Editorial Team

Joshua Stinson is Editor in Chief of The Ledger: A Journal of Economic Statecraft and a senior strategist, leader, and policy maker with over two decades of experience spanning national security, economic policy, and interagency coordination. He has served in leadership roles across the executive and legislative branches, including as Staff Director at the National Security Council and National Economic Council and as a Legislative Liaison to Congress, where he helped shape major appropriations and policy initiatives in economic competitiveness and statecraft.

Chris O'Keefe is Managing Editor for Design and Technology at The Ledger, where he oversees the journal's digital infrastructure and technology innovation. He is the founder of Restless Creation and Strategic Competition Media, designing and operating influential platforms in maritime affairs, drone technology, and strategic analysis. He also developed the world's first human-machine analysis platform for strategic command and control. A former U.S. Navy Intelligence Officer and advisor to senior defense leadership, Chris has held multiple positions in the C-suite, academia, and government.

Dr. Clark N. Banach is an economist and strategy practitioner specializing in trade, economic security, international relations, institutional design and hybrid threats, with a particular emphasis on Chinese economic statecraft and infrastructure investment. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics (Dr. rer. pol.) from Freie Universität Berlin and specialized in international monetary economics and applied research methods as a visiting scholar of UNC Chapel Hill. He also earned graduate degrees in international economics, international marketing, and international business. He is a Professor of Management at Canisius University and Program Director at Aletheia Research Institution and continues to serve in advisory and fellowship roles addressing global economic statecraft, the political economy of North America, and the evolving landscape of soft power. His research has been featured in congressional testimony and several government reports on maritime security and foreign direct investment.

David Benson is the Director of Training, Tradecraft, and Innovation at Valens Global. Prior to joining the Valens team, he spent six years as a Professor of Security and Strategic Studies at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS) at Air University, Montgomery, AL. He focuses on international relations and information, especially how the internet and information technology affect great power politics. His publications include "Why the Internet is not Increasing Terrorism," "Cyber-balancing not Cyber-War," and "Mahan and Corbett will not Inform War with China." David graduated from the University of Chicago and is a U.S. Army veteran.

Erik Bethel is a global finance professional with extensive experience across the private and public sectors. He is currently the Managing Partner at Mare Liberum Capital Partners, a fund focused on maritime technologies. In 2020, Mr. Bethel was nominated by President Donald J. Trump to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Panama. Earlier in his career, Mr. Bethel built a distinguished track record in private equity and investment banking with a focus on emerging markets and natural resources.

B.S. in Economics and Political Science, United States Naval Academy; MBA, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

Dave Blair is the Deputy Commander of an Air Force Wing in the Pacific. He holds a Doctorate from Georgetown University, where he wrote on the intersection between economics and security, focusing on transnational organized crime as well as organizational optimization and disruption. He later taught as an Adjunct Professor on the politics of military innovation. He also served as the Director of the Air Force's Strategic Studies Group, where he shaped the service's approach to democratizing airpower through automation.

PhD, Georgetown University

Jake Chapman is the Managing Director of Marque Ventures, which is an early stage VC firm exclusively supporting companies working to enhance U.S. national security and the values of the western world. In addition to his work at Marque Jake is an adjunct at RAND where he supports work at the nexus of technology, policy, and national security.

Dr. Jacqueline (Jackie) Deal is President & CEO of the Long Term Strategy Group (LTSG), a defense research firm; co-founder of the American Academy for Strategic Education (AASE), which teaches courses on net assessment, China, and political warfare; and an adviser to State Armor, which helps protect U.S. states from hostile foreign adversaries. She has testified on numerous occasions at Congressional and state-level hearings on military, political, and economic dimensions of the CCP threat, and she has written frequently on these topics for a range of popular and academic publications.

Dr. David Rushing Dewhurst is DARPA's economic warfare program manager. Before joining DARPA as a government civilian, he was an advisor to the agency, a fellow at Yale University, a senior scientist at a defense R&D firm, a lead data scientist on a global life insurance firm's capital risk team, and a computer scientist at an FFRDC.

BA, MS, PhD, University of Vermont

Dr. Rozlyn (Roz) C. Engel serves as the Managing Director of the Treasury, Economics, and Enterprise Modernization Division at MITRE. In this role, she oversees a wide range of technical work across the financial and economic policy domains. Roz came to MITRE after a long career spent at the nexus of international economics, national security, and U.S. policy development, including positions at the Treasury Department, the intelligence community, and the Defense Department. She has published on issues relating to economic development, labor economics, and geoeconomic dynamics. She has also spent time at the Brookings Institution, the International Monetary Fund, and the US Senate.

