mako06

I would appreciate any input on this especially from veteran professors who have seen the disciplines move through their various stages. I am a Marine officer in a terminal MA security studies program. I will graduate in June and retire from the military this summer or fall. I desire to enter a PhD program (probably 2012) with IR/security studies/"grand strategy" (a hate how pretentious "grand strategy" sounds btw) as my research focus. Upon graduation, I desire to work for a think tank (RAND, CSIS, Brookings, etc), the USGOV, or in academia, in no particular order.

Having done a ton of research on PhD programs (polisci and PP) and leading scholars in those programs, my question is which PhD program, polisci or PP, is more appropriate for what I want to do? I know some polisci programs have a security studies/strategy focus: MIT, Georgetown, Chicago somewhat, Yale but more so in History. Then there are a few unusual programs: SAIS with Prof. Eliot Cohen and RAND grad school. The there are all the PP programs many of which have a security track option.

I have looked at the curriculums and courses in most if not all of these, and am leaning towards a PP PhD program. I just wanted to get the input of the gradcafe crowd.

Let's just assume for the moment that I am a competitive candidate for the top programs. Is it better to go to Chicago and study with Mearsheimer and Pape, et al., a polisci program with a security focus like MIT/Georgetown, or a top PP program?

Thanks...