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, Athenian orator (436-338 BC)

Democracy first emerged in ancient Athens in 507 BC following a long turbulent period of aristocracy and tyranny, when a nexus of intertwined geopolitical, sociopolitical, economic, and cultural developments led to the morphogenesis of this new political constitution. Athenian Democracy formulated the political ideology and fundamental principles that were later canonized by modern democracies, formalized defensive mechanisms against undue concentration of power and employed innovative integrative mechanisms to propagate its ideology and educate the citizens. Pathogenic traits-catalysts, however, such as the extreme polarization between mass and elite, demagogy, populism, failure of justice, apathy, and poor education caused extensive political ankylosis. Internal corrosion and changing historical conditions caused the decline and fall of Democracy three centuries later.Isocrates’ aphorism, therefore, rings alarmingly all too pragmatic and relevant today, 250 years since the resurgence of Democracy in the modern era. Are we running a similar cycle, repeating old mistakes, standing at the same juncture, heading towards the same dead end? To navigate forward, find solutions, and shape our future, we need first to study our past.

About the Speaker:

With over 35 years of experience in archaeology, teaching, and administration, Prof. Christofilis Maggidis is a faculty member at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C., President of the Mycenaean Foundation, and Field Director of Excavations at Mycenae and Lamia.

Throughout his career, Prof. Maggidis has combined academic leadership with a commitment to innovative teaching and interdisciplinary research. He earned the BA at the University of Athens, the Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, and completed postdoctoral research at Brown University.

Prof. Maggidis taught at Campus College and the University of Indianapolis, Athens, Greece, and held the distinguished Christopher Roberts Chair in Archaeology at Dickinson College for two decades, where he created and chaired the Department of Archaeology, designed the archaeology academic curriculum, and directed study abroad programs. In 2022 Prof. Maggidis joined the Institute of World Politics in Washington D.C. where he teaches at graduate level and directs "Hermes," the Institute's study abroad program in Greece.

His research focuses on Minoan and Mycenaean archaeology, Classical Greek art and architecture, and archaeological methodology. With 40 years of field experience, Prof. Maggidis has led excavations at prominent sites in Greece, including Mycenae, Glas, and the Spercheios Valley, making significant discoveries and directing acclaimed field schools that trained over 450 students from 44 universities worldwide.

Maggidis has secured substantial external and institutional funding for his research and fieldwork ($2.8million), and his findings have been widely disseminated in scholarly publications and international media. His scholarly publications comprise 26 articles, numerous field reports, one book submitted for publication and three forthcoming books. Furthermore, Prof. Maggidis has presented 45 international conference papers and delivered 42 invited lectures at prestigious universities and institutes worldwide.

Overview

Join Dr. Susan Yoshihara for a lecture, reception, and signing of "Women, Peace, & Security in U.S. Security Cooperation."

About the Lecture:

The authors of this groundbreaking book explore the origins, rationale, and evolution of Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) efforts in the context of US security cooperation. Focusing on real-world policy and practice, they draw on cases ranging from post–World War II Japan to contemporary Ghana to demonstrate how including women in security cooperation efforts, while not without challenges, has improved operational effectiveness across the US military, built better security relationships, and advanced civil-military relations and human rights.

About the Speaker:

A faculty member at IWP, Dr. Susan Yoshihara, is founder and president of American Council on Women Peace and Security, a non-partisan, nonprofit think tank in the nation’s capital advancing peace and security for women, their families, and communities through education, on-the-ground engagement, policy analysis, and advocacy.

Dr. Yoshihara was a senior advisor on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) to NORAD and USNORTHCOM, and WPS Advisor to Defense Security Cooperation Agency and University, where she led the team that integrated the requirements of the WPS Act of 2017 into education and training for the U.S. security cooperation workforce.

Dr. Yoshihara participated in UN negotiations on development, security, and human rights as part of civil society, served on the Holy See delegation and advised the UN Security Council. She served twenty years as a U.S. Naval Aviator, leading helicopter combat logistics missions in the Gulf War and humanitarian assistance and search and rescue missions in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific Islands.

Dr. Yoshihara holds a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, M.F.A. in creative writing from Antioch University, Los Angeles, M.A. in National Security Affairs from the Naval Postgraduate School, and B.S. from the U.S. Naval Academy. This is her third book.

