The Institute of World Politics

About the lecture: The lecture focuses on the human atrocities prevalent in North Korea. It begins with a review of how the world has dealt with post-WWII human rights violations through institutional mechanisms such as International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (together known...

Full Title: Deal of the Decade: How the United States Should Handle Afghanistan in the Era of the Taliban Peace Talks About the Lecture: This presentation will start on a brief history of the Taliban, focusing on a post 9/11 world. It will highlight the current Afghanistan environment and the actors involved in the peace talks: the US, the Taliban, and the Afghani Government. The presentation will...

About the Lecture: This seminar aims to expound on the impact of globalization on US public diplomacy, emphasizing Sports, Entertainment, and Culture. These three mediums, combined with the popularity of social media, continue to spread all American ideals across the globe, opening needed conversations and policies on how best the US can maximize its perception and influence as it continues to saf...

About the Lecture: The strategic initiative of China’s leadership to harness an unprecedented influx of wealth from the West to re-establish historical land and sea trade routes is a bold and ambitious effort to cement China’s burgeoning position as the center of global trade in its increasingly unveiled quest for global hegemony which, if successful, will invariably lead it on a collision course...

About the lecture: There are opportunities and challenges in Angola and Mozambique to reform the electoral processes. What role can the local stakeholders and USG play to pave the way for a more transparent electoral process? About the coordinator and moderator: Prof. Hashem Mekki, MA, has taught Arabic Language, Culture & Middle East Media at IWP since 2012. He is the owner of Bridge Language Sol...

About the interview: Dr. John Tierney, IWP professor, spoke with IWP about world order. He discussed the the history of polarity, U.S. interest in world order, and what the future could hold in this regard. About the speaker: Dr. John Tierney is a Professor Emeritus at The Institute of World Politics and teaches History of American Foreign Policy, History of International Relations, Peace, Strateg...

About the book: The book compiles for the first time corroborative primary sources in English, Russian, French, German, Finnish, Italian, Japanese, Latvian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish. The result is the most comprehensive list of Soviet intelligence officer defectors to date. Through the eyes of those officers, it shows the fluctuations in the Soviet recruitment and vetting of per...

This event is part of the Student Speaker Series sponsored by The Institute of World Politics. About the lecture: The classical definition of acting is ‘living truthfully under imaginary circumstances.’ Contrary to the common perception that acting is ‘pretending,’ the working process of actors (as well as of directors and writers) is an exploratory journey to revealing the truth of every moment,...

This event is part of the Winning without War series sponsored by The Institute of World Politics. About the lecture: Despite suffering repeated setbacks in recent years, Islamic extremism or more specifically, totalitarian Islamism, and the terrorism it spawns, remains a major threat to the United States and its allies. While there will always be a need for the selective use of military power to...

About the lecture: Charlie Chaplin, Daffy Duck, Dr. Seuss, Team America, and Winnie-the-Pooh have entertained audiences using humor. What is perhaps less known about these entertainers is how their humor and images have been used to denigrate and ridicule dictators and authoritarian regimes. When thinking about propaganda and mass influence, humor and ridicule do not often come to mind. However, h...

About the lecture: In 1915 Germany's successful offensive in the east resulted in the occupation of the Western chunk of the Russian Empire, a swath of land between the Baltic and Black Seas. We refer to it as the Intermarium, and it is essentially coterminous with the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Germans shared their conquest with their junior partners, the Austrians. Both made sure no...

About the lecture: Since 1972, the nuclear disarmament community —led by major self-described arms control organizations— hasn’t supported any serious nuclear arms control ideas. They’ve supported dangerous ideas such as the nuclear freeze, opposed American strategic nuclear and missile defense modernization efforts, and denounced the most revolutionary and beneficial agreements such as INF, Start...

This event is part of the Intermarium Lecture Series sponsored by The Institute of World Politics. About the lecture: Ambassador Nersesyan will present the developments following the Azerbaijani attacks on the Tavush Region of Armenia on July 12th, and the political and military response of Armenia. The Ambassador will also reflect on the role of Turkey in the recent escalation and its ramificatio...

