The Institute of World Politics

This event is a part of the Intermarium Lecture Series at The Institute of World Politics.

About the lecture: On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched a war on Ukraine. Building upon its aggressive strategy, which began in 2014, Russia continues its attack, encroaching upon Ukraine’s sovereignty and leaving disaster in its wake.

Dr. Marek Chodakiewicz will discuss the situation and give insight into what is going on in Ukraine.

About the speaker: Dr. Marek Jan Chodakiewicz holds the Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies at The Institute of World Politics and leads IWP’s Center for Intermarium Studies.

At IWP, he also serves as a Professor of History and teaches courses on Contemporary Politics and Diplomacy, Geography and Strategy, Mass Murder Prevention in Failed and Failing States, and Russian Politics and Foreign Policy. He is the author of Intermarium: The Land Between the Black and Baltic Seas and numerous other books and articles. He holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University and has previously taught at the University of Virginia and Loyola Marymount University.

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About the lecture: Nearly two-thirds of Algeria’s population is under the age of 35. Growing up during or soon after the violent conflict that wracked Algeria in the 1990s, and amid the powerful influences of global online culture, this generation views the world much differently than their parents or grandparents do. An exploration of this generation, their hopes for the future, and the frustrations that brought them into the streets en masse since 2019 reveals much about the politics, economy, and society of North Africa’s sleeping giant—and its future.

The event is moderated by Dr. Zak Allal (’18), non-resident scholar at IWP.

About the speaker: Andrew G. Farrand is a non-resident senior fellow covering North Africa at the Atlantic Council and author of The Algerian Dream (2021). He lived and worked in Algeria from 2013 to 2020, implementing youth development programs across the country alongside a range of creative projects. “An expert on North Africa” (The New Yorker), he is the translator of Inside the Battle of Algiers (2017) by Zohra Drif, a contributor to Uncommon Alger (2016), and author of numerous articles on Algeria. He is well known in Algeria as a travel writer, photographer, and media personality. A graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, he is a proficient Algerian Arabic and French speaker. In 2020 he served as host of Andi Hulm (“I Have a Dream”), Algeria’s first entrepreneurship reality television show.

This event is sponsored by the Asia Initiative Lecture Series at The Institute of World Politics.

About the lecture: Today Hong Kong, Tomorrow The World is a gripping history of China’s deteriorating relationship with Hong Kong, and its implications for the rest of the world.

For 150 years as a British colony, Hong Kong was a beacon of prosperity where people, money, and technology flowed freely, and residents enjoyed many civil liberties. In preparation for handing the territory over to China in 1997, Deng Xiaoping promised that it would remain highly autonomous for fifty years. An international treaty established a Special Administrative Region (SAR) with a far freer political system than that of Communist China―one with its own currency and government administration, a common-law legal system, and freedoms of press, speech, and religion.

But as the halfway mark of the SAR’s lifespan approaches in 2022, it is clear that China has not kept its word. Universal suffrage and free elections have not been instituted, harassment and brutality have become normalized, and activists are being jailed en masse. To make matters worse, a national security law that further crimps Hong Kong’s freedoms has recently been decreed in Beijing. This tragic backslide has dire worldwide implications―as China continues to expand its global influence, Hong Kong serves as a chilling preview of how dissenters could be treated in regions that fall under the emerging superpower’s control.

About the speaker: Mark L. Clifford is the author of Today Hong Kong, Tomorrow the World: What China’s Crackdown Reveals About Its Plans to End Freedom Everywhere and the president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong. He holds a PhD in history from the University of Hong Kong and a BA from the University of California Berkeley. A Walter Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, he lived in Asia from 1987 until 2021. Previously, Clifford was executive director of the Hong Kong-based Asia Business Council, the editor-in-chief of the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), and publisher and editor-in-chief of The Standard (Hong Kong). He held senior editorial positions at BusinessWeek and the Far Eastern Economic Review in Hong Kong and Seoul. He has won numerous academic, book, and journalism awards. Follow him @MarkLClifford or see more information at www.markclifford.org.

About the lecture: The U.S. has been through three waves of de-industrialization since the 1970s. Manufacturing sectors — ranging from cars to machine tools, semiconductors to electronics, and pharmaceuticals and personal protective equipment — have weakened in comparison to our economic competitors. The deficits in U.S. capacity manifested itself during the first year of COVID on the medical front. Other U.S. shortfalls should be the subject of deep national concern with respect to our aerospace and defense sectors, which provide much of the country’s military systems and critical infrastructure.

Dr. Jeb Nadaner will discuss the U.S. industrial base, its relative decline, and where it’s going.