**Learn more about IWP graduate programs: https://www.iwp.edu/academics/graduate-degree-programs/

***Make a gift to IWP: https://wl.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E231090&id=18

About the Lecture:

In the summer and fall of 1919 not only the fate of Russia, but also that of Europe and the world, was hanging in the balance as the White anti-Bolshevik forces approached Moscow from the south. Lenin’s Bolshevik regime was teetering on the edge and appeared increasingly close to total collapse. However, the Red Army eventually counter-attacked and, turning a fighting retreat into a full-scale rout, pushed the White armies into the Crimea, thereby taking the decisive upper hand in the Russian Civil War. The sudden White defeat, and the survival and strengthening of Soviet communism, is generally attributed to White inflexibility, imperialistic rhetoric, failure to build a viable state apparatus and make national or economic concessions where necessary, and general lack of political sophistication and realism. However, the staunch hostility of Polish head of state Jόzef Piłsudski to the Whites, and his refusal to help the Whites, was an equally important factor.

About the Speaker:

Paweł Styrna was born in Poland and earned a PhD in history from American University in Washington, DC, writing a dissertation on the attitudes of the Russian Whites towards Poland and Poles in 1918 – 1921. He is also a graduate of the Institute of World Politics and the University of Illinois Chicago, holding MA degrees from both institutions. Dr. Styrna works in immigration policy and has written numerous articles on history, current affairs, and mass migration.

About the Lecture:

Dr. Saeed speaks about the Halabja Massacre that occurred on March 16, 1988—a chemical weapons attack under the direction of Ali Hassan al-Majid (“Chemical Ali”), a cousin of Saddam Hussein. The attack claimed between 7,000 and 10,000 civilian lives. Dr. Saeed will discuss the lasting impact on Kurdish and Iraqi history, its role in the discussion of genocide, and his own experience as a survivor of the attack.

About the Speaker:

Yerevan Saeed is the Barzani Scholar in Residence and the Director of the Global Kurdish Initiative for Peace at American University’s School of International Service and a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington He is a TEDx speaker and former lecturer at the University of Kurdistan Hewler. Saeed previously was a visiting scholar and research associate at AGSIW. Saeed is a political analyst who researches and writes on security, political, and energy issues in the Middle East, focusing on Iraq, Turkey, Iran, the Gulf, and the Levant. He has served as White House correspondent for the Kurdish Rudaw TV, and his work has been published in the Washington Institute’s Fikra Forum, the Diplomatic Courier, The New York Times, the London-based Majalla magazine, Rudaw, Global Politician, and several Kurdish newspapers. In addition, he has been interviewed by Voice of America, NPR, CNN, Voice of Russia, and Kurdish television programs and newspapers. From 2009-13, Saeed worked with Stratfor; additionally, he worked for several media outlets, including The New York Times, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, BBC, and The Guardian, as a journalist and translator in Iraq from 2003-07. Saeed holds a bachelor’s degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s degree from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, with a focus on Middle East studies and international negotiation and conflict resolution. He received his PhD from the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University. He speaks Kurdish and Arabic and has a command of Farsi.

About this Event:

Join us for a fireside chat, “The Future of U.S. Involvement in the Middle East,” featuring House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Emeritus Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), in conversation with journalist Dr. James Robbins. The discussion will be moderated by Haley Byrd Witt, Senior Reporter at NOTUS.

This event will examine the evolving role of the United States in the Middle East through perspectives from Congress, the media, and policy experts.

About the Speakers:

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Emeritus Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) is currently serving his eleventh term representing Texas' 10th District in the U.S. Congress. He previously served as Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security and is currently Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Prior to Congress, he served as Chief of Counter Terrorism and National Security in the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Texas, and led the Joint Terrorism Task Force. He also served as Texas Deputy Attorney General under Senator John Cornyn and as a federal prosecutor in the Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section in Washington, DC. A fourth-generation Texan, Congressman McCaul earned a B.A. in Business and History from Trinity University and a J.D. from St. Mary’s University School of Law. He and his wife Linda are the proud parents of five children.

Dr. James S. Robbins is IWP faculty and the current Dean of Academics. He is also a national security columnist for USA Today and Senior Fellow in National Security Affairs at the American Foreign Policy Council. Dr. Robbins is a former special assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and in 2007 was awarded the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Meritorious Civilian Service Award. He is also the former award-winning Senior Editorial Writer for Foreign Affairs at The Washington Times. His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, National Review, and other publications, and he appears regularly on national and international television and radio. Dr. Robbins holds a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and has taught at the National Defense University and Marine Corps University, among other schools. His research interests include terrorism and national security strategy, political theory, and military history.

