Over fifty years ago, MIT founded the Center for International Studies "to conduct research to help the United States in its cold war struggle against the Soviet Union." It goes without saying that they have expanded their mission far in subsequent years, and they are now also interested in researching and teaching development studies, comparative politics, and other related areas. Visitors can learn about their work in the "About" area, which includes information on funding opportunities, their internal working groups, and a staff directory. Moving along, the "Programs" area contains links to their thematic areas of interest, which include international migration, human rights, and security studies. The "Publications" area is a real delight, and visitors should immediately click over to the "Audits of the Conventional Wisdom" area. Here, they will find a wide ranging series of essays that address particularly well-accepted ideas, and in doing so, hold them up to close scrutiny. No topic is spared from cutting and insightful criticisms, and some of the titles include "Who Needs the U.N?", "Sudan at the Crossroads", and "The Bush Administration is Weak on Terror".