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About the Panel: In August 2017, the White House unveiled a new South Asia Strategy presenting a narrow definition of victory through increased military firepower against ISIS, al-Qaida, and Taliban. While the President called for an expansion of rules of engagement for US military in Afghanistan, he also promised a harsher stance on Pakistan and a closer reliance on India in Afghanistan’s future. Nine months later, how much closer is the US and its allies towards stabilizing the complex security environment in Afghanistan? Our panelists will cover persistent challenges facing the country and its neighbors as the US endeavors upon a broader South Asia Strategy.
The Lost Kingdom: Memoir of an Afghan Prince A lecture at The Institute of World Politics, May 8, 2018. About the Book: His Royal Highness Prince Ali Seraj, a member of the royal family of Afghanistan, brings four decades of history to life—from the Cold War era when his famed nightclub in Kabul was a hotspot for global celebrities, jetsetters, and spies, to the communist Soviet takeover that killed members of his family, put a price on Prince Ali’s head, and forced him to make a harrowing escape from his homeland in disguise with his American wife and family. Prince Seraj’s intimate and historic portrait of modern Afghanistan tells the inside story of a proud, ancient culture grappling with a turbulent history of invasion and transformation. His passionate and adventure-filled story opens a new door to understand a nation irrevocably linked to the stability and prosperity of Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and to the United States. About the Author: Prince Ali Seraj is a direct descendant of nine generations of Kings of Afghanistan. He is the nephew of His Majesty King Amanullah (1919-1929), known as the Victor of Afghanistan, the grandson of His Majesty Amir Habibullah (1901-1919), the great-grandson of His Majesty Amir Abdurrahman (1880-1901), known as the Iron King. His ancestry continues on to His Majesty Amir Dost Mohammad who assumed the throne in 1827. After the communist coup d'états in 1978, Prince Ali escaped to the United States and made a successful career in business development, sales, and marketing. He also helped establish several multi-million dollar businesses in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Germany. Prince Ali worked very closely with the Reagan and Bush administrations during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the U.S. attack on the Taliban/Al Qaeda, respectively. He returned to Afghanistan after decades of exile to continue his charitable work. Since then, Prince Ali has developed a very important relationship with all the different tribes in Afghanistan as a result of his involvement with his country's people. Due to this relationship, Prince Ali has embarked on a mission to unite the Tribes as one, and established a movement under the name, "National Coalition for Dialogue with Tribes of Afghanistan." Today, Prince Ali assists NATO commanders with setting up meetings among tribal and religious elders to establish a dialogue of common understanding between Coalition Forces and locals. He is also assisting ISAF commanders in establishing a security network in the district of Kabul through his contacts with different tribal elders. Prince Ali will discuss his recently released memoir, The Lost Kingdom: Memoir of an Afghan Prince.
Russian Lobby in Belarus: Could Belarus be the Next after Ukraine? A lecture at The Institute of World Politics, May 8, 2018 About the lecture: After the occupation of Crimea, Russia began to expand its presence in Belarus. Hundreds of Russia-backed initiatives, formally cultural, media, or educational, emerged. Besides that, Sputnik opened its office in Minsk and had almost 1400% audience growth during two years. We observe increasing polarization between pro-Western and pro-Russian Belarusians, which apparently could lead to open conflict. About the speaker: Franak Viačorka is an M.A. candidate at American University in New Media, Democracy, and International Affairs. Previously, he studied at the College of Europe (2017), Warsaw University (2010-2014), and Belarus State University (2005-2008). Currently, he works for the Broadcasting Board of Governors and the Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Belarus service. Franak is a Vaclav Havel Fellow, nominated by Vaclav Havel himself, and also the laureate of the Civil Society Leadership Award. Franak is the founder and vice president of Belarusian cultural initiative Art Siadziba. In 2014, after the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity, he launched a nation-wide campaign promoting the national identity of Belarus, which followed up in so-called "soft Belarussization." Before that, Viacorka served as a leader of the youth wing of the Belarusian Popular Front (BNF). He has been arrested four times and was tortured while serving under forced conscription in the Belarusian army. In Belarusian army, he was fighting for the right to speak Belarusian. His personal story became the plot for the award-winning Polish-French movie Viva Belarus.
About the Lecture: Edward Snowden is a polarizing figure in the world today, known by millions and the press as a champion of freedom and a whistle blower exposing extensive activities on the part of the US intelligence community to violate the civil rights of millions of Americans. This one of the many myths that surround this case. In fact, almost all the information in the public domain about Snowden is false. The vast majority of the "Snowden narrative" has been provided by Snowden himself and never verified by the media. Snowden has repeatedly lied about himself, his expertise, the NSA, and his motivations. This discussion exposes truth about the man, his background, and the duplicity of his claims. It is essential for professionals to know the truth to counter the false claims made by Snowden and his supporters and to set the record straight. About the Speaker: David Major is a retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent and President of the Center of Counterintelligence and Security Studies.
About the Panel: The 2016 U.S. presidential election provides an extensive database for scholars. Not only was the election characterized by a dramatic increase in “nasty politics,” but also by the rise of populism and political showmanship that strategically employed character attacks to shock the audience. Other ongoing political developments urge researchers to address many questions. Among them are: Does character assassination work? What are the underlying psychological and rhetorical bases of character assassination? How does the media contribute to the viral effect of smear campaigns? How can one prevent and defend against character assassination? This panel will address these and many other questions related to the nature of character attacks and reputation management.
About the Lecture: Brigadier General Pekka Toveri discussed Finland's history and concentrated on the current structure, tasks, and development programs.
