The Institute of World Politics

This event is part of The Cyber Intelligence Initiative Series sponsored by The Institute of World Politics. About the lecture: Dr. Hwang will introduce China’s cyber strategy and discuss how China views cyberspace as a battleground. He’ll then discuss Taiwan’s cybersecurity environment against attacks. About the speaker: Dr. Ji-Jen (Joseph) Hwang is a Research Scholar at the Institute for East As...

The Ninth Annual Ronald Reagan Intelligence Lecture About the lecture: Reagan’s efforts against the Cold War resulted in tremendous global change and the collapse of the Cold War Super Powers bi-polar power structure; including an intense paradigm shift and challenge for Indications & Warning (I&W) intelligence. Traditional Indications and Warning Intelligence – an exact and highly effective analy...

Focus: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, radical Islamism, and a global pandemic. Never has the United States faced so many external threats, each of which requires a full-range strategy – both hard and soft power- in order to preserve our freedom and prosperity while avoiding unnecessary armed conflict. At the same time, it is critical to build internal consensus based on our values and history....

About the lecture: Thirty years ago last fall we celebrated the fall of the Berlin wall. Many thought this represented the end of history–capitalism had won and socialism had been swept into the dustbin. Today, we see that a growing segment of the American population favors “democratic socialism” and we see American members of Congress who proudly claim this ideology. We will discuss how we have g...

About the lecture: During World War I the idea of national self-determination came into its own. There were two principal proponents of this concept. First, Lenin advanced a theory of "proletarian" national self-determination to serve Communism; then, Wilson championed the liberal internationalist idea of national self-determination to support the cause of parliamentary democracy. Both ideas matte...

About the lecture: Mozambique is facing Islamic insurgency partly due to social, political, and economic factors. Instead of addressing these underlying issues of the conflict, the Mozambique government has exacerbated it by the heavy-handed security response. Has the government mishandled or miscalculated the threats posed by these Islamic insurgents groups in northern Mozambique? What role can t...

This event is part of the China Series sponsored by The Institute of World Politics. About the lecture: The Chinese seek to supplant the US as the world’s top military and economic power. As Tom Reed noted in his book The Nuclear Express, China is a major proliferator of nuclear weapons technology—to Pakistan, North Korea, Iran, Libya and Iraq. Its own nuclear arsenal is projected to double this d...

This event is part of The Global Impact Discussion Series sponsored by The Institute of World Politics. About the lecture: How might the coronavirus pandemic influence U.S.-China relations? Some observers contend that it will accelerate the decoupling of the two countries’ economies; others, that it will compel them to restore a baseline of cooperation to address current and potential transnationa...

About the lecture: The presentation will explore the history of baseball diplomacy between the United States and Cuba, specifically focusing on the Trump administration’s nullification of the 2018 Major League Baseball-Cuban Baseball Federation player agreement. About the speaker: Nathaniel Bader is an IWP student pursuing a master’s degree in Statecraft and National Security Affairs with a concen...

About the lecture: The Intermarium's Nationalisms: Old and New discusses historic nationalism, which was predicated on civic and local identity, and non-historic nationalisms, which stressed their ethnic and folk character. The former concerned mostly the legacy of the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; the latter reflected newly emergent nations, including the Lithuanians, Ukrainians, and Belaru...

About the lecture: This is Dr. Chodakiewicz's first lecture in his series on the First World War and its Aftermath in the Intermarium, the lands between the Baltic and Black Seas, 1914-1921. About the speaker: Dr. Chodakiewicz currently serves as a Professor of History at The Institute of World Politics, where he holds the Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies. He also leads IWP’s Center for Intermar...

About the book review: Dr. Christopher C. Harmon, the Bren Chair of Great Power Competition at Marine Corps University and IWP professor, reviewed Erik Larson's new book The Splendid and the Vile, which accounts the leadership of Winston Churchill during his first days as prime minister. Dr. Christopher Harmon gives an in-depth review of the book. He discusses its strengths and weaknesses, his own...

