This summer I interned with The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD)’ Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP). FDD is a non-partisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy. As a research intern, I provided research for a number of projects and developed memos on relevant current events. Due to the nature of the current security environment, most of the work I performed was related to the war in Ukraine or the Middle East, with some assignments looking at the Indo-Pacific and the U.S. defense industry. My experience gave me a better understanding of the policy research world and greatly broadened my knowledge of U.S. defense issues. In addition to my work, I had the opportunity to engage with a great team with diverse backgrounds. Overall I really enjoyed my summer in D.C. and was able to learn a lot about U.S. defense policy.