Political Jar

Out-of-Town Travel Pool Call Time
2025-11-14 16:30 (America/New_York) | Joint Base Andrews
Out-of-Town Travel Pool

Combat Witches: Women’s Resilience in War-Torn Ukraine
2025-11-14 12:00 - 13:30 (America/New_York)
Join Dr. Kis and Dr. Wood for the discussion on how witchcraft is now seen in Ukraine as a specifically female resource to defend families.

This lecture traces the transformation of public discourse on witchcraft and attitudes toward magical practices as a part of women’s subculture in Ukrainian society in the context of the current war. The analysis includes varied source materials (visual art, internet memes, poetry, music videos, feature movies, clothing design, and handicrafts) that represent contemporary ideas about witches and witchcraft, as well as related media and social media, and personal testimonies of women (soldiers, combat medics, and army volunteers) who have adopted the identity of a “combat witch.” Dr. Kis will show how the public perception of witchcraft as a cultural phenomenon and gendered practice changed from predominantly negative (in traditional Ukrainian culture) to predominantly positive (in contemporary public discourse), and how witchcraft is perceived in public discourse as a specifically female resource that Ukrainian women can use to defend their families and as a weapon against the enemy. The study covers the period of the Russian-Ukrainian war of 2014-2024, with special attention to the period of full-scale Russian aggression from February 24, 2022 to the present.

In-Town Pool Call Time
2025-11-14 09:00, 2025-11-13 09:00, 2025-11-12 09:00, 2025-11-11 09:00, 2025-11-10 09:00 (America/New_York) | The White House

Producer Price Index
2025-11-14 08:30 UTC | Washington, DC

Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Evolution
2025-11-13 16:30 - 18:00 (America/New_York) | S153, CGIS South Building, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
The talk examines the historical evolution of constitutionalism in Kazakhstan — from the political traditions to the recent reforms.

The talk examines the historical evolution of constitutionalism in Kazakhstan — from the political traditions of the Kazakh Khanate and the democratic ideals of the Alash Party to the modern “Qazaqstan Eli Constitution” draft and recent constitutional reforms. It will analyze how concepts of governance, sovereignty, and the rule of law have developed through Kazakhstan’s unique experience at the intersection of nomadic political culture, national movements, and contemporary state-building.

At Sea Against the Soviet Fleet, a Conversation with the Author
2025-11-13 16:30 - 18:00 (America/New_York) | The Institute of World Politics, Commodore Barry Room, 1521 16th Street Northwest, Washington, DC, 20036, United States
Book talk and signing with Capt. Bryan Leese on At Sea Against the Soviet Fleet—the evolution of U.S. naval intelligence in the Cold War.

***This lecture is sponsored by the IWP IAFIE Alpha Student Chapter***

About the Lecture:
At Sea Against the Soviet Fleet examines the critical transformation of naval intelligence during a pivotal era marked by the Cold War and the Vietnam conflict. Bryan Leese meticulously details how U.S. Navy operational intelligence evolved to meet the complexities of modern naval warfare, particularly in response to the increasing threats posed by the Soviet Navy. Structured into four main parts, this book begins by examining the Vietnam War and the institutionalization of shipboard operational intelligence, or what Navy intelligence calls Opintel. The book highlights the establishment of Integrated Operational Intelligence Centers as part of the RA-5C Vigilante program and the innovative strategies that emerged in air combat and targeting.
Leese goes on to underscore the necessity of Opintel to the U.S. Navy’s close and distant blockade strategy in the 1960s and 1970s. He delves into the decentralization of intelligence processes, emphasizing the importance of adaptability and the need to prevent surprise attacks. This evolution is framed within the transition to the Navy’s Ocean Surveillance Information System, a decentralized and responsive operational intelligence system. The ongoing developments of shipboard intelligence capabilities are explored, demonstrating how these advancements empowered naval commanders.
In the 1970s, the organizations evolved as the revolutionary Opintel adaptations of the 1960s that leveraged cooperation without hierarchy became formalized. Leese highlights the revolution to evolution process by introducing Opintel support to shipboard tactical decisions to integrate operational intelligence into comprehensive naval strategies. Capturing the essence of this transformative period, the author discusses the cultural dynamics within the Navy that fostered innovation and interdepartmental collaboration. These developments not only contributed to maintaining a strategic edge over the Soviet Union, but also laid the groundwork for future naval operations in the digital age.
Leese’s work reveals the intricate interplay between technology, strategy, and personnel in creating an effective intelligence framework that allows the U.S. Navy to assert influence at sea, setting conditions for sea control in conflict. By blending rich archival research with firsthand accounts, this book offers a nuanced understanding of how the Navy adapted to an ever-changing operational landscape, ultimately preserving peace while navigating the complexities of high-stakes maritime conflict.
Book Link

