The Institute of World Politics

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., a Senior Fellow at Americans for Intelligence Reform, is also the President of Issue Management Inc., a boutique public affairs firm whose work centers on national security. He is currently a Contributor to The Epoch Times and appears regularly on The Tipping Point with Liz Wheeler on One America News Network. Dr. Hull has more than 25 years of experience in politics, public policy, and government relations. He is the immediate past Executive Vice President of a three-decade-old national security think tank based in Washington, D.C. Before that, Dr. Hull served as Chief of Staff for a nationally prominent Member of Congress. He has also served as Press Secretary in the U.S. House of Representatives, Assistant to the Director of Communications of a national party committee, a foreign affairs and trade legislative aide in the U.S. Senate, and a researcher in a major think tank. He began his career as an intern in the White House and then as a full-time volunteer in the Issues Group of a presidential campaign.

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 suffered staggering losses, the armies of Moscow nonetheless rebounded and they alone defeated “fascism,” saving the world from its menace. Anything that threatens this narrative endangers the grip of the Kremlin over the denizens of the post-Soviet Empire. Its legitimacy rests on the legacy of the Soviet victory in the Second World War and Moscow has been running on fumes of that triumph since the implosion of the Soviet Union in 1992.

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 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.

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 information space with the specific narrative and mislead the population. This lecture is about the role of media in Russia-Belarus conflict, mechanics of the Russian propaganda machine in Belarus, and how technology helps regimes to manipulate public opinion and perception of the events.

About the Speaker: Franak Viačorka is a digital media strategist and journalist from Belarus. He works as a research media analyst for the U.S. Agency for Global Media (contractor) focusing on digital markets of Russia and Eurasia. His research focus is on Russian and Chinese efforts to control smaller actors, spread disinformation, and build the sovereign internet infrastructure. He has served as a creative director for the Belarus service of Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, Vice President for Digital Communication Network, and consultant for the Freedom House, and Broadcasting Board of Governors.

Franak is a frequent speaker and an advocate for democracy and personal freedom. For his activism and journalist work in Belarus, he was multiple times jailed by the Belarus authorities. Franak’s activism in Belarus has been chronicled by documentary filmmakers and recognized by many international organizations, including the National Endowment for Democracy, Freedom House, Open Society Foundations. He was the first Vaclav Havel Fellow at Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty under Havel’s personal recommendation.

He graduated from American University in Washington D.C. (M.A.) and Warsaw University in Poland (B.A.), and he also studied at Belarus State University, Georgetown University, and European Humanities University.

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, a group of 75 multinational companies.From 1983 to 2001 Mr. Maibach was Vice President of Global Government Affairs for the Intel Corporation.

At Intel he worked closely with its founders, Dr. Robert Noyce – inventor of the integrated circuit, Dr. Gordon Moore – known for Moore’s Law – and Dr. Andy Grove – Time Man of the Year in 1997. At Intel he built a team of 150 professionals around the world to advance public policy to enhance trade, job and wealth creation.

Today he is the Founder & Director of The Center For the Electoral College.

Mr. Maibach has earned seven university degrees, one of which was granted by The Institute of World Politics. While earning his first degree he was elected to the DeKalb County Board in his native state of Illinois, becoming the first person elected to public office under 21 years of age in American history.

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 children alike, died from starvation, rampant disease, and overwork. That harrowing experience was later described by those fortunate ones who managed to leave the Soviet Union after the so-called amnesty in July 1941, including numerous children. This lecture is a survey of the selection of original accounts of those experiences.

About the speaker: Mrs. Maria Juczewska is a communication specialist with versatile international experience. Her education in linguistics, culture studies, and international affairs, combined with years of living abroad, makes her point of view unique and comprehensive. Mrs. Juczewska has worked for the Kościuszko Chair of Polish Studies since 2014. In her scholarly work, she is especially interested in propaganda.

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 outcome.

• Globalism vs. Protectionism: Ms. Stacy will cover the high-level mechanical differences and potential unintended consequences of these approaches. She will discuss how each trade strategy relates to the business cycle and what it means going forward for capital markets. She will also give a high-level explanation of how the business cycle works and what precipitates the changes in the cycle.

