An IWP faculty member, staff member, and student made presentations at the annual International Association for Intelligence Education Conference held at the Citadel in South Carolina from 20-22 October. The conference theme was “Intelligence Education in a Contested World.”
Professor Aaron Danis noted that “this was the first in-person IAFIE conference domestically since 2019.”
There were many distinguished speakers (see the agenda). Opening remarks were given by the president of the Citadel, General Glenn Walters, USMC (Retired). The first day keynote address was presented by Ms. Linda Weissgold, Deputy Director for Analysis, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the second day keynote address was “The Road to 2050” by Dr. George Friedman, Founder and Chairman of Geopolitical Futures.
IWP student Ms. Gillian Hand gave her talk titled “Attacking in an Undefined Domain: People’s Republic of China Cyber Attacks Against Taiwan and What the U.S. Should Learn from Them” for the Technology and Defense Panel. Notably, she was the only student on the panel and more than held her own. She also met with CIA’s Linda Weissgold as part of a small group of students attending the conference.
Ms. Hand noted that “Attending this conference not only allowed me to further understand the complex intelligence environment today, but it gave me the tremendous opportunity to share my research with a great group of national security experts and scholars. They provided me with valuable feedback and advice that will help me continue and improve my research as well as advance my career in the national security sector.”
Recently appointed IWP China Asia Program Director, Dr. Amanda Won (’22) presented on the History and Espionage Panel on her topic, “North Korea: The Evolution of North Korean Espionage through its Death of Democracy.”
Dr. Won stated later, “It was an invaluable experience to participate in the 2022 IAFIE conference at the Citadel where I could learn and share insights with other subject matter experts – to better understand the nature of our enemies, specifically their weakness, and reinforce the U.S. efforts to counter regional as well as international threats against U.S. national security interests.”
Prof. Aaron Danis gave a presentation titled “What Faculty and Students Need to Know About the ODNI (Office of the Director of National Intelligence) Today” for the Faculty and Student Professional Development Panel. He is the faculty advisor for IWP’s IAFIE Student Chapter.
Next year’s IAFIE conference will be held at Mercyhurst University in Erie, PA, on the 30th anniversary of IAFIE’s founding there.