal government play in a market-based approach, and can this activity be carried out safely and securely? In this episode, Paul Saunders speaks with Dr. Christina J. Leggett, Director of Fuel Cycle Technology at Oklo, Inc. Prior to working at Oklo, she was a lead engineer at Booz Allen Hamilton, where she worked as a nuclear technology advisor for the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). Dr. Leggett also worked as a federal program manager in the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy and as a nuclear engineer and reactor systems engineer at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. She holds a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of California-Berkeley. Read the EIRP report: The Case for Commercial Recycling of Used Nuclear Fuel: Assessment and Recommendations

    29 min

  6. 6 Apr

    Natural Gas Markets: Disruptions, Infrastructure, and Security (w/ Mel Ydreos)

    The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has abruptly severed a fifth of global oil and LNG supply. Far from simply spiking energy prices, a supply chain shock of this magnitude will have cascading impacts across the entire global economy. The current crisis threatens to halt as much as 30% of global fertilizer production, for example, resulting in major food shortages. How can policymakers promote global energy resilience and mitigate future supply chain disruptions like the one in the Persian Gulf? In this episode, Paul Saunders speaks with Mel Ydreos, Secretary General of the International Gas Union (IGU), a global trade association representing gas production, transmission, and distribution companies. Ydreos also serves as the Executive Director of Energy Vantage Inc. in Toronto, Canada. He launched Energy Vantage Inc. after a long career at Union Gas Ltd., where he held several executive positions. He served as interim president and CEO of the Ontario Energy Association from 2013 to 2014. Music by Sonican from Pixabay.

    47 min

  7. 23 Mar

    How the Gulf Sees U.S. Strategy in Iran (w/ Abdulla Al Junaid)

    With Israeli and Iranian strikes targeting the critical energy infrastructure of the Persian Gulf, GCC countries have found themselves caught in the crossfire of a war beyond their control. Iran's retaliatory drone and missile strikes threaten to derail global energy markets and the Gulf states' fragile economic recovery from the Covid era. How are the Gulf states reacting to escalating strikes on critical energy infrastructure? Will they retaliate militarily? And might they begin to question their close security and economic ties with the United States after the conflict ends? In this episode, Paul Saunders speaks with Abdulla Al Junaid, a geopolitical columnist and commentator in Middle Eastern and international media. Al Junaid is the former Department Head for Analysis and Policies at the National Unity Party in Bahrain, the former deputy director of MENA2050, an advisory board member of the German-Arab Friendship Association (DAFG), and a permanent committee member of the Germany-GCC Annual Conference on Security and Cooperation. Music by Sonican from Pixabay.

    18 min

  8. 23 Feb

    Sabotage Below the Waves (w/ Martha Miller)

    Critical undersea cables and pipelines are increasingly vulnerable to sabotage by geopolitical rivals, adding a new threat dimension to competition in the Baltic Sea and elsewhere. Such "gray zone" tactics allow adversaries to test NATO resolve without triggering open conflict. What are the legal and military challenges of protecting infrastructure that lies outside clear territorial boundaries? And how can Western governments deter further disruption? In this episode, Paul Saunders speaks with Martha Miller, a Senior Fellow at the Center for the National Interest. Miller recently served as deputy executive director of the National Security Institute at the Antonin Scalia Law School and was a special assistant to President George W. Bush. She also held national security roles in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. State Department. Music by Sonican from Pixabay.

    14 min
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About

Welcome to Three Questions—a podcast for a new era of global complexity and uncertainty. Three Questions breaks down key security, trade, energy, and technology challenges in an era of escalating competition among the world’s leading powers and rapid change in America’s approach to the world. Every two weeks, host Paul Saunders, President of the Center for the National Interest and Publisher of The National Interest, sits down with leading American and international experts to ask three focused questions that yield short and accessible perspectives on these critical issues. Three Questions cuts through the chaos to bring clarity on timely topics.

Information

  • Creator
    The National Interest
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    29
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © The National Interest 2025
  • Show Website
    Three Questions

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