Think tank Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Think tank - Assignment Example Rather, they are ideas generated on college campuses, in think tanks and in other research organizations around the country (Wiarda 55). This essay is going to draw comparison between the Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS), Rand Organization and American Enterprise Institute (AEI) think tanks, explore how they function, and finally how these think tanks influence the US foreign policy. Think tanks vary enormously in terms of size, staff, and institutional resources, but they all rely to a certain extent on both public and private channels to exercise policy influence (Wiarda 63). Of the more than 2,000 think tanks in the USA, close to 25percent of these are considered as independent or free standing whereby vast majority are affiliated with university departments. The Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) is a popular American think tank that is based in Washington DC in the United States of America and it primary role is to conduct policy studies and strategic analyses on economic development and reconstruction, political and security issues, Global Health as well as climate change and energy (Arin 40). It also focuses on Human Rights, Technology, and Trade and Economics as well as Global Trends and Forecasting throughout the world. Nonetheless, CSIS pays special focus on issues concerning trade, international relations, energy, technology, finance as well as geostrategic. According to a report that was released by the University of Pennsylvania in 2013 entitled â€Å"Global Go To Think Tanks Report†, CSIS is the best think tank internationally for international affairs and security. It was also placed as the fourth best think tank globally and it has been termed occasionally as â€Å"one of the most respected of Washington’s think tanks† (Arin 39). CSIS invites well-known foreign policy and public service officials and from the US Congress and the executive branch inclusive of

The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous Assignment

The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous - Assignment Example As I entered the place, I found people sitting and standing randomly. I grabbed a chair near the window and saw people; some saying hello, some stopping, and some just keeping to themselves. The meeting commenced at the chairperson read the Preamble, and led the prayer. Different members read the brief literature of AA afterward. In this Step Meeting of 10 minutes, I sat and listened to the â€Å"steps†. My curiosity about the AA thing was increasing. The Chairperson declared the step that would be discussed. I was so surprised to see that the attendants of the meeting were unashamed apparently that I cannot really recall what step that was. After reading the step chapter from Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, the attendants were asked if they had any previous experience related to the step and if any of them would take that as an opportunity to share it with others.   The most interesting part of the whole meeting was to watch others narrate their personal experiences and struggles with alcohol and drawing their relation with the step under discussion. People started talking during the meeting. They started off by telling their name and status as alcoholics to each other. One after another, every attendant stood up, said his name, narrated his story, received audience’s applauds and settled down. â€Å"In the simplest form, the AA program operates when a recovered alcoholic passes along the story of his or her own problem drinking, describes the sobriety he or she has found in AA and invites the newcomer to join the informal Fellowship† (alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk, 2014).   Of all the different sorts of manifestations, I found that the most prominent causes of alcohol dependency were sociological and psychological.