This article was written by John Lovewell, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of IWP.
The leaders of China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, India, Turkey, and Pakistan gathered in Beijing recently to watch a spectacular parade of Chinese military forces, missiles, drones, and aircraft, creating an ominous preview of the powerful coalition the Chinese Communist Party is building to dominate and defeat the West. This New Cold War presents the most dangerous and complex threat environment since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Are America’s national security leaders and strategists up to the challenge?
Much has been written about the liberal ideologies which have permeated many of our finest universities and taught an entire generation a one-sided view of American history. Students have learned to believe there is nothing especially unique or admirable about the American Experiment, that the United States has a history of slavery, mistreatment of Native Americans, foreign adventurism, and inequality among its citizens. Little attention has been paid to the Founders and the political economy they created that has resulted in the greatest freedom, prosperity, charity, and innovation in history. As a result, many younger citizens do not understand or appreciate their inheritance as Americans.
Unfortunately, this same misguided view of America is present in many of our top foreign affairs graduate schools, where tomorrow’s military leaders, diplomats, and intelligence professionals are educated. Instead of focusing on the defense of American liberty and sovereignty, they are influenced by a strain of globalist thinking that dismisses any American uniqueness and focuses on a utopian vision of global governance. Leaders with this worldview usually lack pride in American success and values, indulge in wishful thinking about the nature of adversaries, and lack the moral and strategic clarity to deal with existential threats.
Such education is inadequate and dangerous in the current global threat environment. Our adversaries and their proxies are testing our resolve every day. National Security leadership must be up to the task to avoid catastrophe. Those entrusted with the most sensitive security roles must be highly informed, but also unapologetically patriotic. They will fail when it matters most if they do not understand or appreciate their American inheritance, or worse yet, don’t believe it is worth defending.
At The Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C., where I serve, our graduate students are exposed to a practical and comprehensive curriculum and ethos designed to produce courageous, clear-eyed defenders of American interests, not moral relativists who believe America is just another country in the global community.
Successful foreign policy starts with a realistic understanding of human nature and the global strategic environment. Leaders must have an appreciation for the cultures, history, and geography that help form the ambitions of our adversaries. It is dangerous and usually wrong to indulge in “mirror-imaging” the desires of our opponents. Aggression cannot be defeated by appeasement, but strength and credible deterrence can prevail.
The Cold War with the Soviet Union taught us it is possible to win without war, but it requires an integrated strategy utilizing every tool of national power: diplomacy, economic leverage, intelligence, military strength, political strategy, psychological influence, and public diplomacy to win hearts and minds inside hostile states. National Security Leaders must not work in isolated silos. The State Department, White House staff, relevant Congressional staffs, Pentagon, and the various Intelligence Agencies must understand and appreciate the full range of coordinated statecraft power. An integrated strategy gives us the initiative, but a piecemeal approach invites failure. An integrated strategy can avoid the unnecessary expenditure of blood and treasure.
The United States must have informed patriots in security leadership positions: men and women who appreciate the Founding Principles of our Republic and the reasons America has enjoyed such remarkable success for its people and in its influence on the welfare of nations. A deep dive into Judeo-Christian values and Western Civilization is not optional; it is mission critical so that our leaders understand for what they are fighting.
Character formation should be a primary objective of a foreign affairs education. National Security leaders—those entrusted with the most sensitive roles in government—must exhibit the highest character values: absolute integrity, fidelity, courage, humility, selflessness, and prudence. Above all, they must be mission driven, willing to risk career to do the right thing. A leader without these qualities is a liability.
The professors comprising the faculty educating our future security leaders should be scholar-practitioners. They bring to the classroom real-world experience negotiating with adversaries, commanding troops, gathering and interpreting intelligence, advising Presidents and legislators, and shaping foreign policy. Practical experience over theory wins every time.
A graduate school of foreign affairs with a well-defined mission and a commitment to the curriculum values outlined here can make a solid contribution to American security. At IWP, our students enjoy a 94% placement rate in their preferred career positions, and many serve today in highly sensitive strategy and policy roles in government.
The threats to our Republic are multiplying every day. The United States cannot afford to gamble on leaders driven by ideologies which undermine our sovereignty or weaken our resolve. We need national security leaders who are committed to defending liberty, have a clear-eyed view of the world, are strategically sound-thinking, and of high moral character and courage. Anything less invites defeat.
John Lovewell is Chairman of The Institute of World Politics, a private graduate school of National Security, Intelligence, and International Affairs in Washington, D.C.
