Students & Alumni

On January 19, 2021, intelligence expert and IWP alumna Rebekah Koffler appeared on The Washington Times podcast entitled “Bold and Blunt” to discuss the drastic, and surely dangerous, American underestimation of Russian capabilities. Particularly in the wake of recent Russian cyberattacks, Ms. Koffler identified Russia as the #1 U.S. foreign policy threat to date, not…

“The ISIS Crisis wargame simulated many of the stressors that existed during my time working in the humanitarian sector in Iraq. I worked in a post-conflict environment the year after Mosul was liberated from the terrorist organization. ISIS Crisis accurately demonstrates the difficulty of navigating power dynamics between state and non-state actors and reinforces the…

Above: John Walsh (’19) with a Kuwaiti national in his desert camp. John Walsh (’19) started studying at IWP after a 30-year career enlisted in the National Guard. After completing the Executive M.A. program, John transitioned to a senior civilian role working with the National Guard Bureau.  Below, he discusses some of his experiences at…

Above: Diane (center) in a scene from Quantico. Diane* was on the set of Quantico, filming the Season 2 finale. She was playing a Special Agent, and the leads were interviewing people to be a part of a new agency comprising the CIA and FBI. Little did she know that soon she would be working…

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…