The Institute of World Politics

About the Lecture: The speaker will discuss Soviet antireligious activism and propaganda, taking a look at "volunteer" activism and analyzing the artistic renderings of religion in Bezbozhnik - the propaganda apparatus of the League of the Militant Godless.

This event is sponsored by the Center for Intermarium Studies and the Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies at IWP.

About the Speaker: Helen Lamm is from the great state of South Carolina. In 2017, she graduated magna cum laude from Wofford College with a degree in Chinese and History. She is currently studying Statecraft and International Affairs with a concentration in American Foreign Policy at The Institute of World Politics. She is interested in the politics of post-communism, and focuses much of her writing on the interplay of religion and politics. This paper was submitted for completion of Dr. Marek Chodakiewicz's 2018 spring course on Russian Politics.

About the Book: In North Korean Military Proliferation in the Middle East and Africa: Enabling Violence and Instability, Bruce E. Bechtol Jr. analyzes relevant North Korean military capabilities, what arms the nation provides, and to whom, how it skirts its sanctions, and how North Korea's activities can best be contained. He traces illicit networks that lead to state and nonstate actors in the Middle East, including Syria, Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas, and throughout Africa, including at least a dozen nations. The potential proliferation of nuclear and chemical weapons technology and the vehicles that carry it, including ballistic missiles and artillery, represent a broader threat than the leadership in Pyongyang. Including training and infrastructure support, North Korea's profits may range into the billions of dollars, all concealed in illicit networks and front companies so complex that the nation struggles to track and control them. Bechtol not only presents an accurate picture of the current North Korean threat―he also outlines methodologies that Washington and the international community must embrace in order to contain it.

About the Author: Bruce E. Bechtol, Jr., is an award winning professor of political science at Angelo State University and a retired Marine. He was formerly on the faculty at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College and the Air Command and Staff College. Dr. Bechtol served as an adjunct visiting professor at the Korea University Graduate School of International Studies. He was an intelligence officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency from 1997 until 2003, eventually serving as the senior analyst for Northeast Asia in the Intelligence Directorate on the Joint Staff in the Pentagon. He formerly sat on the editorial review board of the East Asian Review and served as editor of the Defense Intelligence Journal. He is currently on the editorial advisory board of the Korea Observer, and is on the scientific board of Global Humanities. He is the current president of the International Council on Korean Studies, and serves on the board of directors of the Council on U.S.-Korean Security Studies. He has also authored North Korea and Regional Security in the Kim Jong-un Era: A New International Security Dilemma, The Last Days of Kim Jong-Il: The North Korean Threat in a Changing Era, Defiant Failed State: The North Korean Threat to International Security, and Red Rogue: The Persistent Challenge of North Korea. A widely sought after expert on North Korean international security issues, Dr. Bechtol has been called on to present commentary to the BBC, CNN, CBC, FOX News, Radio New Zealand, syndicated nationwide radio shows such as POTUS politics on SIRIUS/XM, the John Batchelor show, the Frank Gaffney show, and several interviews on National Public Radio.

This event is the eighth annual Kosciuszko Chair Military Lecture 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: This lecture will explore the military history of Russia, going back to pre-imperial times, in order to analyze the Russian Federation's recent actions toward the United States, NATO, and Europe. Russia has historically viewed war in a different light than the West, and this historical context is vital to determining how to respond to recent belligerent actions.

About the Speaker: Geoffrey Seroka is a graduate student at The Institute of World Politics, studying International Affairs. He has focused his graduate research on Russian/Eurasian affairs and has delivered two previous lectures as a part of the Kosciusko Chair's Intermarium Lecture Series. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Government from Patrick Henry College in 2015.

About the Book: Since the end of World War II, why has the United States either lost every war it started or failed in every military intervention it prosecuted? Harlan Ullman's new book answers this most disturbing question, a question many Americans would not ask because this record of failure has been largely hidden in plain sight or forgotten with the passage of time. The most straightforward answer is that presidents and administrations have consistently failed to use sound strategic thinking and lacked sufficient knowledge or understanding of the circumstances prior to deciding whether or not to employ force. Making this case is an in-depth analysis of the records of presidents from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama and Donald Trump in using force or starting wars. His recommended solutions begin with a "brains-based" approach to sound strategic thinking to address one of the major causes of failure--the inexperience of too many of the nation's commanders-in-chief. Ullman reinforces his argument through the use of autobiographical vignettes that provide a human dimension and insight into the reasons for failure, in some cases making public previously unknown history. The clarion call of Anatomy of Failure is that both a sound strategic framework and sufficient knowledge and understanding of the circumstance that may lead to using force are vital. Without them, failure is virtually guaranteed.

About the Author: Harlan K. Ullman is a strategic thinker and innovator whose career spans the worlds of business and government. Chairman of several companies and an advisor to the heads of major corporations and governments, he was the principal author of "shock and awe"and inventor of a brains-based approach to strategic thinking. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he served in combat assignments in Vietnam. He holds an MA, MALD, and PhD from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and lives in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Paul Kengor gave a lecture on his book "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Communism" on July 31, 2018, at The Institute of World Politics.

