jorgelito

During the winter quarter, I was in Washington, DC, interning at the American Enterprise Institute, (AEI) through a special program at my school. The University has a satellite campus in DC as well so I still took classes and got full credits. My time there also culminated in a research project consisting of a thesis.

My choices for internships were:
1. The Brookings Institute
2. The Center for Strategic and International Studies
3. The American Enterprise Institute

The first 2 turned me down (apparently Brookings is very selective, they only take one or two from the entire applicant pool). I applied for the Middle East department but I don't have any Arabic or Hebrew skills. CSIS was poorly organized and the wrong dept contacted me (Health) for an interview. I was like, how did you get my resume?

Anyways, AEI was the last one to get back to me. It was late enough where I didn't get placed until I got to DC. I got accepted to the Asian Studies unit in the Foreign Policy & Defense dept. AEI is very well organized and very professional. I also like their research topics as well.

As you can see, my choices reflect my own 'spectrum' though I did not know that AEI was a "neocon" think tank at the time. What I really liked about the AEI was the level of work I was able to do - substantive research and writing that contributed to reports, papers, briefings, publications and essays. I worked on a total of 3 projects: China's Startegic Culture in the Post 9/11 Era, China's Role in Africa, The Rise of Islam in Latin America.

I also had the opportunity to go to the Library of Congress, attended Congressional hearings, and watched a Senate session (budget). AEI also frequently hosts alot of seminars, lectures, and talks and did a joint series with Brookings (left and right, together at last?). I saw Antonin Scalia speak at one. He was very articulate and informative. I was surprised cause I always thought he was a jerk (from tv etc). He might very well be a jerk but in this seminar he was very well spoken and civilized. He was talking about the role of international law on US law.

I even attended the annual dinner ($1000 a plate) at AEI with such guests as Dick Cheney, Newt Gringrich, Paul Wolfowitz, ambassadors, generals etc. It was awesome. A good experience. (I have a good story with this one).

I did not check Tfp as I was very busy, I figured I would do it when I came back. I think I may have pm'ed alansmithee around then but I can't remember (where is he?).

My time in DC and AEI was very valuable and instructive. I spent a lot of time at the memorials (Vietnam and Korea really got me). I loved the archives. I went up to Philly and Boston too. I saw where they signed the greatest document, the Declaration of Independence. I even toured the Sam Adams brewery.

Host, I will go more in depth about AEI, DC, and think tanks as topics warrant. I think this is a good introductory (I'm trying to keep length down). Feel free to prompt or start threads at will.

Thanks for listening.

Elphaba

Thank you so much! I hope you share every detail of your time in DC.

My first interest lies in the papers you researched and your experience within AEI and it's staff. Did the conservative nature of AEI in any way alter your focus in gathering relevant material? What "Aha" experiences did you have as a result of your research?

Also, how was the beer?

jorgelito

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.

stevo

Yuenling is good stuff. I like it from a can.

I love watching the symposia AEI put out, as you know, its some very interesting stuff.

__________________
"If I am such a genius why am I drunk, lost in the desert, with a bullet in my ass?" -Otto Mannkusser