PhD in Economics, Columbia University; MSc in Economic History, London School of Economics; BA in Economics, Smith College

Frank Finelli is a Senior Advisor to The Carlyle Group, having retired in March 2024 after over 25 years, culminating as a Partner focusing on investments in defense, aerospace, and intelligence. He has been repeatedly selected for Defense News 100 Most Influential and Executive Mosaic WASH100 distinctions. Previously, Mr. Finelli served as legislative assistant for then-Senator Dan Coats (R-IN), with the Armed Services and Select Intelligence Committees. Before retiring as an Army Lieutenant Colonel, he was a Special Assistant to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff and Associate Professor of Economics at West Point, where he taught econometrics and conducted defense procurement analyses. A Field Artillery Master Gunner, Mr. Finelli served in the 82d Airborne, 1st Armored, and 3d Infantry Divisions.

Distinguished Graduate, U.S. Military Academy; MS in Finance and Applied Economics, MIT Sloan School of Management; Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)

The Hon. Christopher Ford is a professor with the Missouri State University's School of Defense and Strategic Studies and a Senior Associate with the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In prior government service, he was U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation, for the last 15 months of that period also performing the duties of the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security. Dr. Ford is the author of the books China Looks at the West: Identity, Global Ambitions, and the Future of Sino-American Relations (2015) and The Mind of Empire: China's History and Modern Foreign Relations (2010).

Andrew J. Grotto is the founder and co-director of the Program on Geopolitics, Technology, and Governance at Stanford University, where he is also a William J. Perry International Security Fellow and a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution. Grotto previously served in senior roles in Democratic and Republican administrations, most recently as the Senior Director for Cyber Policy in the Obama and Trump I administrations.

Gene R. Keselman is a lecturer at MIT and holds multiple leadership roles, including Executive Director of MIT Mission Innovation Experimental and Managing Director of Proto Ventures. He is also a Colonel in the Air Force Reserves, where he serves as the senior Reservist and Director of Strategic Incubation for the Chief of Staff of the Air Force's Strategic Studies Group. Keselman has extensive experience in both military and civilian sectors, having co-founded several startups and held leadership positions in space, defense, and intelligence programs.

Dr. Jerry McGinn is the director of the Center for the Industrial Base and a senior fellow with the Defense and Security Department. He is one of the nation's leading experts on industrial base, acquisition, government contracting, and security policy issues. Prior to joining CSIS, Jerry served as executive director of the Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University, publishing over 70 influential reports, white papers, and commentaries. Prior to GMU, Jerry served as the senior career official in the Office of Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy in the Department of Defense (DoD), leading efforts to analyze the capabilities of the defense industrial base. He also directed hundreds of reviews of high-profile mergers and acquisitions as well as transactions before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Before his service in DoD, Dr. McGinn spent a decade in senior defense industry roles at Northrop Grumman, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and QinetiQ North America. Prior to industry, Dr. McGinn served as special assistant to the principal deputy undersecretary for policy in DoD and as a political scientist at RAND. Dr. McGinn is also a widely acclaimed thought leader and has testified numerous times before the U.S. Congress and the UK House of Commons. Dr. McGinn served with distinction as an infantry officer and is a graduate of Ranger and Airborne Schools.

PhD, MS, MA, Georgetown University; BS, United States Military Academy

Drew N. Peterson is a researcher and consultant at the intersection of national security, strategy, diplomacy, and emerging technology, and teaches courses on foreign policy at the University of Pittsburgh. He previously served more than a decade at the State and Defense departments, as well as on the staffs of the National Security Council and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on numerous advisory committees, including for the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue and the Critical Technology Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University.

Dr. Tim Welter is a Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies where he founded and leads the Global Competition Project. The Project is focused on elevating and addressing the most pressing challenges of societal level competition, especially as they relate to science and technology, including aspects of economic statecraft and national security. Tim's contributions to the Institute's work are informed by his experience in the private sector as a founder and business owner, military officer, Capitol Hill staffer, and in academia and the think tank policy community.

Alex Zerden is a regulatory lawyer, economic policymaker, and financial diplomat who currently leads Capitol Peak Strategies, a risk advisory firm helping organizations navigate complex regulatory, legal, and public policy issues. Alex previously worked at the White House National Economic Council, the House of Representatives, Senate, and U.S. Department of the Treasury. Alex is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.