The mission of AAI is to build hope and empower communities afflicted by armed conflict and severe poverty. We believe that peace, security and respect for human dignity are inseparable. Our goal is to develop programs as sustainable models that can be replicated globally.
Our people-to-people initiatives integrate health, education, arts and livelihood as a basis for mediation. By building Hope, we overcome the hatred propagated by terror organizations. The success of these cost-effective models shows that empowering impoverished and conflict-plagued communities strengthens international security, stability and peace.
Ongoing AAI Initiatives
Conflict Resolution
Asia America Initiative is conducting a highly successful Development for Peace in Sulu Project in Muslim Mindanao in the Philippines. The program, under the authority of the Philippine President and local civic and religious leaders is a non-violent, community-based model for achieving peace on the frontline of international conflict.
Publications
Project in Muslim Mindanao in the Philippines. The program, under the authority of the Philippine President and local civic and religious leaders is a non-violent, community-based model for achieving peace on the frontline of international conflict.
AAI publications provide concise insight and comprehensive analysis on the integrated relationship between security, politics, social and economic issues that impact the Asia Pacific region. You will find links to articles featuring AAI, as well as recommended reading by AAI from respected sources. Included in our publications series are China In Focus and Asia In Focus which analyze developments in the People’s Republic of China and throughout Asia. Subscriptions to these publications are free of charge. In addition to its regular In Focus publications AAI also highlights readings on timely issues from respected sources.
Events
AAI particpates in a number of events dealing with security in the Pacific Rim. In July 2005, Director Al Santoli offered testimony at a U.S.-China Commission hearing on China’s Growing Global Influence.
Policy Analysis 
The AAI provides comprehensive strategic analysis to policy makers and the public through publications and participation in public forums. In May 2005, AAI Director Al Santoli participated in conferences on the strategic challenges posed by China hosted by the Hudson Institute and the International Assessment and Strategy Center.
Human Rights 
The AAI integrates human rights as a cornerstone of international security, participating in a number of campaigns to free prominent political dissidents. In 2005 the AAI nominated Dr. Nguyen Dan Que of Vietnam, currently incarcerated for promoting freedom of expression in Vietnam, for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Humanitarian Relief
In response to urgent crises throughout the Asia-Pacific region, AAI partners with other NGOs to provide humanitarian relief. The Humanitarian Relief program utilizes Asia America Initiative’s skill as a catalyst to organize international organizations to provide emergency assistance to natural disasters or areas plagued by violence. AAI has conducted such projects in Cambodia for flood relief; in Thailand-Burma border refugee camps to care for Burmese hill tribe orphans; in Sulu and Cotabato in Muslim Mindanao, Philippines to provide medical and nutritional assistance to victims of war; and most recently, in collaboration with the US-based Muslim Women’s Coalition and the Pakistan Red Crescent Society and the Disaster Relief Center in Abbotobad, Pakistan to provide medical care to earthquake victims.
Hosting Asian Policy Experts
The AAI has hosted a number of forums which have included security and political officials and experts from Japan, Korea, Nepal, the Philippines, Canada and India (such as K.P.S. Gill, President of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi.)
More About AAI
AAI operations are rooted in the belief that international security and the defense of human rights are inseparable. Therefore, victory over terrorist movements requires the foresight to provide humanitarian assistance in at-risk, impoverished communities. As a catalyst for policy innovation, AAI’s field programs deliver direct aid to populations targeted by terrorist recruitment. In the Philippines, AAI is networking private U.S. humanitarian and educational organizations with local NGOs to support the peace process in Muslim Mindanao. These efforts are intended to enhance the quality of life, reinforce opportunities for women, offer alternatives to conflict and to deny militant networks the ability to recruit. The Initiative is in the process of expanding these grassroots programs into other key communities across the region.
Through its analytical writing and “In Focus” publications, AAI presents a coherent and comprehensive strategic view of the vast Asia-Pacific region, which extends from the Silk Road to the West Coast of the United States. AAI seeks to find common ground among this vast mosaic of terrain and cultures by cultivating cooperative and mutually beneficial long-term relationships between the United States and Asian neighbors by hosting forums with prominent Asian and American policy experts. In addition, AAI provides timely and insightful information to policy makers and the public on emerging transnational security trends.
AAI was founded by Al Santoli, a best-selling author, a nominee for both the Pulitzer Prize and American Book Award for History, and editor of the weekly China In-Focus and Asia In Focus. Over three decades – as a historian, journalist, soldier, national security advisor in the U.S. Congress, human rights monitor, and as a foreign policy expert – Mr. Santoli has directly participated in seeking solutions to some of the most dramatic and complex events that have shaped U.S.-Asian relations.