About the Lecture:

Communism has wrecked national economies, enslaved whole peoples, and killed more than a hundred million men and women. What's not to like?

Too many young Americans are supporting communism. Millennials prefer socialism to capitalism, and 25 percent have a positive view of Lenin. One in four Americans believe that George W. Bush killed more people than Josef Stalin. And 69 percent of Millennials would vote for a socialist for president.

They ought to know better. Communism is the most dangerous idea in world history, producing dire poverty, repression, and carnage wherever it has been tried. And no wonder—because communism flatly denies morality, human nature, and basic facts. But it's always going to be different this time.

In this lecture, renowned scholar and bestselling author Paul Kengor will highlight points from his recent book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Communism, exposing the blood-drenched history—and dangerously pervasive influence—of the world's worst ideology.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Paul Kengor is professor of political science at Grove City College, a four-year, private Christian liberal arts college located in Grove City, Pennsylvania. He is executive director of the Center for Vision & Values, a Grove City College think-tank and policy center. He is also a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace at Stanford University. He has been quoted or published in most major publications from across the ideological spectrum: New York Times, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News, Washington Post, New York Post, National Review, Chronicle of Higher Education, San Francisco Chronicle, American Spectator, New York Newsday, Political Science Quarterly, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Washington Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Boston Herald, Roll Call, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Philadelphia Inquirer, Christianity Today, World magazine, National Catholic Reporter, National Catholic Register, Our Sunday Visitor, the Jewish Press, Jewish World Review, International Herald Tribune, Manchester Union Leader, and others.

Kengor has authored several bestsellers. More recently, his 2012 profile of Frank Marshall Davis, mentor to Barack Obama, titled, The Communist: Frank Marshall Davis, the Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mentor (Simon & Schuster, Threshold/Mercury Ink), debuted at #9 on the New York Times bestseller list and hit #1 in non-fiction at both Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com. Based on declassified FBI files and Soviet and Communist Party USA archives, the book garnered a significant amount of public attention.

In 2010, Kengor published Dupes: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century (ISI Books). Based on extensive Soviet archival research, particularly the Soviet Comintern Archives on Communist Party USA, the book examines the exploitation of American liberals by communists beginning in the early 20th century.

Kengor’s best-known work is God and Ronald Reagan(HarperCollins, 2004), which made bestseller lists for The New York Times (extended list), Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Christian Retailing, among others; the book reached #2 on Amazon’s non-fiction list. He is author of God and George W. Bush (HarperCollins, 2004), which reached #5 on Amazon’s non-fiction list and made The New York Times’ extended bestseller list. He is co-editor with Peter Schweizer of Assessing the Reagan Presidency (Rowman-Littlefield, 2005). He has also written chapters or essays in books published by Oxford University Press, Columbia University Press, Palgrave-Macmillan, Lexington, and many others.

Mr. Roy Kamphausen gave a lecture called "America’s Generational Challenge: China" at The Institute of World Politics on July 18, 2018.

About the Lecture: Roy Kamphausen will address the multi-faceted series of structural challenges that China presents to the U.S.

About the Speaker: Roy D. Kamphausen is Senior Vice President for Research at The National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR). He provides executive leadership to NBR’s policy research agenda on security, politics, energy, economics, and trade. Mr. Kamphausen directs NBR’s engagement with the administration, U.S. Congress, and foreign embassies in Washington, D.C. and integrates the work of Admiral Jon Greenert, NBR’s Shali Chair in National Security Studies, with ongoing programs and new initiatives.

As a specialist on a range of U.S.-Asia issues, Mr. Kamphausen leads and contributes substantively to NBR’s research initiatives. He is the author, contributing author, or co-editor of numerous publications, including chapters in NBR’s Strategic Asia series; the Carlisle People’s Liberation Army Conference series and its most recent volume, The Chinese People’s Liberation Army in 2025 (co-edited with David Lai, 2015); an NBR Special Report on innovation in India (2015); and the IP Commission’s Report on the Theft of American Intellectual Property (2013). His areas of expertise include China’s People’s Liberation Army, U.S.-China defense relations, East Asian security issues, innovation, and intellectual property protection. He has presented on these topics throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe to government and corporate decision-makers. Mr. Kamphausen is frequently cited in U.S. and international media, including CNN, the Financial Times, Foreign Policy,National Public Radio, Newsweek, and the New York Times.

Mr. Kamphausen is an adjunct associate professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a senior adviser on East Asia for the University of Connecticut’s Office of Global Affairs. He lectures regularly at leading U.S. military institutions, including the United States Military Academy (West Point) and the U.S. Army War College. Mr. Kamphausen regularly briefs members of Congress and consults for the U.S. Department of Defense. Prior to joining NBR, Mr. Kamphausen served as a career U.S. Army officer. As a China foreign area officer, his career included assignments as China policy director in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, China strategist for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and a military attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

Mr. Kamphausen holds a BA in Political Science from Wheaton College and an MA in International Affairs from Columbia University. He studied Chinese at both the Defense Language Institute and Beijing’s Capital Normal University. He is a member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, the Asia Society, and the Council for Security and Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific. He is married to Arminda and they have three children—Abigail, Hudson, and Delaney.

