| by Jason Warburg
In a ceremony honoring 222 Middlebury Institute graduates from 27 countries, speakers highlighted the global community embodied by the “MIIS family” of students, alumni, faculty and staff.
Noor Flanagan Almusahwi served as the 2026 Donnelly Spring Fellow at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism. His paper argues that two decades of Western counterterrorism failure in Iraq and Afghanistan cannot be explained by thin intelligence or absent political will alone. The deeper problem was interpretive. Policymakers built legitimacy out of paperwork while the populations they governed built it out of honor, obligation, and memory. Noor calls this semiotic misalignment, and he traces it through the language of liberation in Iraq and the social cost of foreign partnership in Afghanistan. His critique of the follow-the-money orthodoxy is the sharpest section. Tracking a transfer tells you how value moved. It tells you nothing about the duty that moved it. That gap is where insurgents recruit, and Noor writes about it with the authority of someone who has lived through the conditions he analyzes.
– Jason Blazakis, CTEC Executive Director
| by Brittany West
From Monterey to the global stage, Middlebury Institute students are putting their skills to work this summer. Through applied research and practicum courses, our students are collaborating with organizations making a tangible difference worldwide while finishing their degrees.
| by Ekaterina Grishakova and Satyajit Lall
Ghost Markets of the Darknet asks a deceptively simple question: If global e-commerce can move goods across continents in days, can a militant non-state actor in West Africa do the same with an RPG? Grishakova and Lall test the question against a hypothetical JNIM splinter faction, working through the discovery, payment, and delivery problems in turn. Their answer reframes the dark web as a force multiplier rather than a replacement for offline arms trafficking.”
– Jason Blazakis, CTEC Executive Director
The International Environmental Policy (IEP) program, renamed to the Environmental Policy & Management (EPM) program had an Alumni Reunion Weekend, Friday to Sunday, April 10-12, 2026. It was the 30th anniversary of this impactful master’s degree program. It was an uplifting and inspiring weekend.
| by Mikayla Parson
Three Middlebury Institute students have been named Fulbright finalists for the 2026–27 award cycle, earning opportunities to conduct research and teach abroad in Indonesia, Romania, and Panama. Their projects span climate resilience, language education, and information integrity, reflecting the global impact of MIIS students and alumni through international exchange and cross-cultural engagement.
| by Mikayla Parson
The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is a fully funded, 8–10 week summer study abroad initiative for U.S. undergraduate and graduate students, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. It offers intensive language instruction and cultural immersion in 13+ critical languages essential for U.S. national security and economic prosperity.
| by Mikayla Parson
Every year one Middlebury Institute graduate students is selected for a 10k Projects for Peace Award for work completed over the summer with a local partner.
