Our Scholars
AEI scholars are committed to making the intellectual, moral, and practical case for expanding freedom, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening the free enterprise system in America and around the world. Our work explores ideas that further these goals, and AEI scholars take part in this pursuit with academic freedom. AEI operates independently of any political party and has no institutional positions. Our scholars’ conclusions are fueled by rigorous, data-driven research and broad-ranging evidence.
Find a scholar by policy area:
Senior Fellow Emeritus
Leon Aron
Research Areas
- Russian domestic politics
- Russian foreign policy
- US-Russian relations
- Post-Soviet evolution: social
- cultural
- and economic aspects
Jeane Kirkpatrick Fellow
Kyle Balzer
Research Areas
- Great-power competition
- US grand strategy
- Long-term strategic competition
- US nuclear strategy and policy
- Arms control
Nonresident Senior Fellow
Michael Beckley
Research Areas
- US-China relations
- US-China competition
- American grand strategy
- US defense policy
- US alliances
- US-Asia relations
- China
Senior Fellow
Hal Brands
Research Areas
- US defense strategy and policy
- US grand strategy
- US foreign policy
Jeane Kirkpatrick Visiting Fellow
Yvonne Chiu
Research Areas
- Indo-Pacific policy and strategy
- Defense strategy
- Authoritarianism
- Just-war theory
- Global justice
Nonresident Senior Fellow
Heather A. Conley
Research Areas
- Transatlantic security
- US foreign policy
- Arctic security
Senior Fellow
Zack Cooper
Research Areas
- US strategy in Asia
- Alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific
- US-China strategic competition
- Defense strategy during power shifts
Senior Fellow
Sadanand Dhume
Research Areas
- India and Pakistan
- South Asian political economy
- South Asian business
- South Asian security
- Radical Islam in South and Southeast Asia
Senior Fellow Emeritus
Giselle Donnelly
Research Areas
- National security
- Military strategy
- operations
- and programs
- Defense budgets
- American strategic culture
Nonresident Senior Fellow
Colin Dueck
Research Areas
- Political influences on US national security strategies
Senior Fellow
Mackenzie Eaglen
Research Areas
- Defense strategy
- Defense budgets
- Military readiness
- US military
Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy
Nicholas Eberstadt
Research Areas
- Demographics
- Economic development policy
- Poverty
- The unemployed
- International security in Asia
- North and South Korea
- Global health
- Foreign aid
Fellow
Ryan Fedasiuk
Research Areas
- US-China relations
- Artificial intelligence
- Open-source intelligence
- Semiconductors
- Robotics
- Batteries
Nonresident Senior Fellow
John G. Ferrari
Research Areas
- Defense budget
- US military
- Data analytics and defense
- Defense reform and acquisition
- Security force assistance programs
Nonresident Senior Fellow
Aaron Friedberg
Research Areas
- China
- US-China relations
- Great-power competition
- US foreign and defense policy
Senior Fellow
William C. Greenwalt
Research Areas
- Defense industrial base
- Defense management issues
- Defense acquisition & procurement reform
- Export control reform
- Defense technology policy & innovation
Senior Fellow
Todd Harrison
Research Areas
- Defense Budget
- Defense Analysis
- Defense Strategy
- Space Policy and Security
- Defense Acquisitions and Industrial Base
Senior Fellow and Director of the Critical Threats Project
Frederick W. Kagan
Research Areas
- Defense and national security issues
- American military
- Afghanistan
- Iraq
Nonresident Senior Fellow
Klon Kitchen
Research Areas
- National security and defense technology
- Defense innovation
- Cybersecurity
- Artificial intelligence
- Quantum sciences
- Robotics
Senior Fellow
Paul Lettow
Research Areas
- US grand strategy
- US foreign policy
- US-China strategic competition
Nonresident Fellow
John D. Maurer
Research Areas
- Arms control
- Nuclear weapons
- National security process
- US diplomatic history
- US Grand strategy