Professor Henry D. Sokolski gave a lecture on "Energy Trends: Nuclear and Non-nuclear" at The Institute of World Politics on July 16, 2018.

About the Lecture:

With the Trump administration's proposed financial relief of the coal and nuclear industries in the name of national security, energy economics has re-emerged as a topic for national debate. So far, much of this discussion has been cast as a contest between market economics and national security. What might the vulnerabilities of America's electrical system be? What are driving energy economic trends both nuclear and non-nuclear? These questions and more will be addressed at this lecture.

About the Speaker:

Henry D. Sokolski is the Executive Director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, a Washington-based nonprofit organization founded in 1994 to promote a better understanding of strategic weapons proliferation issues among policymakers, scholars and the media. He teaches as an adjunct professor at The Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C. From 1989 to 1993, Sokolski served as the Deputy for Nonproliferation Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, for which he received the Secretary of Defense's Medal for Outstanding Public Service. Sokolski has authored and edited a number of books on nuclear proliferation, including Underestimated: Our Not So Peaceful Nuclear Future, (Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, 2016) and Best of Intentions: America's Campaign Against Strategic Weapons Proliferation (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2001).

Dr. Michael Lammbrau gave a lecture called "Seoul Leadership, Seoul Power: Riding the Korean Wave" at The Institute of World Politics on July 12, 2018.

About the Lecture: Many around the world are likely to forget the impact of the Korean War and its aftermath, but the Korean people cannot forget. Rather, they continue forward, leading East Asia and the world toward a peaceful resolution to the Korean War and the division of the Korean peninsula. From the peaceful transformative power of the Candlelight Revolution, Korea has stepped forward to change the course of history and to emerge as a political, economic, and cultural leader of East Asia.

About the Speaker: Dr. Michael Lammbrau or (마이클 람브라우) in Korean, is an Assistant Professor for the Intelligence Studies Department at Mercyhurst University and the current U.S. Representative at Arirang Institute. Dr. Lammbrau currently works with the recently founded U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit organization, Arirang Institute, which focuses on strengthening ties in East Asia through “People to People” Diplomacy. His work in Korea, as the Seoul Bureau Chief of Arirang Institute, has resulted in grabbing the attention of the national Korean media, where they were the subject of two documentaries. He currently writes and appears for Korean news outlets as an expert on culture and Inter-Korean relations. His current academic work focuses on the application of machine learning methods in text analysis, both supervised and unsupervised, to analyze patterns in North Korean news outlets and provide predictive modeling of North Korean provocations. It was recently recognized in 2018 by local, national, and international media outlets.

Jaroslaw Martyniuk gave a lecture on his book "Monte Rosa: Memoir of an Accidental Spy" on July 11, 2018, at The Institute of World Politics.

This event was sponsored by the Center for Intermarium Studies and the Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies.

About the Book:

A sweeping panorama of the author's life from the outbreak of WWII to the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The narrative begins in Ukraine and ends in Paris where he coordinated the work of fifty undercover interviewers engaged in unorthodox research with Soviet visitors in Western Europe, a chapter of Cold War history never revealed in such remarkable detail. The story includes the author's narrow escape from Communism, an account of his extended family's ordeal in the Soviet Gulag, life in post-war Bavaria, thirty years in Chicago and culminates with twelve years in France where he worked for the International Energy Agency and Radio Liberty.

About the Author:

Jaroslaw Martyniuk is a former energy economist with the IEA/OECD and a retired sociologist living in Washington, D.C. As a research analyst for Radio Liberty’s Soviet Area Audience and Opinion Research office in Paris during the eighties, he was responsible for coordinating work of fifty Russian-speaking interviewers conducting “unorthodox” public opinion polling with visitors from the Soviet Union, intelligence work carried out on behalf international broadcasters and other interested parties.

A Ukrainian-born American, his life story encompasses a narrow escape from Communism at the end of World War II, life in postwar Germany, emigration to the United States and a career with Amoco Oil in Chicago. In 1979, he returned to Europe where he lived for fifteen years until his work took him to Washington D.C.. Martyniuk speaks five languages and during his multiple careers travelled to every country in continental Europe and visited all of the republics of the former Soviet Union save one.

The Institute of World Politics hosted the COKUSS/CUSKOS 33rd International Security Conference beginning June 28 through June 29, 2018.

This event was co-sponsored by the Council on Korea-U.S. Security Studies, the Korean Defense Veterans Association, and The Institute of World Politics.

The first panel focused on deterring and defending against the North Korean threat and was moderated by Gen. (Ret.) Kim Jae Chang. Taewoo Kim discussed his paper "Toward New Alliance Strategies: Preparing against Threat from DPRK and China" and Bruce Bennett discussed his paper "Optimal structure for deterrence against the DPRK threat". The panel also heard from three discussants: William Newcomb, Jaekap Ryoo, and Nam-Sung Huh.