Hello To My New Internship

According to dictionary.com a think tank is a research institute or organization employed to solve complex problems or predict or plan future developments, as in military, political, or social areas. Some think tanks such as The Heritage Foundation have an extremely partisan viewpoint, however The Center For Strategic and International Studies is a bipartisan think tank that specializes in foreign policy. Due to the fact that CSIS is a bipartisan think tank, third parties do not have a say in what their scholars do.

Government has become increasingly complex and there is a void in policy work. The people who would be best at creating policy are too busy to go in depth and study policy. So think tanks like CSIS are used as a resource to do research and formulate policy. As a result of third parties developing research and policy, the government and specific industries have formed a close bond and influence each other. For example, President Barack Obama used 28 out of 33 recommendations that were put forth by CSIS for the federal government’s cybersecurity policy.

One particular program that stood out to me was Smart Global Health. CSIS’s Global Health Policy Center established the Commission on Smart Global Health Policy. This Commission, which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, brings together leaders from both the public and private sector and helps to bridge the gap that exists between them.

The Commission helps to put global health concerns like AIDS and malaria into the forefront. There is a strong emphasis on the prevention of these diseases as well as a focus on women and children’s health worldwide. This group of leaders helps to provide a set of recommendations that can be used in solving some of the global health problems.

Overall, I learned a tremendous amount of information about think tanks and how policy decisions are made. While we touched on the direct relationship that CSIS has with policy makers, I would have liked to ask some more questions. However, I will have plenty of time to learn about it in a couple weeks when I start my internship.