Haley Byrd Witt is a Senior Reporter at NOTUS, covering politics and Congress with a focus on the Republican Party, foreign policy, human rights, and domestic legislation. Her reporting has appeared in The New York Times, Foreign Policy, and Christianity Today. She previously covered Congress for The Dispatch, CNN, and The Weekly Standard.

About the Lecture

This presentation will explore the scope and evolution of Russian information and cyber warfare, drawing key lessons from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Ambassador Smith will begin with an overview of Russia’s cyber capabilities and principal actors, then examine how Russian cyber attacks on Ukraine have developed over time and the implications for Ukraine, the United States, and the future of modern warfare.

About the Speaker

Ambassador David J. Smith is a foreign policy professional with over 40 years of experience spanning the U.S. military, Pentagon, State Department, Congress, diplomatic delegations, defense industry, research institutes, and democratic development initiatives. His expertise includes NATO, the former Soviet Union, the Caucasus and Black Sea regions, arms control, missile defense, and cybersecurity policy.

A former U.S. Air Force officer and Professor of Cybersecurity Policy at Utica College, Ambassador Smith has served as the U.S. Chief Negotiator at the U.S.-Soviet Defense and Space talks, a Senior Fellow at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, and founder of the Georgian Security Analysis Center. His work in Georgia from 2002 to 2014 placed him at the forefront of studying the first combined kinetic and cyber war during Russia’s 2008 attack on Georgia.

Ambassador Smith has delivered his continually updated presentation, Russian Cyber Capabilities, Policy, and Practice, to audiences around the world since 2010.

About the Lecture:

China’s espionage activities are changing the global balance of power, impacting the U.S. and foreign economies, and providing challenges to domestic, national security, and foreign policy formulation. China's "whole of society" intelligence approach provides a sophisticated and expanding global reach to target individuals for recruitment and collection. This briefing analyzes more than 865 cases of Chinese espionage operations and tactics including espionage, economic espionage, covert action, and illegal exports of technology. The briefing identifies tradecraft methodologies, recruitment motivations, and key indicators.

About the Speaker:

Nicholas Eftimiades is a professor of homeland security at Penn State University. He retired from the US Department of Defense in 2017. His 34 year government career includes employment in CIA, as a Special Agent in the US Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and a Senior Intelligence Officer in Defense Intelligence Agency. Mr. Eftimiades held positions in analysis, human and technical intelligence collection, and leadership. He served overseas for 10 years.

Mr. Eftimiades is recognized as a leading authority on China and its espionage activities. His book Chinese Intelligence Operations was the first ever scholarly examination of the structure, operations, and methodology of the intelligence services of the People's Republic of China. His recent book Chinese Espionage: Operations and Tactics (Second Edition) updates that work and is the most detailed account ever published on China’s intelligence operational tradecraft.

Eftimiades testified numerous times before Congress, as a certified expert in US courts, and advises government agencies and private industry. Nick is a frequent lecturer and public speaker on China and national security issues. He has appeared as an expert on dozens of television and radio broadcasts. He has been quoted in hundreds of newspapers and magazines across the world. He has taught over 1,000 US government counterintelligence officers and commercial industry insider threat specialists.

Mr. Eftimiades has an M.S. Strategic Intelligence, National Defense Intelligence College, and a B.A. East Asian Studies, George Washington University. He has lived and studied in Asia for five years. Mr. Eftimiades held senior appoints on the DoD Defense Science Board, DHS Homeland Security Advisory Council/Economic Security Subcommittee, and as an Intelligence Community Associate for the National Intelligence Council. Eftimiades was also a Senior Research Fellow for six years at King’s College War Studies Department, London UK.

About the Lecture:

This discussion is based on a case study that examines two policy proposals, federalism or secession, as possible solutions for the Kurdish conflict in Iran. It is a study that meticulously analyzes the historical background of the Kurdish question, identifying the critical factors for the emergence of Kurdish nationalism in Iran and the environmental degradation and dynamics of regional politics as additional factors to the complexity and multidimensional nature of the Kurdish conflict in Iran. Ultimately, this study aimed to answer one main research question: Which of these two distinct policy proposals, asymmetrical federalism, or remedial secession, can provide a peaceful and democratic solution to the long-lasting Kurdish conflict in Iran?

