Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization
Washington Program on National Security
WAPONS
ABOUT the PROGRAM
The WaPoNS program, now in its seventh year, aims to prepare promising and motivated college students for the challenges of a rapidly changing global environment by offering them an opportunity to engage with some of the best thinkers, practitioners, and both current and former officials in the Intelligence Community, Congress, the Pentagon, the White House, non-governmental organizations, industry, and academia, including premier think-tanks and democracy-building organizations, thus affording the participants a rare inside glimpse of the many different cultures that must all work together to succeed. By observing the process of national security policymaking from the perspective of the practitioners themselves, the program will improve the students’ leadership potential and open new potential professional opportunities.
The program is designed for a total of 16 students. Readings will be assigned in advance of the start of the 2023 session, on topics that include:
• Cognitive security, disinformation, and public diplomacy
• Cyber warfare, nuclear proliferation, and terrorism
• Cancel culture in media and the academy
Housing will be provided at Courtyard Marriott Bethesda Chevy Chase, 5520 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD. Students will be issued a stipend for meals not provided by the AHI, as well as metro tickets for transportation in DC, but they will be responsible for travel to and from Washington, DC.The AHI does have a modest amount of funds available to support disadvantaged students. For information about support for travel expenses to and from Washington DC. contact AHI President Robert Paquette at bob@theahi.org.
For the first five years, funding was provided by the Bradley Foundation. The 2022 program, and now the 2023 program, have been made possible by a generous grant from the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation.
HOW TO APPLY
Applications to the program to be held June 21-30, 2023, are due on May 17. Requirements are:
• The most recent transcript of courses and grades
• Two letters of recommendation from faculty members
• A 500-word essay on what the applicant considers to be the most critical national security challenge the U.S. faces today, and how it might be addressed.
ABOUT the AHI
Inspired by Alexander Hamilton’s life and work, the AHI was created to help cultivate a genuinely free marketplace of ideas and promote excellence in scholarship through the study of freedom, democracy and capitalism. In furthering the conversation among individuals, campuses and organizations across the country, the AHI continues to build a legacy where evidence and argument prevail over ideology and cant.