About the speaker: Dr. Jeffrey (Jeb) Nadaner is the Executive Director of SAFE’s Commanding Heights initiative, which is focused on advancing and defending U.S. and allied critical supply chains. He also served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy, the Director of the USMC Krulak Center of Innovation, and Vice President of Engineering and Technology at Lockheed Martin.

This event is part of the China Series sponsored by The Institute of World Politics.

About the lecture: With the rise of totalitarian China, it is more important than ever to understand a historical tendency towards the concentration of not only political, but economic and informational forms of power. Dr. Anders Corr’s latest book, The Concentration of Power: Institutionalization, Hierarchy & Hegemony, is a theoretical analysis of trends in world history that he has developed over the past thirty years of international research and scholarship. He argues that from the beginning of the archeological and textual evidence in history, power is organized around twelve theories of hierarchy that affect every segment of society.

From international politics, to unions, associations, corporations, and the military, Dr. Corr breaks them down and provides readers with a sense of what the world could face if we allow hierarchy to continue its historical development toward a global and illiberal hegemony. Be it in China, the United States, or the European Union, all are vying for global influence and the utilization of the structure of the United Nations, or other newer international institutions, to promote either the principles of human rights and democracy, or in the case of Beijing, the exact opposite.

This clash between democracy and autocracy on a global level is part of a “ratchet process” of history that Dr. Corr describes, and that could turn to a war of massive proportions, or a continued trend towards a global and illiberal hegemony. As the world slips towards what could be an “end of history” in a Beijing-led international system, no greater stakes have ever imposed themselves on an unsuspecting global public.

About the speaker: Anders Corr (B.A. Yale 2001 Summa, Ph.D. Harvard 2008) founded Corr Analytics Inc to provide clients with business intelligence and strategic analysis of international politics. He is Publisher of the Journal of Political Risk, which works with a wide variety of authors, from Ivy League professors to Filipino peasants. His areas of expertise include Asia, historical analysis, grand strategy, social movements, quantitative analysis, public opinion, and international security.

Dr. Corr has studied and researched in Kenya, Britain, and Italy, and analyzed China, Russia, Romania, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, Pakistan and Israel for private clients. He led the U.S. Army Social Science Research and Analysis group in Afghanistan, which oversaw 600 Afghan contract employees on 44 survey projects and conducted quantitative predictive analysis of insurgent attacks. Dr. Corr conducted analysis for US Pacific Command (USPACOM), US Special Operations Command Pacific (SOCPAC), and US European Command (EUCOM) on risks to U.S. national security in Asia and Europe, including in the Philippines, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Ukraine. Dr. Corr conducted red team modeling and simulation for the Defense Department of terrorist attacks against extremely sensitive military facilities and worked on social networking for early warning of pandemics and biological weapons of mass destruction.

His current research focuses on great power grand strategies, alliance politics, military strategy, authoritarian political influence, international organizations, and the effects of military technology on the likelihood and outcome of war. He authored No Trespassing: Squatting, Rent Strikes, and Land Struggles Worldwide (South End Press, 1999), and edited Great Powers, Grand Strategies: The New Game in the South China Sea (U.S. Naval Institute Press, 2018). He has peer reviewed for the Journal of Conflict Resolution, the Journal of Urban History, and Routledge Press. He frequently appears in the media, including the Financial Times, New York Times, CNBC, UPI, AFP, Bloomberg, Fox, Forbes, Epoch Times, Al Jazeera, Japan Times, South China Morning Post, Straits Times, and Institutional Investor.

This event is part of the Intermarium Lecture Series sponsored by The Institute of World Politics.

About the lecture: On December 13, 1981, the Communist regime imposed martial law in Poland. The objective was to crush “Solidarity,” a Polish national liberation movement which was masking as the Soviet Bloc’s first independent, self-governed trade union. Thousands were imprisoned, and hundreds died when the red riot police and military assaulted industrial plants, mines, offices, and universities. Inspired by John Paul II and assisted by the Catholic Church, the Poles resisted underground.

Afterwards the Communists claimed that they saved Poland from a Soviet invasion. They had no choice but destroy “Solidarity” because the Soviets were going to attack otherwise.

However, Moscow preferred for Warsaw to restore order itself. In fact, Poland’s Communist dictator General Wojciech Jaruzelski himself begged the Kremlin to intervene.

Ultimately, Jaruzelski himself carried out the Soviet Union’s orders and destroyed overt “Solidarity.” He did not do it for “Poland” or “the Poles.” He lashed out at “Solidarity” because he feared punishment by the Kremlin.