About the Speaker:
Capt. Bryan Leese, USN (Ret.), was a career naval intelligence officer with extensive experience in operational intelligence, including key roles supporting ground combat operations and tours at sea, including as the N2 (head of intelligence) of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group and the George H. W. Bush Carrier Strike Group. He has held senior positions across the intelligence community, most notably as Chair, Defense Intelligence Department at the National Intelligence University, and as Branch Chief, Transregional and then North/West Africa in J2 (Joint Intelligence) Africa Command, during the 2011–2012 crisis in Libya. Before joining the Joint Forces Staff College in September 2023, Dr. Leese served on the faculty of the U.S. Naval War College’s Joint Military Operations Department. He holds a PhD in war studies from King’s College London and lives in Chesapeake, Virginia, with his wife, Elizabeth.

The President and First Lady participate in an Executive Order signing
2025-11-13 14:00 (America/New_York) | East Room
Pre-Credentialed Media

The President receives his Intelligence Briefing
2025-11-13 11:15 (America/New_York) | Oval Office
Closed Press

Consumer Price Index
2025-11-13 08:30 UTC | Washington, DC

Real Earnings
2025-11-13 08:30 UTC | Washington, DC

The President signs Senate Amendment to H.R. 5371 - Continuing Appropriations Ag, Leg Branch, Milcon-VA and Extensions Act 2026
2025-11-12 21:45 (America/New_York) | Oval Office
White House Press Pool

The President hosts a Private Dinner
2025-11-12 19:30 (America/New_York) | State Dining Room

The Demise of Democracy? Lessons from Ancient Athens
2025-11-12 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
Can modern democracy avoid Athens’ fate? Join Prof. Maggidis for insights on ideology, pathology, and history’s warnings.

About the Lecture:
“Our democracy is getting self-destroyed, for it abused the rights of freedom and of equality; for it taught the citizens to regard insolence as a right, illegality as freedom, impertinence as equality, and anarchy as happiness.” Isocrates, Athenian orator (436-338 BC)Democracy first emerged in ancient Athens in 507 BC following a long turbulent period of aristocracy and tyranny, when a nexus of intertwined geopolitical, sociopolitical, economic, and cultural developments led to the morphogenesis of this new political constitution. Athenian Democracy formulated the political ideology and fundamental principles that were later canonized by modern democracies, formalized defensive mechanisms against undue concentration of power and employed innovative integrative mechanisms to propagate its ideology and educate the citizens. Pathogenic traits-catalysts, however, such as the extreme polarization between mass and elite, demagogy, populism, failure of justice, apathy, and poor education caused extensive political ankylosis. Internal corrosion and changing historical conditions caused the decline and fall of Democracy three centuries later.Isocrates’ aphorism, therefore, rings alarmingly all too pragmatic and relevant today, 250 years since the resurgence of Democracy in the modern era. Are we running a similar cycle, repeating old mistakes, standing at the same juncture, heading towards the same dead end? To navigate forward, find solutions, and shape our future, we need first to study our past.

