During my summer in London with Intern Exchange International, I had the pleasure and privilege of interning at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. IISS, one of the three big international relations and defense policy institutions in London, has multiple publications and a large number of researchers. It has managed to attract a number of prominent people from around the world.

As an Intern, I worked in the library, helped with daily tasks and was given virtually free reign to go through its enormous catalogue of materials. I thought I had a good idea of what were good sources of information before coming here, but it turns out I’d only scratched the surface!

Due to its incredible reputation, the institute attracts eminent speakers. In just one week, I heard a U.S. Army Colonel who works with General Petraeus in Iraq discuss a path forward; the owner of Pakistan’s leading private news company offer his thoughts and condemnations of Perue Musharraf’s government; and Czech Foreign Minister Benazir Bhutto discuss and lament the direction in which her country was going.

Add to this the kindness of my co-workers, who worked constantly to make sure that I was happy and fulfilling my goals for the internship, and it’s clear that this month was a wonderful and illuminating experience.

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