Woven into our analysis, we supply also some personal recollections, naming names of our confederates and sharing the events that we participated in.

About the speaker: Dr. Marek Jan Chodakiewicz holds The Kosciuszko Chair in Polish Studies at The Institute of World Politics and leads IWP’s Center for Intermarium Studies. At IWP, he also serves as a Professor of History and teaches courses on Geography and Strategy, Contemporary Politics and Diplomacy, Russian Politics and Foreign Policy, and Mass Murder Prevention in Failed and Failing States. He is the author of Intermarium: The Land Between the Black and Baltic Seas and numerous other books and articles. He holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University and has previously taught at the University of Virginia and Loyola Marymount University.

This event is co-sponsored by the Movement for the Renaissance of Vietnam, the National Bureau of Asian Research and The Institute of World Politics

About the Lecture: “Conquest Without War: The Threat of Communist Chinese Political Influence Operations” is focused on the multifaceted threat of Communist Chinese influence operations: propaganda, disinformation, psychological disarmament operations, commercial cooptation of business leaders, and influence over politicians, the media, Hollywood, and academia.

About the Speaker: Dr. John Lenczowski is the Founder, President Emeritus, and Chancellor of The Institute of World Politics, a Graduate School of National Security, Intelligence, and International Affairs based in Washington, D.C. with a satellite campus in Reston, VA.

About the lecture: In today’s competitive world our prosperity and our way of life depend on unity among the world’s democracies. Given the strength of the transatlantic economy and the success of NATO, the dynamic relationship between Europe and America is the engine of the global economy and the force supporting the rules-based world order. How we grow together or if we grow apart will determine our individual and collective fate.

About the speaker: Michael Ryan served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy in the Pentagon following a distinguished career in the United States Air Force and the Senior Executive Service. A graduate of the Air Force Academy, Colonel Ryan began his career as a fighter pilot flying the A-10 in Europe during the Cold War. His extensive background in World Affairs includes service at NATO headquarters, the U.S. Mission to the European Union, U.S. European Command headquarters, and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He is a graduate of the French War College in Paris, was a National Defense Fellow at the U.S. Congress, and is a Distinguished Graduate of the Joint Military Intelligence College. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations and has lectured extensively in Europe and the United States. His latest articles on transatlantic relations appeared recently in The National Interest.

The 24th Annual Pearl Harbor Day Lecture.

About the lecture: The discussion will examine the current security environment, the growth of Chinese military capabilities, and efforts by the United States and its allies and partners to strengthen deterrence and compete more effectively below the threshold of armed conflict.

About the speaker: General Joseph L. Votel is a retired U.S. Army Four Star officer and most recently the Commander of the U.S. Central Command – responsible for U.S. and coalition military operations in the Middle East, Levant and Central and South Asia. During his 39 years in the military, he commanded special operations and conventional military forces at every level. His career included combat in Panama,Afghanistan and Iraq. Notably, he led a 79-member coalition that successfully liberated Iraq and Syria from the Islamic State Caliphate. He preceded his assignment at CENTCOM with service as the Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command and the Joint Special Operations Command.

Votel was recognized with the Distinguished Military Leadership Award from the Atlantic Council, the U.S. – Arab Defense Leadership Award from the National Council on U.S. – Arab Relations, the Patriot Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, the SGT James T. Regan Lifetime Achievement Award from the “Lead the Way” Foundation and the Freedom Award from the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

In January of 2020, General Votel became President & CEO of Business Executives for National Security (BENS). He is a Strategic Advisor for Sierra Nevada Corporation as well as a member of the Board of Trustees for Noblis Corporation. Votel is a nonresident Distinguished Fellow at the Middle East Institute and the Belfer Center at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and advises the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. He sits on the Executive Board of Freedom House and the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL). He serves on the Board of Directors for Service to School, Minnesota Wire, Digital Force Technologies and Owl Cyber Defense. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Votel is a 1980 graduate of the United States Military Academy and earned master’s degrees from the U.S. Army Command and Staff College and the Army War College. He is married to Michele; and they have two grown sons, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. The Votels reside in Lake Elmo, Minnesota.

About the lecture: The May 2021 conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas generated headlines around the world. However, much of the reporting ignored the history, funding, political dynamics, and other key components of the story. Jonathan Schanzer explores the hidden headlines of the recent conflict, while drawing lines between the history of decades past and current events in one of the most volatile territories in the Middle East.

About the speaker: Jonathan Schanzer, former terrorism finance analyst at the United States Department of the Treasury, is senior vice president for research at Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He is the author of the new book Gaza Conflict 2021: Hamas, Israel and Eleven Days of War.

Purchase book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1956450017/.