About the Speaker:
With over 35 years of experience in archaeology, teaching, and administration, Prof. Christofilis Maggidis is a faculty member at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C., President of the Mycenaean Foundation, and Field Director of Excavations at Mycenae and Lamia.
Throughout his career, Prof. Maggidis has combined academic leadership with a commitment to innovative teaching and interdisciplinary research. Having immersed himself in the American higher education system for over three decades, he is deeply committed to its values. Maggidis earned the BA at the University of Athens, the Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, and completed postdoctoral research at Brown University.
Prof. Maggidis taught at Campus College and the University of Indianapolis, Athens, Greece, held the distinguished Christopher Roberts Chair in Archaeology at Dickinson College for two decades, and was recently appointed at the Institute of World Politics, Washington D.C. where he teaches at graduate level and directs “Hermes,” the Institute’s study abroad program in Greece. Prof. Maggidis has taught nearly 3,000 students, developed 70 courses, and mentored 200 undergraduate and graduate students. His teaching spans the ancient Mediterranean (Aegean, Greek, Roman), Anatolia and the Near East, covering topics such as archaeology, art, architecture, anthropology, religion, politics, society and economy, warfare, technology, urbanization, environment, cultural heritage, archaeological theory, digital applications in archaeology, archaeological science. His ‘poly-dimensional’ holistic pedagogy conglomerates mutually complementing educational, research, and experiential components to engage the students, promote interactive learning experiences, encourage synergy and interdisciplinary exploration, link theory with ‘hands-on’ practical training, and develop critical ability and original thinking. To this effect, Maggidis has pioneered interactive, hands-on learning environments, including archaeology labs and unique life-size dig simulators.
His research focuses on Minoan and Mycenaean archaeology, Classical Greek art and architecture, and archaeological methodology. With 40 years of field experience, Prof. Maggidis has led excavations at prominent sites in Greece, including Mycenae, Glas, and the Spercheios Valley, making significant discoveries and directing acclaimed field schools that trained over 450 students from 44 universities worldwide. Maggidis has secured substantial external and institutional funding for his research and fieldwork ($2.8 million), and his findings have been widely disseminated in scholarly publications and international media. His scholarly publications comprise 26 articles, numerous field reports, one book submitted for publication (The Lower Town of Mycenae I: Archaeogeophysical Survey 2003-2013) and three forthcoming books (near completion or in working progress). Furthermore, Prof. Maggidis has presented 45 international conference papers and delivered 41 invited lectures at prestigious universities and institutes worldwide.
In addition to his academic and research expertise, Prof. Maggidis brings extensive administrative experience, having served as department chair, lab director, study abroad program director, secretary of the faculty, parliamentarian, member of several all-college committees, institutional advancement and public archaeology representative, among other roles. At Dickinson, he created and chaired the Department of Archaeology, designed the archaeology academic curriculum, directed study abroad programs, and led the department from inception to success. As President of the Mycenaean Foundation, Prof. Maggidis led successful fundraising initiatives, oversaw the renovation of key facilities, established the Melathron Center for Archaeology at Mycenae, organized and directed summer study abroad programs in synergy with prestigious colleges and universities.

Please Note:
A link to join the event via Microsoft Teams will be sent to all registered attendees two days prior to the event. Please keep an eye on your inbox (and check your spam folder just in case). We look forward to seeing you virtually!

Press Briefing by the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt
2025-11-12 13:00 (America/New_York) | James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
On Camera

Grad Student Workshop: Constraints on Democratic Imaginations
2025-11-12 12:00 - 13:30 (America/New_York) | Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics, 133 South 36th Street, Suite 335, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
Examining how political thought, education, and discourse shape—and often constrain—the horizons of democratic possibility.