About the Lecture: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Daniel Golden will expose how academia has become the center of foreign and domestic espionage—and why that is troubling news for our nation's security through his book Spy Schools: How The CIA, FBI, and Foreign Intelligence Secretly Exploit America's Universities. Grounded in extensive research and reporting, Spy Schools reveals how academia has emerged as a frontline in the global spy game. In a knowledge-based economy, universities are repositories of valuable information and research, where brilliant minds of all nationalities mingle freely with few questions asked. Intelligence agencies have always recruited bright undergraduates, but now, in an era when espionage increasingly requires specialized scientific or technological expertise, they’re wooing higher-level academics—not just as analysts, but also for clandestine operations. Golden uncovers unbelievable campus activity such as a Chinese graduate student at Duke University stealing research for an invisibility cloak, and a tiny liberal arts college in Marietta, Ohio, exchanging faculty with China’s most notorious spy school. He shows how relentlessly and ruthlessly this practice has permeated our culture, not just inside the US, but internationally as well. Golden, acclaimed author of The Price of Admission, blows the lid off this secret culture of espionage and its consequences at home and abroad.
This event was sponsored by Walter Thinfen, President and CEO at Visioneer Inc. About the Lecture: The purpose of this discussion is to better understand the perspective of the President of the United States regarding cyber conflict. Primary sources will be reviewed including speeches, tweets, and actions. About the Speaker: Joe Billingsley is the founder of the Military Cyber Professionals Association, Adjunct Faculty at the George Washington University, Advisor of the Cyber Security Forum Initiative, Fellow at the Center for Network Innovation and Experimentation, Special Advisor of the peer-reviewed journal "Military Cyber Affairs," and collaborates with organizations including the Atlantic Council and Smithsonian Institution. He is an instructor for The Cyber Intelligence Initiative (Ci2) at the Institute of World Politics. This May he will be teaching a course on Cyber Strategy Development. He is an Iraq War veteran and former US Army Strategist and Cyber Operations Officer, having graduated programs at the Army War College, Naval War College, Military Intelligence School, and Army School of Information Technology. He hold a BA in History from the University of Connecticut, a MS in Cyber Systems and Operations from the Naval Postgraduate School, and is pursuing a PhD in Information Sciences.
About the lecture: Based on a large-scale survey and a choice experiment, this presentation will discuss energy-related preferences and climate change beliefs in Western Estonia and Southern Ukraine. Special attention will be given to the issues of social acceptance of large wind energy projects, since the surveyed regions have a high potential for wind power development. About the speaker: Dr. Anna Ebers Broughel is a visiting research fellow at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she works at the Center for Global Sustainability. She has been a postdoctoral fellow at the Chair for Management of Renewable Energies at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland since 2014. At the University of St. Gallen, she was responsible for the Consumer Barometer of Renewable Energy, one of the largest annual surveys of Swiss energy consumers. Her other engagements included an international cooperation project with the universities from Switzerland, Estonia and Ukraine to improve energy security in Eastern Europe. Previously, she worked at a large commercial bank in Estonia, a solar research institute in Germany, and at SUNY-ESF and Syracuse University, where she defended her PhD in economics as a Fulbright Fellow.
About the Book: Reagan’s 1968 Dress Rehearsal: Ike, RFK, and Reagan’s Emergence as a World Statesman is an inspiring never-before-told history of how Ronald Reagan first began to restore pride in America when he first ran for president in the late 1960s. Against the back-drop history of Reagan’s first campaign for the presidency, it can now be revealed that behind the scenes, none other than former President Dwight Eisenhower was Ronald Reagan’s hidden political mentor. In fact throughout the 1960s, Ronald Reagan was tutored by former President Dwight D. Eisenhower: how to enter politics, and then how to run his 1966 gubernatorial primary, and then general election campaigns. Eisenhower even counseled Reagan on how to fight charges of antiSemitism and critiqued Reagan’s speaking style. Reagan followed Eisenhower’s political advice virtually to the letter, and indeed Reagan based his 1966 campaign theme (common sense) and campaign persona (the citizen politician) on Ike. Ike certified him as presidential timbre, said he would endorse Reagan for president if he were the 1968 nominee, urged him to run for president as California’s favorite son, and may actually have favored political winner Reagan over loser Nixon as the 1968 Republican nominee. Ronald Reagan’s 1968 campaign was a crucial dress rehearsal for his ultimate triumph in 1980. During 1968, Reagan became a world statesman and shaped his crusade to restore pride in America. For Reagan, Ike’s tutelage was critical. Indeed Ronald Reagan now may be seen as one of Dwight Eisenhower’s proteges and his major political heir. This political mentorship changed America’s national priorities through the end of Reagan’s presidency, whose effects still are very much with us today. About the Speaker: Gene Kopelson is president of the New England chapter, on the Board of Trustees and Book Prize committee, of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, an active Churchillian, and a holocaust educator. As a historian, he has published works on Theodore Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet, Ronald Reagan’s 1966 campaign and Mexican American voters, the 1968 Nebraska and Oregon Republican primaries, and Washington State Republican politics in the 1960s. The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial featured his research on Robert F. Kennedy as an inspiration to Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. His research on Reagan and Eisenhower was featured in 2015 at the 125thCommemoration of the Birth of Dwight Eisenhower at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library. When not researching and writing history, Dr. Gene Kopelson is a cancer physician. He has published over forty medical articles, contributed chapters in medical textbooks, and lectured in the U.S. and abroad on radiation oncology.
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