• Monetary Policy in the Post Global Financial Crisis Era: Ms. Stacy will discuss the historical purpose of monetary policy and how the Central Banks will likely deal with the record amounts of debt in the system. She will delve into what this means for the U.S. economy and global economies in terms of how investors think about this. She hopes to provide insight into how future policy makers can use an understanding of global capital flows in tandem with their endeavors.

• China: Ms. Stacy will discuss the topics above regarding the economic relationship between China and the United States.

About the speaker: Frances Newton Stacy started her broadcasting career appearing weekly on the Gerry V show on the Rush Radio Network from 2008-2010. There she gained wide appeal and honed her skills for being able to explain a very complex subject matter in simple terms. She then began appearing on the local Fox 5 in Las Vegas. From there in 2010 Frances branched out to appearing regularly on national television. Frances perfectly predicted the stock market crash, which began in October 2007 and is amongst the very few who successfully traded the downturn. She got out of stocks a month before the all-time high and simultaneously got into the historic gold trade. Frances also called the market bottom on the Gerry V show in March of 2009 when she warned his audience that the market would go up for a while. Wanting to be able to predict the next credit crisis became Frances’ passion of study. On this journey, she studied the banking and credit systems in depth. Frances discovered what must be present in order to have a credit crisis. She also enjoyed studying the underlying algorithm of our banking system, which has an undeniable mathematical structure that regardless of the market swings is always present and has predictable implications. She is a frequent guest on Fox Business News as a commentator on Central Bank Policy and its effects on the economy. Frances has also appeared on CNBC, CBS, Yahoo Finance and Fox News as well as several local and national television and radio programs. She has blogged for the trading community, helping them recognize key cycles and significant support and resistance levels. She has taught several classes for trading students and spoken extensively on the subject. Frances lives in the Bay Area advising clients across the West Coast as well as nationally. She incorporates her unique research and experience into portfolio construction and management as Director of Portfolio Strategy with Optimal Capital. As an allocator, Frances regularly speaks nationally and internationally at events focusing on quantitative finance as well as those for blockchain enthusiasts. Frances has spoken at the annual DMS Governance event on interest rates and market cycles. Frances has also informally consulted for and spoken at the British Consulate-General New York.

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 nation-states utilize this intelligence, but advertisers, and our closest associates do as well. With the information provided in this lecture, not only will you be able to recognize the influence operations targeting you, but you will also be able to understand how you can use it yourself.

About the Speaker: Mr. Debbins has 20 years of experience and knowledge in intelligence, national security, strategic planning, CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, enhanced Explosives), cyber and cyberspace, hybrid warfare, business, economics, finance, world geopolitical environment, and science and technology (S&T). He possesses native fluency in Russian.

Mr. Debbins served as an officer in the U.S. Army and has also worked in commercial businesses in Ukraine and Russia. He was a Russian Cyber Analyst for the U.S. Government and later a Cyber Operations instructor. Currently, he works as an Area Studies and Hybrid Warfare instructor for the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and NATO.

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 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 world (USA, France, Greece). 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: Born in Greece, Christofilis Maggidis received a thorough education in the Classical Lyceum at the Anavryta Model School and went on to receive a B.A. in History and Archaeology (1988) from the University of Athens, where he was awarded several honorary distinctions and scholarships for excellence. He further pursued his graduate studies while on prestigious fellowships (Fulbright, William Penn, and Charles Williams Fellowships) and received his Ph.D. in Classical Archaeology (1994) from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed postdoctoral studies as a Fellow at Brown University (1997-1999) and a White-Levy Research Fellow at Harvard University (1999-2001).

Christofilis has taught archaeology, ancient history, classics, and philosophy at Campus College and the University of Indianapolis, Athens. In 2001, Christofilis joined Dickinson College as the Christopher Roberts Professor of Archaeology in the Department of Archaeology, where he has been teaching courses in the art, architecture, and archaeology of the prehistoric Aegean, classical Greece, republican/imperial Rome, Egypt, the Near East (Mesopotamia and Anatolia), in ancient Greek religion and athletics, Athenian democracy, ancient burial customs, and ancient technology.

Christofilis Maggidis is an active field archaeologist with long field experience since 1985 as a trench master and sector supervisor at major archaeological; he has served as Field Director of the Lower Town Excavation at Mycenae, Co-Director of the Mycenaean Spercheios-valley Archaeological Project, and Director of the Archaeogeophysical Survey of the Citadel of Glas. He was elected member of the Athens Archaeological Society in 1999 and President of the Mycenaean Foundation in 2013. His main research interests focus on Aegean Prehistory, but also include Classical Sculpture and Architecture, Archaeological Methodology and Interpretation.

