Seth Cropsey joins the National Association of Scholars podcast Café Berlin to discuss maritime power, the geopolitics of Eurasian power competition, strategy education, America’s alliances, and what universities must teach the next generation.

America possesses formidable military, technological, and economic power. But does it have a coherent strategy for using it, and does it still know what that power is meant to defend?

In this episode of Café Berlin, Ian Oxnevad and I are joined by Seth Cropsey, a retired naval officer, former deputy undersecretary of the Navy, president of the Yorktown Institute, and co-author with Harry Halem of Breaking the New Axis: A U.S. Grand Strategy for Eurasia.

Our conversation begins at sea but quickly moves into America’s classrooms, universities, and public life. Cropsey explains why the United States lacks a coherent maritime strategy and why that failure reflects a wider deficit in strategic education. Americans are rarely taught to connect geography, military history, industrial capacity, technology, alliances, and national purpose. Beneath this problem lies an even deeper question: What is American power meant to defend? A country cannot sustain a grand strategy if it cannot articulate the values behind it.

Cropsey also shares his views on Europe’s place in American grand strategy and how Washington should treat its European partners. We examine the role of colleges and universities in national security as well. Modern maritime strength depends not only on ships, but also on research, artificial intelligence, engineering, secure supply chains, industrial renewal, and people educated to understand how these elements fit together.

Can America rebuild its maritime power without rebuilding its capacity for strategic thought? And can universities educate a generation that understands not only how national power works, but what it should serve?

The episode premieres tomorrow, August 21, at 4:00 pm ET. Watch it below or on YouTube, and follow Lilla Nóra Kiss on X and LinkedIn.