Anna’s research focuses on international analysis of practical alliances. During WWII, PM Churchill had a fascinating relationship with the Soviet Union and with Stalin. Although he had previously decried their authoritarian, communist regime, he was willing to form an alliance with them purely in the interest of defeating what he perceived to be the most prevalent threat, Nazi Germany. Anna’s research seeks to answer this important question: how can the United States currently apply Churchillian threat analysis to our diplomatic relations and priorities in the Middle East?
Anna is the current Chief of Staff for a State Delegate in the Maryland General Assembly. She formerly worked in the office of Congressman Paul Cook, as well as in a nonprofit focused on free-market economics and in an immigration law firm. A 2016 graduate in International Studies and Spanish, she enjoys analysis of international diplomacy and seeks to learn how to apply the lessons of the past to the puzzles of today. She is an avid writer, having published one political thriller with others in the works, and also enjoys songwriting, reading, painting, and creating homemade cocktails.
Frank Fazio is a second-year MA student in history at George Washington University, with a concentration in imperial and colonial studies. His chief area of study is the 20th century British Empire. Frank graduated from Villanova University in 2018, cum laude, with a BA in history. He is based in Arlington, VA, and enjoys following New York sports in his spare time.
Mayer is a graduate student studying Diplomacy and Military Studies at Hawai’i Pacific University in downtown Honolulu. In Fall 2017, he graduated with his Bachelor of Science in the same field and completed his capstone research project on Winston Churchill’s leadership during the Second World War. Titled A Churchillian Crusade: Bounded by Predestination and Freewill, this paper examined Churchill’s worldview and why he failed to broadcast his “We Shall Fight” speech on the evening of June 4th, 1940. Upon starting his master’s program, he continued to research Churchill and investigated different eras of his life to establish a well-balanced understanding of him and his leadership. This included a historiography of the Dardanelles Disaster, his role in the destabilization of Iraq, and the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. With this fellowship grant, he intends to conduct research for his master’s thesis regarding Churchill’s historical inspirations including his father, Napoleon, Admiral Nelson, Georges Clemenceau, Marcus Tullius Cicero, and the Duke of Marlborough. He wants to further investigate how these men inspired Churchill’s leadership upon becoming Prime Minister in May 1940. Most importantly, he intends to take these Churchillian principles and investigate how they apply to the world’s most pressing crises in the 21st century. He firmly believes it is critical to study the leadership of Winston Churchill and that the lessons learned are timeless for future leaders.
Oliver studied History at the University of Sheffield, where his undergraduate dissertation was on the contemporary reputation of Paul von Hindenburg. After a period of working in Higher Education policy and for charities, he returned to studying History with an MA at the University of Exeter, where his research is primarily on Churchill’s years as Leader of the Opposition from 1945-1951. The research he particularly wants to develop is on Churchill’s role in retirement, his continued impact on domestic and global politics, and the network of international connections he maintained in the last ten years of his life, from 1955-1965. Oliver is based in the UK and looks forward to developing transatlantic links with US scholars also working on what Churchill would have grandly called ‘The History of English Speaking Peoples’.
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