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_(53820665676).jpg) Headquarters inDupont Circle inWashington, D.C. | |
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| Abbreviation | CSIS |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1962; 63 years ago (1962) |
| Type | Foreign policythink tank |
| 52-1501082[1] | |
| Legal status | 501(c)(3)nonprofit organization[2] |
| Headquarters | 1616Rhode Island AvenueNW |
| Location |
|
| Coordinates | 38°54′07″N77°02′31″W / 38.90194°N 77.04194°W /38.90194; -77.04194 |
| John J. Hamre[3] | |
| Thomas J. Pritzker[4] | |
| Affiliations | Georgetown University (1962–1987) |
| Revenue | $43,431,720[1] (2014) |
| Expenses | $38,935,803[1] (2014) |
| Endowment | $12,522,632[1] |
| Employees | 354[1] (2014) |
| Volunteers | 274[1] (2014) |
| Website | www |
TheCenter for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an Americanthink tank based inWashington, D.C.[5] From its founding in 1962 until 1987, it was an affiliate ofGeorgetown University, initially named theCenter for Strategic and International Studies of Georgetown University. The center conducts policy studies and strategic analyses of political, economic and security issues throughout the world, with a focus on issues concerninginternational relations, trade, technology, finance, energy andgeostrategy.[6]
Since its founding, CSIS "has been dedicated to finding ways to sustain American prominence and prosperity as a force for good in the world", according to its website.[7] CSIS is officially abipartisan think tank with scholars that represent varying points of view across thepolitical spectrum. It is known for inviting well-knownforeign policy and public service officials from theU.S. Congress and theexecutive branch, including those affiliated with either theDemocratic or theRepublican Party as well as foreign officials of varying political backgrounds. It has been labeled a "centrist" think tank byU.S. News & World Report.[8]
The center hosts the Statesmen's Forum, a bipartisan venue for international leaders to present their views. Past speakers have includedUnited Nations Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon andNational Security AdvisorTom Donilon.[9] The center also conducts the CSIS-Schieffer School Dialogues, a series of multiple discussions hosted byBob Schieffer ofCBS News, and the Global Security Forum, which has featured keynote addresses byDefense Department officials, including formerSecretary of DefenseChuck Hagel.[10]
The center was founded in 1962[11] byArleigh Burke andDavid Manker Abshire.[12] It originally was part ofGeorgetown University. It officially opened its doors on September 4, shortly before theCuban Missile Crisis. The original office was located one block away from Georgetown's campus in a small brick townhouse located at 1316 36th Street. The first professional staff member hired wasRichard V. Allen who later served in theReagan administration.[13]
At a conference held in the Hall of Nations at Georgetown University in January 1963,[14] the center developed its blueprint for its intellectual agenda. The book that emerged from the conference,National Security: Political, Military and Economic Strategies in the Decade Ahead, was more than one thousand pages long.[15] The book set out a framework for discussing national security and defined areas of agreement and disagreement within the Washington foreign policy community during theCold War. The book argued for a strategic perspective on global affairs and also defined a school of thought withininternational relations studies for that period. The practitioners of this school of thought subsequently made their way to the pinnacles of U.S. policymaking, particularly during the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations.[16]
By the mid to late 1970s, many scholars who worked at the center had found their way to senior positions in government in theDepartment of State or Department of Defense. WhenHenry Kissinger retired from his position asU.S. Secretary of State in 1977,[17]Harvard University declined to offer him a professorship. He decided to teach part-time atGeorgetown University'sEdmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service[18] and to make CSIS the base for his Washington operations, over offers to teach atYale,Penn,Columbia, andOxford.[19] Kissinger's decision to become affiliated with the Washington-based institution attracted more public attention for the center than virtually any event in the preceding fifteen years.[20]
Following Kissinger's involvement, other cabinet-level officials, includingJames Schlesinger,Bill Brock,William J. Crowe, andHarold Brown, joined CSIS in the late 1970s. WhenZbigniew Brzezinski joined the center in 1981 after the end of theCarter administration, he worked on issues related to theSoviet Union andPoland's transition to a market economy. The arrangements for these senior government officials allowed them to write, lecture, and consult with media and business firms, and are typical of the way CSIS can incorporate high-level policymakers when they leave government.[21] During the 1970s and 1980s, a myriad of think tanks either expanded operations or emerged in Washington, D.C., representing a range of ideological positions and specialized policy interests.[22]
In 1986, severalGeorgetown University professors criticized CSIS staff members for giving academically unsupported assessments of foreign policy issues during public interviews.[23] Donations to Georgetown University decreased because of its association with CSIS.[citation needed] A special committee studied the friction, and its report stated that CSIS was more focused on the media than to scholarly research and recommended that CSIS be formally separated from Georgetown University.[23] On October, 17, 1986, Georgetown University'sboard of directors voted to sever all ties with CSIS.[23]
The Center for Strategic and International Studies was incorporated inWashington, D.C. on December 29, 1986,[24] and the formal affiliation between Georgetown and CSIS ended on July 1, 1987.
