The Institute of World Politics

About the book: In the halcyon days of the Reagan administration, a young artist was brought in to give the president’s closest friend piano lessons with White House clearance as a political appointee. What the young pianist saw is what few Americans knew. In this true but little known story, John Robilette has changed the names in a novelized account of being the only Reagan appointee that was fi...

About the Lecture: The Maduro regime in Venezuela is sustained through a multi-dimensional, multi-faceted, sophisticated matrix of foreign and domestic actors that includes armed groups in Venezuela and transnational criminal and foreign terrorist organizations. While most attention is paid to Cuba, China, and Russia’s role in Venezuela, the regime has increasingly relied on an array of Middle Eas...

About the Lecture: The Trump Administration’s national defense strategy contains the following judgment: “The central challenge to U.S. prosperity and security is the reemergence of long-term, strategic competition by…revisionist powers.” Why has “great-power competition” become a—if not the—dominant construct guiding the U.S. foreign policy establishment’s understanding of contemporary geopolitic...

About the Lecture: What sorts of people rise to leadership in the Chinese Communist Party? How do they get to the top? What qualities define them? How should we deal with them? A retired American diplomat speaks from his experience in China. About the Speaker: William McCahill joined NBR as a Senior Resident Fellow in July 2016. His work focuses on Chinese politics and policy. Before joining NBR,...

About the Book: The media often suggest that Russia poses the greatest threat to America’s national security, but the real danger lies farther east. While those in power have been distracted and disorderly, China has waged a six-front war on America’s economy, military, diplomacy, technology, education, and infrastructure–and they’re winning. It’s almost too late to undo the shocking, though nearl...

About the Lecture: Energy security has been a perennial concern since the early 1970s. But what exactly do we mean by energy security, and how do we know if it’s getting better or worse? This presentation discusses different dimensions of U.S. energy security and how they can be measured in an index. The presentation also will look at how the U.S. performs compared to other large energy-using coun...

About the Book: In spring 2011, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad turned to his friend and army commander, Manaf Tlass, for advice about how to respond to Arab Spring-inspired protests. Tlass pushed for conciliation but Assad decided to crush the uprising — an act which would catapult the country into an eight-year long war, killing almost half a million and fueling terrorism and a global refugee c...

About the Book: The Red Sea is one of the world’s most important trade routes, a theater of power struggle among local, regional, and global powers. Military and political developments continue to impact on the geostrategic landscape of the region in the context of its trade thoroughfare for Europe, China, Japan and India; freedom of navigation is a strategic interest for Egypt, and essential for...

About the Lecture: This lecture will discuss an industry standards based approach to manage cyber security threats. The focus will be to understand holistically where weaknesses exist and the overall cyber security posture. Also discussed will be a prioritized approach for mitigating the most serious threats and associated remediation. This will focus on complete end to end cyber security manageme...

About the Lecture: This lecture will focus on the Trump Administration’s withdrawal from the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and the Administration’s strategy towards Iran. Michael Pregent will discuss the reasons for the Administration’s withdrawal from the JCPOA, the rationale behind the Administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign, the Administration’s naming of the IRGC as a terrori...

This lecture is our ninth annual Kosciuszko Chair Military Lecture held in honor of Gen. Walter Jajko. It is sponsored by the Center for Intermarium Studies and the Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies at The Institute of World Politics. About the Lecture: About the Lecture: Maurice Pate (1894-1965) was an American gentleman of the old WASP school who already early in his youth felt an urge to help...

About the Lecture: Belarus can’t find a way out of geopolitical turbulence. In contrast to neighboring Ukraine, Russian meddling here is mostly done through soft power. But the Belarusian society is growing more resilient in the face of the Kremlin’s narratives. Confronting Russian revanchism, Belarusians embrace their pre-soviet history, like a heritage of Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Rzeczpospol...

About the Lecture: Until about two decades ago, Israel imported 98 percent of its energy requirements from far off places on the globe. Although located in a region rich in oil and gas, relation of political enmity with the producers effectively rendered the Jewish state an energy island, isolated from intra-regional energy trade and electricity grids. Securing energy supply from abroad has always...