About the Speaker:

Following the Iranian revolution in 1979, Salah Bayaziddi, as a young sympathizer, joined the political process and became an activist in the Kurdish struggle against the oppression of the Iranian regime at an incredibly young age. In 1982, regime security forces arrested him. He survived over two years of torture and solitary confinement for his beliefs in a free and democratic Iran based on equality for all ethnic and religious groups, including Kurds. Following his release from prison, Salah was under strict and constant watch by regime security and intelligence agencies. From 1984 to 1990, he was deprived of the right to study, the right to work, and the right to travel outside Iran. In 1990, Salah Bayaziddi escaped Iran through the mountains of Turkey. In Ankara, he applied for refugee status and was accepted as a new Canadian immigrant through the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In 1991, Salah Bayaziddi resettled in Toronto. He has been active in Kurdish politics and an advocate for human rights in Iran for over 40 years. Salah Bayaziddi received his BA in Political Science from York University in Toronto, an MA in International Relations from Brock University in Canada, and a PhD in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from NSU Florida.

About the Lecture:

The American Constitution is the world’s oldest. It was designed by our Founders to withstand the storms of faction, geographic expansion, war – and even Civil War. The Founders studied history. They knew that democracies always fail. Plato writes in The Republic that “democracies always become tyrannies.” How is it that our 235-year-old Constitution still governs our land? In a phrase - “checks and balances”. The Constitution has internal mechanisms that, while imperfect, were created because men are quite imperfect. Just as sailor must tack back and forth to reach his destination, the Constitution forces us to share and exchange the leavers of power to keep the ship of state from floundering and on course. When someone says, “the Electoral College is un-democratic”, a fair reply may be - “Of course it is. We are a republic, not a democracy.” Even so, America is much more democratic than most all republics in choosing a head of state. Was Mr. Churchill’s name on the ballots of all Englishmen? Was Mr. Trudeau’s name on the ballots of all Canadians? Decidedly not. We will explore why virtually all sustained republics embrace “checks and balances” and a “two-step” electoral processes - not simple majority rule. There is nothing simple about self-government

About the Speaker:

Mr. Michael C. Maibach is a seasoned professional in global business diplomacy. From 2003 to 2012, he was the President & CEO of the European-American Business Council after serving for 18 years as the Vice President of Global Government Affairs for the Intel Corporation. Today, he is a Trustee and Managing Director of the James Wilson Institute, and a Distinguished Fellow on American Federalism at Save Our States. Mr. Maibach has earned M.A. degrees from Northern Illinois University, Georgetown University, Ashland University, and The Institute of World Politics, where he also serves as a member of our Honorary Board of Advisors. He frequently speaks at schools and civic groups to discuss and defend the Founders’ Constitution and their Electoral College design.

About the Lecture:

Conflict is no longer restricted to the domains of land, sea, and air. The Information Domain has emerged as a more than an equal warfighting domain for conflict from tension through armed conflict. The presentation will look at the information domain in military context in the Ukraine, Gaza, Bosnia, and Iraq. Attendees will get an inside look at how the military orchestrates non-kinetic (systems that don’t cause death or damage) using Information Operations (IO) as a battlefield multiplier in support of conflicts or potential conflicts. The Role of Information as a tool of Statecraft will also be addressed.

About the Speaker:

Lawrence "Larry" Dietz is a distinguished leader with a dual career spanning both military and commercial sectors. With a background in Psychological Operations, Information Operations, Cyber Warfare, Electronic Warfare, Cybersecurity, and Public Affairs, he is recognized as a thought leader in these fields. COL Dietz brings extensive experience in Military Intelligence, encompassing both strategic and tactical assignments, including open-source intelligence roles.

In his military career, COL Dietz served at the NATO Four Star level and held key positions such as Deputy Commander of NATO SFOR Combined Joint Information Campaign Task Force in Bosnia, PSYOP Group Staff Officer, PSYOP Battalion Commander, and Military Intelligence Company Commander, among others. His expertise extends to Special Operations Forces, particularly in PSYOP and Civil Affairs.

Transitioning into academia and law, COL Dietz has become an exceptional educator, both in traditional classroom settings and online platforms. At IWP, he created and teaches an asynchronous online graduate course on Intelligence and Policy. At Monterey College of Law, he co-developed and taught courses like Negotiation Lab and Data Privacy Elective, as well as the Law of Armed Conflict.

As an Attorney at Law with DataPrivacyLaw.com, COL Dietz led a boutique legal practice specializing in complex contract issues and data privacy. His focus includes ensuring compliance with regulations such as the EU’s General Data Privacy Directive and state laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act. COL Dietz is also sought after for executive presentations on Privacy, Intelligence, and Cyber Influence, catering to major software and services organizations.