John Lenczowski


Dr. John Lenczowski is the Founder and President of The Institute of World Politics, an independent graduate school of statecraft and national security affairs in Washington, D.C.

Professional life

Lenczowski founded The Institute of World Politics in July 1990 as a private academic institution dedicated to teaching all the arts of statecraft in service of the defense of American liberty, including: diplomacy, military strategy, peacemaking, public diplomacy, opinion formation and political warfare, intelligence and counterintelligence, homeland security, economic strategy, and moral leadership. The master's degree-granting graduate school began as a summer school in 1992 and by 1994 was offering courses year-round. Originally affiliated with Boston University, it became fully independent in 2005 and in 2006 was regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
From 1981 to 1983, Lenczowski served in the United States Department of State as Special Advisor to then Under Secretary for Political Affairs Lawrence Eagleburger. His highest priority was strengthening Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, so that it could overcome Soviet jamming and rapidly disseminate news of resistance to Soviet authority. Lenczowski succeeded in getting $2.5 billion authorized to modernize Voice Of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. In 1981, he became part of the newly founded Active Measures Working Group, which aimed to counter Soviet disinformation campaigns. Lenczowski encouraged the group to take a more proactive role in countering disinformation. From 1983 to 1987 he was Director of European and Soviet Affairs at the National Security Council. In that capacity, he served as principal Soviet affairs advisor to President Ronald Reagan. He was involved in developing many of the policies that helped prompt the collapse of the Soviet empire. One such policy came from a memo Lenczowski wrote to President Reagan outlining America's strength and promoting military deterrence by better publicizing the truth and goals of communism and the Soviet Union.

Education and other affiliations

Lenczowski was educated at the Thacher School in California, earned his B.A. at the University of California, Berkeley, and received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. He has been associated with several academic and research institutions in the Washington area, including Georgetown University, the University of Maryland, College Park, the American Enterprise Institute, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, the Council for Inter-American Security, and the International Freedom Foundation.

Publications and media appearances

Lenczowski is the author of several books:
He has also authored numerous other writings on U.S. foreign policy, public diplomacy, Soviet/Russian affairs, comparative ideologies, intelligence, and strategy. He contributed a chapter entitled "Political-Ideologial Warfare in Integrated Strategy, and its Basis in an Assessment of Soviet Reality" to Fighting the Ideological War: Winning Strategies from Communism to Islamism. His articles have been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, and The Christian Science Monitor, and nationally syndicated by the Los Angeles Times.
Dr. Lenczowski has testified before Congress and appeared on national television programs such as PBS's MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour, American Interests, and Techno-Politics; CNN's Crossfire and TalkBack Live; the Fox News Channel; and C-SPAN.

Personal life

Lenczowski is the son of former Berkeley professor George Lenczowski. He is married with two children.