Facing a determined recall effort by Democrats in his home state, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) defended his public-employee reforms as adjustments that ultimately protect the middle class.

2011 wrapped up with threats by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz and with the Islamic Republic as a key topic of debate on the campaign trail, as well as concerns over the capability of al Qaeda after the terror group lost its leader.

The euro is in trouble, and one needn't have looked any further than the regime shakeups of 2011 for proof: both Greece and Italy lost prime ministers over the fury of the economic crisis. How did Europe's debt crisis so bad?

On March 23, 2010, after a heated battle on the Hill, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law. In spring 2012, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether or not Obama's healthcare reform is constitutional.

AEI has covered the Iraq conflict from start to finish, as well as the longer war in Afghanistan in the face of a looming 2014 deadline for Afghan security forces to take over.

AEI stepped into new territory in 2011 when it co-hosted a Republican presidential debate, focused on foreign policy and national security, with CNN and the Heritage Foundation.

President Obama has made green jobs and alternative energy research and development a key fixture of his term. But are these efforts really the right course to stimulate job growth and increase America's energy independence?

All eyes were on AEI in April when House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) came to AEI to unveil his plan to cut more than $4 trillion from the federal deficit.