About the lecture: Dr. Chodakiewicz will discuss the details of the Nazi and the Soviet attack on Poland in 1939. He will explain pre-war diplomatic arrangements and the impossible predicament of Poland stuck between Germany and the Soviet Union. About the Speaker: Dr. Marek Jan Chodakiewicz holds The Kosciuszko Chair in Polish Studies at The Institute of World Politics, where he also serves as a...

Title: The Fight So Far About the Lecture: Lieutenant General Michael Nagata, USA, Ret. will discuss a strategic review of the US Government’s efforts against terrorism, both past and present. About the Speaker: Michael K. Nagata retired from the US Army in 2019 after 38 years of Active Duty, 34 of which were spent in US Special Operations. His final position was Director of Strategy for the Natio...

The Mission of the Republic of Senegal to the UN hosted a United Nations roundtable for 14+ member nations on July 30, 2019. Dr. Matthew Daniels of IWP, Stephen Enada of the Int Committee on Nigeria, and Katy Money of Ushahidi led the discussion on how NGOs are using digital media.

Title: Losing One’s Country Twice, Finding it Once About the Lecture: This lecture is a part of The Loss of Country Panel, which was held at The Institute of World Politics on June 13th. About the Panelist: Dr. Marek Jan Chodakiewicz holds The Kosciuszko Chair in Polish Studies at The Institute of World Politics, where he also serves as a Professor of History and teaches courses on Geography and S...

Title: To Lose a Country: France 1940 About the Lecture: This lecture is a part of The Loss of Country Panel, which was held at The Institute of World Politics on June 13th. About the Panelist: Dr. John J. Tierney, Jr. is a Professor Emeritus at The Institute of World Politics and teaches History of American Foreign Policy, History of International Relations, Peace, Strategy and Conflict Resolutio...

Title: The Artful Recluse: 17th Century China About the Lecture: This lecture is a part of The Loss of Country Panel, which was held at The Institute of World Politics on June 13th. About the Panelist: Dr. Richard J. Bishirjian, was Founding President and Professor of Government at Yorktown University from 2000 to 2016. He earned a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh and a Ph. D. in Government...

Title: Citizens as Instruments of National Power About the Lecture: To achieve national security and foreign policy objectives, the United States must embrace new approaches and use all instruments of national power, including our citizens and private sector. This talk will discuss how private resources and new models of private-public collaboration are complementing U.S. government capabilities i...

Title: Chinese Influence Operations Against Taiwan and Beyond This event is sponsored by IWP’s China lecture series. About the Lecture: J. Michael Cole will explore ongoing influence operations by China against one of the principal targets of its political warfare activities. He will then make the case for greater cooperation between Taiwan and other democracies worldwide. About the Speaker: About...

Title: A Journey to the Gulag: Experiencing History Through Virtual Reality This event is sponsored by IWP’s Intermarium Lecture Series. To learn more about A Journey to the Gulag please visit Gulag.cz. About the Lecture: Around 20 million people went through the horrors of Soviet labor camps. At least 1.6 million of them died. Among the victims of Soviet repression were also people from European...

About the Book: In the era of rising authoritarianism around the world, ordinary people are harnessing the power of digital and social media to advance the universal rights of all human beings in ways never before possible. A blogging revolution in Iran led to new demands for fair elections and human rights. USB drives and SD cards loaded with hours of 'outside' music, news and television, has hel...

About the Book: Red Crew: Fighting the War on Drugs with Reagan’s Coast Guard is a first-hand account of U.S. Coast Guard anti-smuggling operations during the early years of the nation's maritime war on drugs. Jim Howe describes his experience as the executive officer of a specialized drug-hunting crew that sailed in then-state-of-the-art "surface effect ships," a small flotilla of high-speed vess...

About the Book: Turkey and America: East & West - Where the Twain Meet is a synthesis of the author’s now lifetime of deep and abiding personal and professional experiences that have led to his deep understanding of the American Experience, the Mediterranean World, and U.S.-Turkish relations. The narrative guides the audience to bridges, where others may see only chasms. The reader is transported,...