I was a research intern at IWP during the spring 2025 semester. The internship provided me with opportunities to hear from a variety of active and former practitioners of intelligence, national security, and foreign affairs. This experience helped me learn more about potential career fields that I am considering.
I was also able to take two graduate-level courses. One of the courses was International Relations, Statecraft, and Integrated Strategy taught by Dr. John Callahan. This course ensured all the interns had a good baseline understanding of international relations and strategy.
The other was Military Strategy, Taught by Dr. Christopher C. Harmon. Military Strategy taught us about the evolution of military strategy and thought going as far back as Sun Tzu. It took us through the key military thinkers such as Sun Tzu, Clausewitz, Mahan, and Mao, among others. I found it interesting to see how views of warfare developed into what we have today.
The internship also taught us the arts of both intelligence and policy briefing. One of the major lessons from that experience was the importance of determining what information is significant and needs to be in the brief, and what information is extraneous. It also forced us to think about what kinds of questions we might be asked and ensure that we had the information necessary to answer them as much as possible. The briefings also taught us, however, that it is not always possible to anticipate every question, and it is important to be able to maintain our bearing when we do not necessarily know the answer.
Yosef Traum
IWP Research Intern, Spring 2025