This lecture is part of the 10th Annual Kościuszko Chair Spring Symposium in honor of Lady Blanka Rosenstiel sponsored by the Kościuszko Chair of Polish Studies and the Center for Intermarium Studies. About the lecture: Reinstatement of political relations between the Polish government-in-exile and the Soviet government in July 1941 resulted in so-called amnesty for the Polish citizens deported to...

This lecture is a part of our 10th Annual Kościuszko Chair Spring Symposium in honor of Lady Blanka Rosenstiel. This event is sponsored by the Kościuszko Chair of Polish Studies and the Center for Intermarium Studies. About the lecture: Dr. Chodakiewicz is going to discuss the nature of the political movements and ideological developments in White Ruthenia in the aftermath of World War I. About th...

This event is part of the 10th Annual Kościuszko Chair Spring Symposium in honor of Lady Blanka Rosenstiel sponsored by the Kościuszko Chair of Polish Studies and the Center for Intermarium Studies. About the lecture: The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s small armies, based around a seemingly outmoded form of heavy cavalry, Winged Hussars, were able to hold their own against numerically superior f...

About the lecture: Buoyed by the victory in the east sealed by the Treaty of Brest Litovsk in March 1918, Germany and her allies scrambled to transfer their forces to deliver a decisive blow on the Western front. Unfortunately for them the United States came to the rescue. America's intervention reversed the fortunes of war. By August 1918, the Second Reich suffered its first serious reversal. In...

About the lecture: In this lecture, Dr. Sara Vakhshouri will discuss the fundamentals and changes in the energy market, and Mr. C. Derek Campbell will talk about physical security of energy infrastructure and cyber security. This lecture will cover themes from Dr. Vakhshouri’s IWP course on “Energy Security and the New Geopolitics of Energy.” The course focuses on the transformation of energy use...

About the lecture: With the pandemic receding in much of the world, government and business leaders are starting to think about the geopolitical and geoeconomic impact of the crisis. In this webinar, Dr. Glancy will discuss his assessment of how the international environment and great power relations will likely change over the next 2 to 5 years in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Participants in...

This event is part of The Cyber Intelligence Initiative Series sponsored by The Institute of World Politics. About the lecture: A discussion of the challenges presented by the increasingly complex environment created when cyber, information, and intelligence operations overlap and collide. This presentation will explore case studies where the lines between various concepts become blurred, complica...

This event is part of the China Series sponsored by The Institute of World Politics. About the lecture: Dr. Tara O will discuss China’s influence in South Korea, including its extensive Belt and Road Initiative and nearly 30 Chinatowns throughout the country. She will also discuss the implications for South Korean national security. About the speaker: Dr. Tara O is the founder of the East Asia Res...

About the book: The dramatic, untold story of one of the CIA’s most successful Cold War intelligence operations. December, 1981—the CIA receives word that the Polish government has cut telephone communications with the West and closed the Polish border. The agency’s leaders quickly inform President Ronald Reagan, who is enjoying a serene weekend at Camp David. Within hours, Prime Minister Wojciech...

This event is part of The China Series sponsored by The Institute of World Politics. About the lecture: Dr. Spalding will discuss the origins of the pandemic, implications for US-China economic and other relations, and the state of play in 5G. About the speaker: Dr. Rob Spalding is a national security policy strategist, and globally recognized for his knowledge of Chinese economic competition and...

About the lecture: An ephemeral victory for Germany, the Treaty of Brest Litovsk was the first international conference ostensibly appealing to the ideal of national self-determination. It reduced Bolshevik-controlled Russia to the size of its medieval Muscovite predecessor; it also theoretically recognized Ukraine as an independent state, while vassalizing it in practice. The Treaty laid the grou...

About the interview: Mr. Tobias Brandt, a Brent Scowcroft Award Fellow at the Aspen Strategy Group and IWP alumnus, spoke with IWP about the importance of countering ideological support for terrorism; the narratives used by militant Islamists in their propaganda efforts; the best arguments we can make against terrorist propaganda; and why this topic is important today. About the speaker: Tobias Br...