This session examines how political thought, education, and discourse shape—and often constrain—the horizons of democratic possibility. Presenters interrogate the historical and intellectual boundaries that define what counts as “democratic” imagination, tracing how systems of knowledge, power, and pedagogy both enable and limit civic agency.
Peter S. Baron (JD/MA in Philosophy, Georgetown University) will present “Constructing an Overton Window: How Enlightenment Discourse Narrowed the Potential of Abolition.” His paper revisits the anti-slavery writings of Enlightenment thinkers such as Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Condorcet, revealing how their ostensibly abolitionist rhetoric constrained the radical potential of emancipation. Baron argues that by defining abolition as a gradual, elite-managed reform rather than a revolutionary act of justice, Enlightenment discourse preserved the racial and economic hierarchies of its time, an inheritance that continues to shape liberal reformism today.
Ariana Zetlin (Ph.D. candidate in Education, Culture, and Society, University of Pennsylvania) will present “Epistemic Fallibility for Democracy: How Intellectual Humility Enables Civic Dispositional Development.” Her work explores intellectual humility as a foundational civic virtue, arguing that recognizing one’s epistemic limitations is essential to democratic participation and equitable deliberation. Drawing on civic education theory and pedagogical research, Zetlin demonstrates how classrooms can cultivate intellectual humility to strengthen civic efficacy, fairness, and self-protection in democratic life.
Together, these papers reveal the intellectual and pedagogical boundaries that both define and limit democratic imagination, from Enlightenment rationality to contemporary civic education, and invite reflection on how rethinking these boundaries might open pathways toward more inclusive and emancipatory democratic futures.
***Register to receive link to papers. Zoom link will also be sent for those who can not join us in person.
Lunch provided.

The Long-Term Impact of Trump’s Immigration Policies
2025-11-12 08:00 - 10:30 (America/Chicago) | Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX, 77005, United States
Join us for a discussion on the broad consequences of large-scale deportation, and effects on the economy, demographics, and mental health.

The Trump administration’s immigration policy is having sweeping impacts on the U.S. economy, society, and demographic outlook. From January to July 2025, more than 1.2 million immigrants left the workforce, leaving employers facing labor shortages in construction, agriculture, food processing, and other vital industries. The policy has also strained immigrant communities, where families face the fear of deportation, children are missing school and the risk of family separation weighs heavily. Demographic trends further underscore the stakes: with U.S. fertility rates at historic lows, trends suggest immigration will play an essential role in maintaining population stability. In the first half of 2025, the administration’s intensified deportation policy reduced the immigrant population by 1.5 million.
At this town hall, panelists will examine the broad consequences of large-scale deportation, including effects on the economy, demographics, and mental health. They will also discuss the risks of pursuing such a policy without strategies to address its economic, social and human costs in the U.S.
This event is part of the Baker Institute Migration Initiative — a collaboration between the Center for the U.S. and Mexico, and the Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East — that focuses on the economic, legal, and social and environmental aspects of migration. It is free and open to the public.
Follow @BakerInstitute on X and join the conversation online with #BakerLive.

The President arrives The White House
2025-11-11 12:15 (America/New_York) | The White House
In-Town Travel Pool

The President participates in a Wreath Laying Ceremony and delivers Remarks
2025-11-11 11:00 (America/New_York) | Arlington National Cemetery

The President departs The White House en route Arlington National Cemetery
2025-11-11 10:35 (America/New_York) | The White House

Veterans Day
2025-11-11 00:00 - 23:59 (Etc/GMT) | United States
Visit https://calendarlabs.com/holidays/us/veterans-day.php to know more about Veterans Day.
Like us on Facebook: http://fb.com/calendarlabs to get updates

The President participates in a Swearing-in Ceremony for the Ambassador to the Republic of India
2025-11-10 15:00 (America/New_York) | Oval Office

The President participates in a Bilateral meeting with the President of Syria
2025-11-10 11:00 (America/New_York) | Oval Office

The President arrives The White House
2025-11-09 19:45 (America/New_York) | The White House
Open Press

In-Town Pool Call Time
2025-11-09 19:00 (America/New_York) | The White House
In-Town Pool

The President attends The Commanders Football Game
2025-11-09 17:35 (America/New_York) | Northwest Stadium, Hyattsville, MD, United States

The President departs Palm Beach, Florida, en route Washington, D.C.
2025-11-09 14:45 (America/New_York) | Mar-a-Lago