Christofilis has given 38 invited lectures and presented another 40 international conference papers worldwide. His publications comprise 23 articles, numerous excavation reports, and four forthcoming books: The Lower Town of Mycenae I: Archaeogeophysical Survey 2003-2013; The Lower Town of Mycenae II: Archaeological Excavations 2007-2013; The Palatial Workshops of Mycenae: The Artisans’ Workshops and the House of; Mycenae Excavations: Building K.

About the Lecture: The aim of this lecture is to discuss present and future of Angolan political process and how corruption is undermining the new democratic process in this country.

About the Panelists:

Florindo Chivucute is the founder and Executive Director of Friends of Angola (FoA), and Radio Angola (an online radio station), activist, blogger and digital media specialist. Florindo earned his Master’s degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University and has over 5 years of experience working in non-profit organizations, international development, international relations, peace building, and education while being active in the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) in the United States.

Hashem Mekki, MA, has taught Arabic Language, Culture & Middle East Media at IWP since 2012. He is the owner of Bridge Language Solutions, providing an array of language translation, interpretation and teaching services to the Washington DC metropolitan area, and the founder of Kele Global, a nonprofit organization that promotes education, health, and economic empowerment in the Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan. He also teaches Arabic language to federal employees & professionals at the National Nuclear Security Administration at the Department of Energy. Mr. Mekki volunteers with the IWP Center for Human Rights and International Affairs by providing Arabic translations & strategic cultural perspectives on North Africa and Middle East. Mr. Mekki previously worked with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and served on the board of Voices of Sudan, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. He holds Bachelors degrees in both Political Science and International Studies from the City College of New York, and a Master of Arts in Strategic Studies and International Politics from IWP.

Malik M. Chaka is a retired U.S. Government official who served as Director, Threshold Programs, for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and as a Professional Staff Member with House Africa Subcommittee. He first visited the Angola marquis as a journalist in 1973 prior to independence on November 11, 1975 and travelled widely in the country over a four decade period. Mr. Chaka has written on Angola topics for the Times of Zambia, Zambia Daily Mail, and London-based Africa Analysis. He testified before Congress on the Angolan Government of National Unity. Mr. Chaka served as the Director of Communications for the Free Angolan Information Service for seven years, and produced and edited Angola Update and Angola Economic Notes, two internationally distributed newsletters. He was a member of a Council on Foreign Relations independent commission that issued Toward An Angola Strategy: Prioritizing U.S.-Angola Relations in 2007.

Kyra Gurney is a reporter for ICIJ. She previously worked at the Miami Herald and at InSight Crime, a nonprofit journalism organization based in Colombia that covers organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean. At the Miami Herald, Kyra was part of a team investigating the illegal gold trade for a series called “Dirty Gold Clean Cash,” which was a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting. She also covered education and local government. Kyra has a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from Colorado College. She grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

About the Event: On November 15, 2019, the Institute of World Politics hosted a special day-long debate event examining the past, present, and future of Socialism/Communism. Sponsored by the Claremont Institute together with the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and produced by the Imprimatur Group to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the program featured a morning debate on the economic viability of a socialist or communist system while the afternoon session explored the nature of cultural Marxism, which has been argued to have supplanted the tenets and goals of economic Marxism with a new emphasis on “social justice.”

Our participants include Michael Anton, former member of the National Security Council, Marek Chodakiewiz, Professor of History at the Institute of World Politics, historian Ronald Radosh, a former Marxist and author of The Rosenberg File, and Michael Gonzalez, a senior fellow at the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy at the Heritage Foundation. On the left, the debaters are Bhaskar Sunkara, the founding editor and publisher of Jacobin Magazine, author and managing editor of Jacobin Micah Uetricht, Eric Blanc, an author and contributor to Jacobin and The Nation, and sociologist Nicole Aschoff, author of The New Prophets of Capital. The debate will be moderated by cultural historian Michael Walsh, author of The Devil’s Pleasure Palace and The Fiery Angel, who will discuss his personal experiences in Berlin when the Wall fell during a special lunchtime presentation.