John Lyman is editor-in-chief of International Policy Digest, a global affairs publication he developed after graduate studies in European Studies at the University of Amsterdam and further work in Homeland Security at Virginia Commonwealth University. Beginning as a personal blog and portfolio, IPD grew into an international platform with thousands of contributors and articles. Lyman edits across geopolitics, human rights, conflict, media, technology, and public policy, emphasizing evidence, moderation, careful editorial judgment, and global perspectives.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with John Lyman, editor-in-chief of International Policy Digest, about building a global affairs publication from a personal blog into an international contributor platform. Lyman discusses graduate training, missile defence, unpaid contributors, funding pressures, editorial judgment, ideological submissions, Ukraine, Trump, Russia, autism myths, and regional conflicts. The conversation highlights independent publishing, evidence-based editing, global readership, and the difficulties of sustaining serious commentary online across borders and political divides today.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You started International Policy Digest more than a decade ago. Why did you start it? What was the original spark?
John Lyman: After graduate school at the University of Amsterdam, where I completed a Master of Arts in European Studies and studied European enlargement and security issues, I was unable to find a job in Europe. I had hoped to work in a field connected to international security, possibly involving NATO, but that did not happen. Eventually, I had to return to the United States. This was around 2009.
That was shortly after Obama was elected, but the recession was still ongoing. The job market was difficult and increasingly inhospitable. So I decided to pursue another degree in Homeland Security at my alma mater, Virginia Commonwealth University. After graduating, however, I realized that I did not really want to work in Homeland Security. I am not entirely sure what drove me to choose that degree. At the time, I thought it would be useful, but in retrospect, I think it was largely a waste of money.
As I looked around at the difficult job market, I decided to start a blog and publish excerpts from my graduate thesis on missile defence. An online portfolio will help me professionally.
To my surprise, I ended up creating a blog that looked quite professional. Writers from Bangladesh and India began contacting me and saying, "We like your blog. Can we publish our articles on it?" It started with a few writers from Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. From there, it expanded to include writers from Russia, Eastern Europe, the rest of Europe, the United States, Australia, and beyond.
What began with a handful of contributors gradually spread across the world. I have had contributing writers from what feels like nearly every country reach out to me. Many of them did not know how to publish their work online. They were unfamiliar with platforms such as Blogger or Medium. They would contact me and ask, "Can you publish this article? Can you publish this photo? Can you edit it, choose an image, and make it look professional?" That is really how it all began.
It was largely accidental. I did not attend journalism school and do not have a strong background in editing or journalism. I acquired those skills over time as the publication evolved.
Jacobsen: How was the funding landscape more than ten years ago? How is it now, and why has it become more difficult?
Lyman: I learned the hard way that some websites remain small platforms with relatively little data. In contrast, others grow into something much larger. Today, I have around 30,000 pieces of content and probably an equal number of photographs. All of that represents data, and when you host a website, you have to pay for it.
When I first started the website, the costs were minimal, perhaps $50 to $100 per month. As the website grew, however, the costs of simply operating it became substantial. There are also expenses associated with image services such as Shutterstock and Getty. Occasionally, you may need legal assistance if a dispute arises over content or copyright issues. Those situations are not common, but the costs accumulate over time.
I wasn't well connected within the publishing or news industries. I did not have an established network of people I could rely on. I was not living in California or Silicon Valley, and I did not have access to a circle of investors I could approach and say, "I want to launch this project. Would you be willing to contribute a million dollars, or even a thousand dollars?"
I built it myself. Over the past twelve years, I have been fortunate to have many people contribute along the way, especially the writers. Their contributions have been extraordinary.
Lyman: Everyone has done it for free, which is remarkable. Along the way, I have met people who have said, "Can I help you with your operating expenses or website costs?" That has been tremendously helpful.
I didn't have a network when I launched the website, and I would probably do those things differently. If I were launching it again, I would spend more time reaching out to people and developing a network from the beginning.
I also did not really plan the website in any formal way. I did not have a five-year plan or a clear vision of where I wanted to be at any given point. A lot of it was improvised and operated on a shoestring budget. I realized the website needed a change, so I invested $1,000 of my own money. Or I would identify an improvement that needed to be made and fund it myself. That is essentially how it developed.
Jacobsen: Did you ever end up using any of your post-secondary specializations in your articles or throughout your editorial career?
Lyman: Actually, they have been useful when publishing articles about missile defence because my graduate thesis focused on what I viewed as the futility of missile defence systems. I have published several articles about Trump's proposed Golden Dome missile defence project. This massive missile defence shield could cost trillions of dollars.
I don't believe it will work. In practice, missile defence systems have significant limitations. Israel's missile defence systems have intercepted many incoming missiles, but they have also faced challenges with drones and other threats. I am not entirely sure what Trump hopes to achieve with a project on that scale.
When I edit articles on missile defence, however, it is useful because I can draw on my academic background and understanding of the subject.
I do not publish many articles about emergency preparedness or FEMA. However, that education still helps me understand the news and broader policy discussions.
My European Studies degree has also been useful, as I publish a great deal of content on European politics. That said, the political landscape has changed dramatically since I was in graduate school in Amsterdam. Brexit was not yet a reality. Trump had not entered politics. The European populist movements that dominate so much discussion today were in a very different place. The political environment has changed significantly since both my time in Amsterdam and my years at Virginia Commonwealth University, when Obama was still president.
While I haven't directly applied much of my formal education in a professional setting, it has helped me understand and contextualize many of the issues I cover.
Jacobsen: How have the readership and submission demographics changed over the past decade?
Lyman: When I launched the website, finding content was actually quite difficult. I reached out to writers actively.
