🎙️ We want more factories in the U.S. For better products, for growing the middle class, for national pride and national security.
But not everything America once made is coming home—and certainly not immediately. So how should we be thinking about the future—and power—of American manufacturing on a global scale?
Elaine Dezenski—senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and head of its Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP)—joins TOOL OR DIE to deliver a clear-eyed assessment of America’s industrial strategy (and historical lack thereof), the backlash to China’s global Belt and Road Initiative, and the growing awareness that America’s market idealism might be served by understanding that the economy can be a coordinated force.
Elaine argues that we’re already in a hot economic war—and we’re fighting it without the direction of an economic Pentagon. From misunderstood assumptions about the global order to the scramble for supply chain resilience, this episode connects the ideological, geopolitical, and deeply practical implications of reshoring and ally-shoring. Her proposal? A new economic architecture rooted in shared democratic values and strategic co-production—and more integrated decision-making between industry, capital, and government.
Timestamps::
01:15 – Peter Zeihan’s “End of the World” and U.S. maritime dominance
04:00 – The myth of globalization: who benefits in a fractured order?
06:30 – Why North America is well-positioned in a decoupling world
08:00 – Nearshoring vs. ally-shoring: what's the real strategy?
10:00 – Arctic trade routes, rare earths, and geopolitics at the poles
12:00 – China's Belt and Road backlash and the illusion of soft power
15:00 – The limits of authoritarian infrastructure diplomacy
17:00 – Defining “ally-shoring” and its policy architecture
20:00 – Can a hemispheric economy replace the global order?
24:00 – Strategic tariffs, capital incentives, and building an iPhone in America
28:00 – FDD’s evolution: from counterterrorism to economic statecraft
31:00 – Reindustrialization as bipartisan economic defense
34:00 – Smart power vs. soft power: what really moves global outcomes
38:00 – The case for a new “economic Pentagon” and an American-style industrial policy
44:00 – U.S. foreign investment: friends, foes, and forgotten guardrails
48:00 – If Fukuyama was wrong, what comes next?
Key Topics:
Why the U.S. needs a coordinated industrial strategy now—not later
The hidden costs of China's Belt and Road Initiative
How reindustrialization can be framed as a national—and democratic—security imperative
Why North America could anchor a new “near-global economy”
Building prosperity through values-driven co-production
What the Foundation for Defense of Democracies is actually doing in this fight
The missed opportunity of the Apple iPhone myth
Economic warfare tools vs. free-market dogma
🔧 Learn more: fdd.org | Elaine Dezenski on LinkedIn
Sponsor
This episode of TOOL OR DIE is brought to you by DOSS, the adaptive ERP.
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TOOL OR DIE is hosted by Joel Johnson, former science & tech journalist turned corporate strategist who built brands like Gizmodo, WIRED.com, and Wirecutter; and Alex Roy, General Partner at New Industry Venture Capital (NIVC.us), known for breaking the Cannonball Run record and his work in autonomous vehicles. Each week, they speak with the people actually rebuilding American manufacturing—one machine, one company, one idea at a time.
Follow them at:
LinkedIn: joeljohnson | alexroy
X: @joeljohnson | @alexroy144
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