About the interview: Dr. Joshua Muravchik, Distinguished Fellow at the World Affairs Institute, spoke with IWP about the rise of socialism in American politics. He discussed the history of the socialist movement in America, what the term "democratic socialism" really means, why socialism is popular with millennials, and what we can do to fight the rise of socialism in America. About the speaker: D...

About the discussion: Dr. John Lenczowski will discuss how the coronavirus pandemic has raised America’s consciousness of the reality of communist rule in China and its implications for the security and prosperity of our country. “For years, our leaders have hoped and dreamed of a benevolent, democratic China. We gave away the store on this fantasy, and now we are paying the price. Ironically, thi...

About the interview: Dr. Anne Bradley, Vice President of Economic Initiatives at the Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics and IWP professor, spoke with IWP about the economic impact of the coronavirus. She discussed the future of the economy, the stock market, the new stimulus package, the long term effects of coronavirus, and the role of government in protecting the U.S. economy. About the sp...

About the Interview: Dr. Sara Vakhshouri, Professor of Energy Security at IWP and President of SVB Energy International, spoke with members of the IWP events staff about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the energy market. She discussed energy supply and demand, the Russia-Saudi oil war, U.S. shale production, and what the future holds in regard to market stabilization. About the Speaker:...

This event was co-sponsored by the Marine Corps University Foundation and the Krulak Center at Marine Corps University. About the lecture: The initial effects of the internet and social media seemed happy, but the second and third order effects — disinformation, lies, propaganda, deep fakes, troll swarms, personal attacks, and conspiracy theories among them — now present threats to privacy, nation...

About the Lecture: Dr. Hull will discuss concerns about American universities’ activities in the security space, including apparent bias in the federally funded Terrorism and Extremist Violence in the United States (TEVUS) Database, the influence of Gulf State funding on American education, and the potential impact of both on U.S. national security. About the Speaker: Christopher C. Hull, Ph. D.,...

About the Lecture: Russian President Vladimir Putin periodically regurgitates Soviet propaganda about the Second World War. Lately, Poland has triggered his ire again. Warsaw failed to fall in line with standard Soviet fantasy. According to this narrative, the global conflict started on June 22, 1941, when Germany attacked innocent and neutral “Mother Russia.” Thus wronged and victimized, having s...

About the Lecture: Historical Pompeo’s visit to Minsk amid Russia-Belarus tensions was met with thousands of posts, comments, memes, manipulative publications online. The extensive network of pro-Russian organizations, digital influencers, Russia-friendly media, and particularly web-services, including Yandex and Mail.ru news, Odnoklassniki and VK, Telegram messenger, was mobilized to fill out the...

About the Lecture: Michael C. Maibach will discuss reasons why the Founders agreed on the Electoral College and give a response to its main criticisms. About the Speaker: Michael C. Maibach is a seasoned professional in global business diplomacy, advisor to non-profit organizations, and a supporter of civic causes. From 2003 to 2012 he was President & CEO of the European-American Business Council,...

About the lecture: In winter 1940, Soviet authorities organized mass deportations to Siberia of Polish citizens from the Polish territories annexed in September 1939. ​Over one million people were dispatched in overcrowded cattle cars in the dead of winter to unknown destinations in the Soviet interior where they were forced to slave labor in order to survive. Thousands of those Poles, adults and...

About the lecture: Ms. Stacy will discuss America’s current situation in terms of market levels, economic data, and the China trade deal. She will also discuss the following subtopics: • Populism and Economics: Ms. Stacy will cover the historical connection between populism and economics, the quintessential trajectory of populism, what could interrupt the pattern of populism, and the best possible...

About the Lecture: How do you influence your target audience in a wired world? How are we vulnerable to unseen influence operations that are targeting us? This presentation will look at the various aspects of influence operations in cyberspace. We will look at how the basic human neural processes are impacted in a wired world and how they impact our interactions, moods, and thinking. Not only do n...

About the Lecture: “Our democracy is getting self-destroyed, for it abused the rights of freedom and of equality; for it taught the citizens to regard insolence as a right, illegality as freedom, impertinence as equality, and anarchy as happiness.” (Isocrates, 436-338 BC). Democracy first emerged in ancient Athens in 507 BC following a long turbulent period of aristocracy and tyranny, when a nexus...