One of my earliest regular contributors was Benoit Coman in Australia. He became one of the website's most prolific contributors and has written thousands of articles for the publication. He writes extensively for a variety of outlets and has always been a strong writer.
Another early contributor was Daniel Wagner, who wrote extensively about risk management, financial risk, and related topics.
Publishing those writers helped attract other contributors. Someone would see that I had published a friend or colleague and then reach out to ask whether they could publish with us as well.
For roughly the past 7 years, I have not had to search for content actively. I have a somewhat unusual business model. Unfortunately, I am not able to compensate contributors financially. It is simply not a viable financial model for me at this stage.
I want to pay contributors eventually because they deserve to be compensated for their work. It would be my way of saying thank you.
One might assume that people would not want to submit articles without payment and would instead take their work elsewhere. That is a completely understandable position, and some writers have done exactly that.
Despite that challenge, however, I continue to receive new submissions every day. Even though I cannot compensate contributors, and, in many cases, cannot compensate myself either, the flow of new articles has remained remarkably consistent.
During the first five years that I ran the website, I would receive perhaps one article submission per day, sometimes two. Today, I receive roughly five submissions a day from writers around the world.
It is remarkable. The writing capabilities vary considerably. Some contributors are young Nigerian journalists just beginning their careers and learning the craft. They are sincere and promising writers, although their English may not be as strong as that of a writer in New York, Europe, or elsewhere. Quality varies, but I publish as much content as I can because someone took the time to write it.
I receive submissions from new writers in Nigeria, Botswana, South Africa, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and many other countries. At the same time, I also receive articles from highly accomplished writers around the world. It is difficult to predict how many submissions I will receive on any given day. Still, I can generally count on at least 2 or 3 new submissions.
Most of the material is already well written. In many cases, I only need to make minor edits, adjust a title, improve the structure, or correct punctuation. The vast majority of submissions require only light editorial work.
Jacobsen: How have you noticed the content changing over time? Earlier, you mentioned significant shifts in the political landscape, particularly in Europe. How has that affected the themes, emphases, and diversity of submissions you receive?
Lyman: I would put it this way: around 2016, I had several writers who were not necessarily devoted supporters of Donald Trump but were certainly sympathetic to aspects of his political philosophy. Initially, I published some of those pieces to offer a range of perspectives. The articles would argue that Trump might be right about a particular issue, at least from the author's point of view.
I did not necessarily agree with those arguments. Nevertheless, for much of the publication's history, I tried to publish content from across the political spectrum. Some writers were conservative, some were liberal, and others occupied positions somewhere in between.
The war in Ukraine opened what I would describe as a Pandora's box of submissions. Several writers advanced arguments sympathetic to the Kremlin's position on NATO enlargement and Russian security concerns. These were generally not extreme conspiracy theories involving biolabs or similar claims. Still, arguments suggested that Russia's actions should be understood through the lens of perceived strategic threats.
Over time, I became more selective about publishing material that I found poorly reasoned, factually unsupported, or morally objectionable. As a result, I began rejecting more submissions that attempted to justify Russia's invasion of Ukraine or relied on arguments that I considered intellectually weak.
I would also say that I publish less overtly ideological content than I once did. I still publish conservative writers, and I appreciate their contributions. Many of them are critical of Donald Trump and do not support him. They may be economic conservatives, social conservatives, or advocates of free markets, but they are generally thoughtful and serious writers.
My goal remains to publish writers from across the political spectrum. However, the content has gradually shifted toward the political center. Most of what I publish today is relatively moderate in tone and perspective. I still receive and occasionally publish material from both the left and the right. Still, I filter much more aggressively than I did in the early years.
For example, during the New York City mayoral race involving Zohran Mamdani, I received submissions that drew highly questionable comparisons and invoked the September 11 attacks in ways that I considered inappropriate and intellectually dishonest. I have little patience for those kinds of false equivalencies. Regardless of political orientation, I am not interested in publishing arguments that rely on sensationalism or weak reasoning.
When people write about Zohran Mamdani and try to connect him to the September 11 attacks, they often stretch to find a connection that isn't there. I think that is a poor argumentative position to take, and I have seen some conservative writers make those kinds of claims.
In general, I have turned down writers who submitted highly conservative pieces, only to see those same articles later published on far-right websites. I am perfectly comfortable with that. Over time, I have learned that even if I reject one or two articles, three or four new submissions will arrive shortly afterward. I am never lacking for content.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, John.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen is a blogger on Vocal with more than 200 publications on the platform. He is the Founder and Publisher of In-Sight Publishing (ISBN: 978–1–0692343; 978–1–0673505) and Editor-in-Chief of In-Sight: Interviews (ISSN: 2369–6885). He writes for International Policy Digest (ISSN: 2332–9416), The Humanist (Print: ISSN, 0018–7399; Online: ISSN, 2163–3576), Basic Income Earth Network (UK Registered Charity 1177066), Humanist Perspectives (ISSN: 1719–6337), A Further Inquiry (SubStack), Vocal, Medium, The Good Men Project, The New Enlightenment Project, The Washington Outsider, rabble.ca, and other media. His bibliography index can be found via the Jacobsen Bank at In-Sight Publishing, comprising more than 10,000 articles, interviews, and republications across more than 200 outlets. He has served in national and international leadership roles within humanist and media organizations, held several academic fellowships, and currently serves on several boards. He is a member in good standing in numerous media organizations, including the Canadian Association of Journalists, PEN Canada (CRA: 88916 2541 RR0001), Reporters Without Borders (SIREN: 343 684 221/SIRET: 343 684 221 00041/EIN: 20–0708028), and others.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen is the publisher of In-Sight Publishing (ISBN: 978-1-0692343) and Editor-in-Chief of In-Sight: Interviews (ISSN: 2369-6885). He is a member in good standing of numerous media organizations.
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