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A couple of things here:
1. AEI is definitely NOT non-partisan (there's nothing wrong with that in my opinion as long as it is honest). I was very uncomfortable for the first couple of weeks only because I am more accustomed to a diverse environment. But also, AEI was a bit far to the right (as far as I could tell). Especially since I was working in Foreign Policy and Defense. It was hawkish and very specific in its objectives.
I really liked working with the people as they were very organized, sharp, and straight up and I found the area of research to be very interesting. The staff was awesome and I learned alot.
2. The research I did were:
a). "Chinese Strategic Culture in the Post 9-11, Post Iraq Era"
This encompassed assessing what the Chinese miltary, strategists, leadership, and scholars thought or felt after 9-11 (in regards to the US, their role in the world etc). I looked up Ministry statements, policies, doctirnes, diplomatic papers, white papers, and the PLA (People's Liberation Army) media. I got stuck for awhile and bogged down with reading alot of US think tank and American scholarly papers. The problem with that is, it only tells us what we think they think. My big breakthrough came when I decided to look up Chinese think tanks and bingo, I hit the motherload. Loads of stuff there to go through.
b). "China's Role in Africa"
This project looked at Chinese interests in Africa and possible areas of conflict with US interests. This was a fascinating one for me. It really illustrated how oil (energy) has driven IR (international relations) and how there are domino effects. EX: China's presence includes military assistance to African nations (some rogue states etc), in some cases, close to US personnel (Liberia). One bad night at a bar between US and Chinese marines could be disastrous. Others include Chinese companies (oil) presence in Africa (in competition with US companies) and in zones of conflict where the US may have interest (Sudan, Chad etc). Stuff like that (we can open up other threads to discuss these topics).
What is important about this is one can make a good case that by denying CNOOK the chance to buy a US company, they are forced to look elsewhere, such as Africa and Iran, into collaborations with actors we may not want them to. China is critical to the US: we need their vote in the UN for example and cooperation in international activity such as the current Iran crisis. Thus conflicts of intersts create problems for us (I am generalizing here I know).
c). "The Rise of Islam in Latin America"
This was an interesting project as it came out of left field for me. I had no idea what i was researching for a while (population statistics ans immigration/emigration patterns). For example, there is a growing number of Muslim converts in Latin America to Wahabism a rather extreme form of Islam. There is evidence that the Saudis are sponsoring this. They target disenfranchised Catholics - that is, minorities, brown or mestizos that are ill-treated by lighter skin Latinos. They are also linked to Zapatistas and other movements as well. Stuff like that. The implication is that our southern border is extremely porous and that there could be an emerging threat from the south.
Finally, my own research project that I did for school was:
"Stemming Nuclear Weapons Proliferation - Lessons form the Past"
It was about the need for an acute shift in strategic architecture in our defense policy regarding the nuclear threat and WMD proliferation. I can post an abstract if anyone is actually interested.
The beer? Actually, I liked the beer. My favorite draft was Yuenling. I think it is a Pennsylvanian beer, maybe roachboy is familiar with it. Anyways, I found it interesting cause the name sounded Asian. when I went to Philly, I went to City Tavern, where Franklin, Jefferson and the other big-ballers use ot hang out. They even had beer brewed from recipes by Jefferson, Washinton, and Franklin. Damn, now I'm thirsty.
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