The center became an incorporatednonprofit organization to raise its endowment and expand its programs to focus on emerging regions of the world. The work of the trustees and counselors with the center after thedissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1980s left CSIS in a unique position to develop the nation's foreign policy with the United States as the world's solesuperpower. It signified a degree of institutional maturation and prestige that the founders had not imagined when they founded the center in the early 1960s.[25]
After the end of theCold War, there emerged a suspicion in Washington that the United States was not as well equipped as it ought to be to compete in the international economy. This outlook drove CSIS to set up a project in early 1990 that, to some, seemed removed from traditional strategic and international concerns.[26] The idea that America should focus on its problems at home to strengthen its role abroad evolved into the Commission on the Strengthening of America, chaired bySenatorSam Nunn and SenatorPete Domenici.
David Abshire saw the commission as a way to examine and improve upon economic policy, coming to the conclusion that the White House should reorganize theExecutive Office of the President to include aNational Economic Council with a national economic adviser on the model of theNational Security Council.[27] This new focus on economic policy led CSIS to increase its research focus oninternational economics and issues concerning theNorth American Free Trade Agreement, theWorld Trade Organization, theInternational Monetary Fund, theWorld Bank as well asglobal health and theenvironmental and societal effects ofclimate change. These issues merged into CSIS's mission to complement its traditional focus oninternational security issues. Up to the present day, CSIS has been dedicated to finding ways to sustain American prominence and prosperity as a force for good in the world, according to the CSIS website.[7]
In 2013, CSIS moved from itsK Street headquarters to a new location onRhode Island Avenue in Washington, D.C. The new building cost $100 million to build and has a studio for media interviews and room to host conferences, events, lectures and discussions. The building is located in Washington, D.C.'sDupont Circle neighborhood and will earnLEED Platinum Certification.[28][29][30]
In 2015,H. Andrew Schwartz, a senior vice president at CSIS, was quoted describing the organization's "number one goal" as "hav[ing] impact on policy."[31] Defending the organization from claims that it had inappropriately engaged in lobbying on behalf of U.S. defense contractors, CEO John Hamre was quoted in 2016 as saying, "We strongly believe in our model of seeking solutions to some of our country's most difficult problems.... We gather stakeholders, vet ideas, find areas of agreement and highlight areas of disagreement."[29]
In 2024, the Center was designated as an "undesirable organization" in Russia.[32]
For fiscal year 2013, CSIS had an operating revenue of US$32.3 million. The sources were 32% corporate, 29% foundation, 19% government, 9% individuals, 5% endowment, and 6% other. CSIS had operating expenses of $32.2 million for 2013—78% for programs, 16% for administration, and 6% for development.[33]
In September 2014,The New York Times reported that theUnited Arab Emirates had donated a sum greater than $1 million to the organization. Additionally, CSIS has received an undisclosed amount of funding fromJapan through the government-fundedJapan External Trade Organization, as well as fromNorway. After being contacted by theTimes, CSIS released a list of foreign state donors, listing 13 governments including those ofGermany andChina.[34] The Center for Strategic and International Studies CSIS lists major funding from defense contractors such asNorthrop Grumman,Lockheed Martin,Boeing,General Dynamics,Raytheon Company andGeneral Atomics.[35]
Significant funding has come from the governments of the United States, Japan,Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates.[36]
CSIS undertakes numerous programs and projects each with its own unique missions and interests. The Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group, for instance,[37] provides research into the defense industry on behalf of government and corporate customers. TheGlobal Health Policy Center[38] focuses on U.S. engagements inHIV,tuberculosis,malaria,polio, and other high priorities, especially their intersection with U.S. national security interests.[citation needed]
CSIS has often provided a platform for high-profile figures to make important statements about international relations issues. For example, in September 2019, former National Security AdvisorJohn Bolton delivered his first speech since leaving office at CSIS, and used the opportunity to be highly critical of US policy towardsNorth Korea.[39]
In 2012, CSIS hosted U.S. Secretary of StateHillary Clinton as she delivered a keynote address on "U.S. Strategic Engagement with North Africa in an Era of Change," that addressed the security of embassies in the wake of the2012 Benghazi attack.[40]
CSIS hosts more than 350 students and professionals every year for variety of seminars and programming.[41] CSIS also offers a master program in international relations in collaboration with theMaxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs atSyracuse University.[42][43]
TheProject on Nuclear Issues (PONI) is a program hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) to advance the public debate about the future rolenuclear technology will play on the world stage. Created in 2003 with support from a few government agencies and private donations, PONI has two stated goals. First, it seeks to "build and sustain a networked community of young nuclear experts from the military, the national laboratories, industry, academia, and the policy community." Second, "[work] to contribute to the debate and leadership on nuclear issues by generating new ideas and discussions among both its members and the public-at-large."[44]
Regarding its philosophy, the PONI public website states:
"Perhaps the most critical challenge in sustaining the US nuclear deterrent after the end of the Cold War is maintaining the human infrastructure necessary to support US nuclear capabilities. This is especially true as the human infrastructure necessary to support a nuclear stockpile at the envisioned level of 1700-2200 operational warheads is not appreciably smaller than that necessary to support one at current levels. The challenge is therefore to maintain a smaller, but still vibrant, community of nuclear experts."[44]
Clark A. Murdock started PONI when it was widely recognized that the nuclear community faced an impending crisis. With the widespread and rapid retirement ofnuclear scientists and experts from the national laboratories, private industry, and the government. His studyRevitalizing the U.S. Nuclear Deterrent, co-authored withMichèle Flournoy, documented these concerns with shocking clarity. Clark initiated PONI out of concern about the future leadership and expertise of the nuclear community.[45]
CSIS publishes books, reports, newsletters, and commentaries targeted at decision makers in policy, government, business, and academia. Primarily it publishes the work of its experts in a specific topic or area of focus in global affairs, including:
CSIS scholars have published op-eds inThe New York Times,[47]The Wall Street Journal,[48]The Financial Times,[49]Foreign Policy,Foreign Affairs andThe Washington Post. CSIS experts were quoted or cited thousands of times by the print and online press and appeared frequently in major newswires like theAssociated Press,Reuters,Agence France Presse andBloomberg News. They have also appeared in online media such asThe Huffington Post[50] andSummit News,[51]WSJ Live and were regular guests on thePBS NewsHour,NPR'sMorning Edition and other policy-focused interview shows such as theCharlie Rose Show.[9]
CSIS also has its ownYouTube channel,[52] which regularly posts short videos and infographics about the think tank's work.[citation needed]
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The chairman of the board of trustees as of 2018[update],Thomas Pritzker, is also chairman and chief executive officer of The Pritzker Organization.[53] He is also executive chairman ofHyatt Hotels Corporation and serves on the board of directors ofRoyal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.[54] FormerU.S. Deputy Secretary of DefenseJohn J. Hamre served as the president andchief executive officer of CSIS from April 2000.[55]
The board of trustees has included former senior government officials, includingHenry Kissinger,Zbigniew Brzezinski,William Cohen,George Argyros, andBrent Scowcroft.[56]
The board also includes major U.S. corporate leaders — prominent figures in the fields of finance, oil & gas, private equity, real-estate, academia and media.
CSIS' 220 full-time staff[12] and its large network of affiliated scholars develop policy-proposals and initiatives that address current issues ininternational relations. In 2012, CSIS had a staff of 63 program staffers, 73 scholars and 80 interns. The center also worked with 241 affiliate advisors and fellows as well as with 202 advisory board members and senior counselors.[9]
Hamre and Nunn have broadened the reach of the CSIS into public-policy analysis. The Department of Defense, as part of the2012 National Defense Authorization Act, commissioned CSIS to conduct an independent assessment of U.S. interests in theAsia-Pacific region.[57] In May 2009, PresidentBarack Obama thanked the CSIS bipartisan Commission on Cybersecurity for its help in developing theObama administration's policies oncyberwarfare.[58] The Center was influential in the development of the Obama White House's foreign policy. "For the last four years, every Friday afternoon, I've asked my staff to prepare me a reading binder for the weekend", said National Security Advisor Tom Donilon. "The task is to go out and try to find the most interesting things that they can find with respect to national security issues [and] almost every week, there are products from CSIS."[59] Within the intelligence community, CSIS is known for having "some of the most insightful analysis and innovative ideas for strengthening our national security", according toJohn Brennan.[60]
John Kempthorne wrote inFairness & Accuracy in Reporting that CSIS was "heavily funded by the US government, arms dealers and oil companies, [and] is a consistently pro-war think tank".[61]
Source:[62]
CSIS leadership
National security
Public service
Business & non-profit
Academia
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
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