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Defense
U.S. security and defense policy depends on an effectively structured military and a robust cooperation program with allies and partners. Thomas Donnelly and Frederick W. Kagan have launched a major initiative of conferences, working groups, and publications to evaluate and offer recommendations about the present organization and future orientation of America’s land forces. Their recent book, Ground Truth: The Future of U.S. Land Power, details the proper size, structure, and missions of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. Stemming from questions raised by this project, Messrs. Donnelly and Kagan have commissioned six new essays on land power in irregular warfare for a second volume, which will be released early this year. Also in 2009, Mr. Donnelly and Gary J. Schmitt will publish a monograph on the future of NATO and the defense policies of key U.S. allies in Europe, as revealed by the alliance’s continuing mission in Afghanistan. Mr. Donnelly and Mauro De Lorenzo are studying security issues in Africa and have formed a working group to define U.S. strategic interests in Africa and identify the best means of U.S. security engagement on the continent.
Program on Advanced Strategic Studies
Since 9/11, the United States has adopted an ambitious grand security strategy that, to be successful, will require sufficient resources, effective institutions at home, robust alliances abroad, and policies that leverage America’s competitive advantages to exploit our adversaries’ weaknesses. Gary J. Schmitt leads a program that analyzes the long-term issues that will impact America’s security and its ability to lead internationally. The program publishes articles and op-eds and conducts regular conferences and seminars on topics including the state of transatlantic relations, the security structures necessary for addressing the "rise of China," and the impact of recent reforms on the U.S. intelligence community. This year, Mr. Schmitt will publish an edited volume of collected essays on China’s growing military and economic strength, featuring contributions from a number of AEI scholars and premiere international security analysts. Mr. Schmitt and Dan Blumenthal recently launched a project to identify opportunities for enhanced strategic and defense industrial cooperation between Taiwan and the United States. Additionally, Mr. Schmitt is working on a new book, Safety and Liberty, to be released this year, that will compare the domestic counterterrorism policies of key democratic allies in Europe—the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, and France—with those of the United States.
Middle East Studies
AEI’s Middle East Studies Program examines the key political, economic, and social developments in the region and, more broadly, the prospects and challenges of democratic reform. Encompassing the work of Jeffrey Azarva, John R. Bolton, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Frederick W. Kagan, Danielle Pletka, Richard Perle, Michael Rubin, and AEI’s two most recent scholarly appointments, Ali Alfoneh and Hassan Mneimneh, the program covers U.S. strategy in the Middle East and issues such as Islamic radicalism, democracy promotion, Iraqi reconstruction, Iran’s nuclear intransigence, U.S.-Turkish relations, the stability of Pakistan, and the growth and influence of opposition groups throughout the area. In February, AEI published Iranian Influence in the Levant, Iraq, and Afghanistan, a report in which Ms. Pletka, Mr. Kagan, and Kimberly Kagan underscore the danger of Iranian activism and American passivism. Additionally, Ms. Pletka has hosted several public conferences on Iran to provide in-depth analysis of the Islamic Republic’s increasingly aggressive regime. Ambassador Bolton’s articles in the Wall Street Journal offer strategies for preventing a nuclear Iran, and Mr. Alfoneh has made Iran the focus of several recent AEI Middle Eastern Outlooks (translated into Arabic, Farsi, Kurdish, or Turkish, depending on the topic). AEI’s bilingual daily Iran News Round Up has been cited by experts as a "must read." Upcoming books include Mr. Rubin’s Talking to the Enemy: The Promise and Peril of Engagement; Reuel Gerecht’s Vox Populi Vox Allah; and Shortcut to Enlightenment, by Ms. Hirsi Ali.
Asian Studies
AEI’s Asian Studies Program includes the work of foreign policy and defense specialists Dan Blumenthal, John R. Bolton, Thomas Donnelly, Nicholas Eberstadt, Gary J. Schmitt, and our scholar in Japanese studies, Michael Auslin, as well as economists Claude Barfield, Kevin A. Hassett, Philip I. Levy, and John H. Makin. The program looks beyond traditional questions and explores the prospects and uncertainties of the region. Current research focuses on the rise of China as an economic and political power; Taiwan’s security and economic agenda; Japan’s military transformation; the threat of a nuclear North Korea; and the impact of regional alliances and rivalries on U.S. military and economic relationships in Asia. The program also publishes the periodic Asian Outlook; recent issues have addressed strategies for promoting democracy and liberalism in developing Asian countries; the need for trilateralism between the United States, South Korea, and Japan; and the role of human rights in America’s approach to China. Mr. Schmitt is editing an essay collection entitled Rising China: Implications for Long-Term U.S. Policy, which will be published by Encounter this year.
