When I first learned about IWP, I was skeptical. It seemed a little too good to be true: a service-oriented school that emphasized national security and appreciated the founding traditions and values of the United States? Faculty with practical experience in the subjects they’re teaching? Located in D.C.? High post-graduate employment rates in relevant fields? Something had to be less than advertised, and so I applied to the internship program to do a little scouting of IWP as a whole. I made it in, and I began my search.
There was the lecture on Maoist Revolutionary Wars Outside of China by Dr. Harmon that was exceptional. Then there was the tour of the German Marshall Fund that proved enlightening and insightful. There was solid teaching by Dr. McCranor on Western Moral & Political Thought as we discussed Socrates vs. Callicles and the question of whether there was a universal right and wrong. And there was a lecture by Dr. Lenczowski on the question of whether man is perfectible, and how a regime’s answer to that question will profoundly impact its foreign policy and governance of its people. I was impressed, and the experience had just begun. I had not even begun to touch the war game simulations that proved to be my favorite part of the internship.
Notably, there was my work with Professor Santoli in helping him run his class on Peace, Strategy, & Conflict Resolution where I saw a teaching style unlike any I had ever seen before, and it worked wonders on the students. It challenged me to try harder and be better. I learned that I had much to learn, but I now knew that I was in the right place to learn more.
I came to IWP expecting to find the “catch” to what seemed like an unrealistically fantastic deal and experience.
I still have yet to find it.
Alec Bullough
IWP National Security and International Affairs Research Intern, Summer 2024
Brigham Young University–Idaho
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