Students & Alumni

Though typically he is the one interviewing people for his geopolitical podcast, IWP student Semaj McDowell took some time to answer our questions about his experience thus far at IWP. He told us about his interest in international politics, his internship at IWP, and how his experience as a student has led to successful job…

An IWP alumnus who is currently serving as a Diplomatic Security Special Agent at the Embassy of Ukraine graciously donated a book called Dobrobaty or Volunteer Battalions to IWP’s library. This book is translated from Ukrainian to English and is a compilation of stories, files, and other information about the early days of the war…

Two new students have been awarded the prestigious Louis DeJoy and Aldona Z. Woś Family Foundation Scholarship this year. This scholarship was established at IWP in 2017 thanks to the generosity of Louis DeJoy and Amb. Aldona Woś. Through a $1 million gift, they made possible scholarship funds for IWP students for ten years. The Louis DeJoy and Aldona…

The fifth volume of Active Measures, a student-run journal, is now available online. The name of the journal refers to a set of influence operations and propaganda – disinformation and deception – used by the Soviet Union to persuade and to have a strategic impact. The journal was founded in 2012 by a group of…

Above: Jane in Halabja, Iraq, photo by Charlene Winfred Jane* had just committed to the IWP Certificate of Graduate Study program when she had her first conversation with IWP career services. It was a Friday in April. By Sunday, she had submitted an application to a government agency that would lead to interviews and two…

Former IWP student Dennis Staszak has generously given nearly 400 books on national security, statecraft, counterintelligence, international security, and the economics of national security to the IWP library. A 33-year veteran of the FBI and former Deputy Unit Chief of the FBI’s Foreign Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism Training Unit, Mr. Staszak studied at IWP before the…

On October 8th, Arash Yaqin, a Master’s candidate in the Statecraft and National Security Affairs program at IWP, participated in a Stimson Center virtual panel discussion as a part of a South Asian Voices Project. About ArashYaqin Mr. Yaqin is a native Afghan who lived as a refugee in Russia and Europe for two decades.…

Mark Beall (IWP Class of 2009) is currently serving as head of strategic engagement and policy at the Department of Defense’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC). JAIC recently brought together a coalition of 13 countries to discuss ethics and artificial intelligence (AI) in the military. JAIC hosted an international virtual forum, calling it the AI…

Ryan Scherba (IWP Class of 2019) of Balkan Insider hosted a webinar with Serbia’s Chief Negotiator for the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue, Mr. Marko Djuric. Mr. Djuric gave an inside perspective on some of the signed documents and discussions from Washington, D.C. that took place in early September. Mr. Djuric discussed the fact that Serbian President Aleksandar…

This month, an IWP alumnus has received two prestigious awards: one for Best Collector in the Department of Defense (DoD), and one for Best Counterintelligence Team in DoD. His IWP education has contributed significantly to this alumnus’ ability to obtain and maximize strategic intelligence. These efforts ranged from disrupting adversarial networks to neutralizing blackmail, and…