Latin American Studies
Roger F. Noriega studies the Western Hemisphere, the region with the fastest-growing trade partners for the United States and one that is critical to U.S. security and energy concerns. Ambassador Noriega writes AEI’s Latin American Outlook (published both in English and Spanish and circulated throughout the region) and conducts regular public and private sessions on key regional issues, including democracy and the rule of law, poverty, energy policy, free trade and foreign aid, and U.S.–Latin American relations. In September 2008, Ambassador Noriega hosted a conference entitled "The Perils of Populism: Hot Spots in Latin America." A number of Latin American countries have recently moved to the political left, and have subsequently embraced policies to oppose the United States. Marisol Argueta, the foreign minister of El Salvador—a key regional ally of the United States—explained the pressures driving these countries and what the United States can do to reverse the trend. Ambassador Noriega has also provided analysis of recent events in Cuba; his March Outlook discusses this critical time in Cuba’s history. Two months later, former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo addressed the same topic while speaking at AEI.
Russian Studies
After years of progress toward liberal democracy, capitalism, and international cooperation, Russia once again poses strategic challenges for the West, as made evident by the recent Georgian conflict. In his article, "What Is To Be Done?" Frederick W. Kagan asserted that the United States did too little to help its Georgian ally. Mauro De Lorenzo and Gary J. Schmitt also discussed the conflict in articles and op-eds. These articles supplemented the conference hosted by Leon Aron and Mr. Kagan at the beginning of the conflict. In addition to providing insight on Russia’s August incursion, Mr. Aron analyzes Russia’s key social, political, and economic trends. At his most recent public conference, "Russia's Economic Crisis: How Deep? How Wide? How Lethal?" Mr. Aron pointed to a number of the structural deficiencies in the Russian economy. He also writes AEI’s quarterly Russian Outlook—his most recent edition examines what the Georgian invasion tells us about the character and priorities of the Kremlin regime—and comments regularly on U.S.-Russian relations for international media outlets. Mr. Aron's latest book, Russia’s Revolution: Essays 1989–2006, published in April 2007, features a collection of his essays on recent developments in Russia. He is now working on Roads to the Temple: Ideas and Ideals in the Making of the Russian Revolution, 1987–1991, which will examine how publicly expressed visions of a just and moral society inspired and shaped the revolt against the Soviet Communist regime.
Development Studies
AEI’s research on international development comprises the work of nearly a dozen scholars, including Roger Bate, Mauro De Lorenzo, Adam Lerrick, Philip I. Levy, Allan H. Meltzer, and Paul Wolfowitz. AEI’s development program monitors and assesses U.S. and international economic development agencies, such as USAID, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and regional development banks. The program encourages greater organizational effectiveness and explores the intersection of development policy, entrepreneurship, democracy promotion, public health, and security. Current projects include Mr. Bate’s efforts to analyze the health and economic consequences of substandard and counterfeit drugs in developing countries. His most recent book, Making a Killing: The Deadly Implications of the Counterfeit Drug Trade, addresses this topic. Mr. De Lorenzo is working on a project to move U.S. development policy toward enhancing the business competitiveness of developing countries, rather than funding and managing their social spending. AEI also publishes a regular Development Policy Outlook essay series.
National Sovereignty and Global Governance
How the United States, Europe, and other regions in the world approach ventures in global governance has profound implications on national sovereignty and the strength of international institutions. Together, Claude Barfield, Mauro De Lorenzo, and John Yoo address topics such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, terrorism and the laws of war, and the growing influence of formal and informal international law. Mr. Yoo recently published a book chapter on the tension between national law, international law, and civil liberties in the war against terrorism. John R. Bolton, former U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, joined AEI in January 2007 as a senior fellow, further bolstering this already robust program of study. His New York Times–bestselling book, Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations and Abroad, published by Simon and Schuster in November 2007, provides a look at the United Nations and the international policymaking process. AEI also cosponsors Global Governance Watch, a web-based resource that addresses issues of transparency and accountability in the United Nations, NGOs, and related international organizations (www.globalgovernancewatch.org).
Other sections of AEI's current research highlights:
