The Center for the National Interest is a Washington, D.C.-based

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public ...

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-govern ...

. It was established by former U.S. President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

on January 20, 1994, as the Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom. The group changed its name to The Nixon Center in 1998. In 2001 the center acquired ''

The National Interest ''The National Interest'' (''TNI'') is an American bimonthly international relations magazine edited by American journalist Jacob Heilbrunn and published by the Center for the National Interest, a public policy think tank based in Washington, ...

'', a bimonthly journal, in which it tends to promote the realist perspective on foreign policy. The center's president is Dimitri K. Simes. In March 2011, the center was renamed the Center for the National Interest (CFTNI or CNI). The change was due to a conflict between leadership of the Center and the Richard Nixon Family Foundation and was part of "a long-running battle over former President Richard Nixon’s complicated legacy," with Foundation members criticizing the center's president for "attacking their party’s presidential candidate, John McCain, for his denunciations of Russia’s invasion of Georgia," and "discomfort at the Center over the Foundation’s obsession with re-litigating Watergate and its legacy." Despite its separation from the Nixon Foundation, the center's leadership expressed its desire to "continue its forward-looking application of Nixon's foreign policy principles to today's international environment." According to the ''2014 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report'' (

Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program The Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) was a non-profit program at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that operated from 1989 to 2021. TTCSP was originally established at the Foreign Policy Research Instit ...

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

), the center is number 43 (of 60) in the "Top Think Tanks in the United States". According to the ''2019 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report'', the center is number 46 (of 107) in the "Top Think Tanks in the United States". In 2006 it had an annual budget of $1.6 million. In 2016, the think tank hosted Donald Trump's first major foreign policy address, leading to one of its fellows being fired for criticizing the organization's decision in an op-ed article. The Trump campaign's interactions with Simes and the Center became part of the 2017-2019 Special Counsel investigation. The Mueller report ultimately found no evidence of wrongdoing by Simes or the center, but the investigation reportedly hurt the think tank financially.

Organization

As of 2008, the center had a staff of approximately twenty people supporting seven main programs: Korean Studies, Energy Security and Climate Change, Strategic Studies, US-Russia Relations, U.S.-Japan Relations, China and the Pacific, and Regional Security (Middle East, Caspian Basin and South Asia). As of 2022, the Board of directors consisted of

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

, as Honorary Chairman and

Maurice R. Greenberg Maurice Raymond “Hank” Greenberg (born May 4, 1925) is an American business executive and former chairman and chief executive officer of American International Group (AIG). Early life Greenberg was born into a Jewish family in Greenwich Vil ...

, Chairman Emeritus Drew Guff, Chairman,

Richard Plepler Richard Plepler (born 1958)
September 21, 2012 is an A ...

and

Dov Zakheim Dov S. Zakheim (born December 18, 1948) is an American businessman, writer, and former official of the United States government. In the Reagan administration, he held various Department of Defense positions. Early life and education Zakheim w ...

, as Vice Chairman. Members include Senator

Pat Roberts Charles Patrick Roberts (born April 20, 1936) is a retired American politician and journalist who served as a United States senator from Kansas from 1997 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Roberts served 8 terms in the U.S. House of Rep ...

Graham Allison Graham Tillett Allison Jr. (born March 23, 1940) is an American political scientist and the Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is renowned for his contribution in the late ...

Jeffrey Bewkes Jeffrey Lawrence Bewkes (born May 25, 1952) is an American media executive. He was CEO of Time Warner from January 1, 2008 to June 14, 2018, President from December 2005 to June 2018, and Chairman of the Board from January 1, 2009 to 2018. Early ...

, former ambassador

Richard Burt Richard R. Burt (born February 3, 1947) is an American businessman and diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Germany and was a chief negotiator of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Prior to his diplomatic career, Burt worked as ...

, Kris Elftmann, Jacob Heilbrunn, David Keene, former ambassador

Zalmay Khalilzad Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad ( ps, ځلمی خلیل زاد, prs, زلمی خلیل‌زاد; born March 22, 1951) is an Afghan-American diplomat and foreign policy expert. Khalilzad was appointed by President Donald J. Trump to serve as U.S. Speci ...

Julie Nixon Eisenhower Julie Nixon Eisenhower ( Nixon; born July 5, 1948) is an American author who is the younger daughter of former U.S. president Richard Nixon and his wife Pat Nixon. Her husband David is the grandson of former U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower ...

Grover Norquist Grover Glenn Norquist (born October 19, 1956) is an American political activist and tax reduction advocate who is founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, an organization that opposes all tax increases. A Republican, he is the primar ...

, William Ruger, Paul J. Saunders, Dimitri K. Simes,

J. Robinson West J. Robinson (Robin) West is the founder and chairman of PFC Energy. He has advised chief executives of leading international oil and gas companies and national oil companies on corporate strategy, portfolio management, acquisitions, divestitures, ...

and David Zalaznick.

References

External links

*
The National Interest
{{Richard Nixon Foreign policy and strategy think tanks in the United States Richard Nixon Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C. Realist think tanks 1994 establishments in Washington, D.C. Conservative organizations in the United States Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections

Organization

See also

References

Further reading

External links