The Jamestown Foundation is a

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

–based non-partisan defense policy

think tank A think tank, or public 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-governme ...

. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support

Soviet defectors After World War II, emigration restrictions were imposed by countries in the Eastern Bloc, which consisted of the Soviet Union and its satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe. Legal emigration was in most cases only possible to reunite ...

, its stated mission is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, which it regards as being of current strategic importance to the United States. Jamestown publications focus on

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

, and global

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

Founding and mission

The Jamestown Foundation was founded in 1984 after

Arkady Shevchenko Arkady Nikolayevich Shevchenko (October 11, 1930 – February 28, 1998) was a Soviet Union, Soviet diplomat who was the highest-ranking Soviet official Eastern Bloc emigration and defection, to defect to the Western world, West. Shevchen ...

, the highest-ranking

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

official ever to defect when he left his position as

Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations An under-secretary-general of the United Nations (USG) is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the secretary-general for a renewable term of four years. Under ...

, defected in 1978.

William Geimer William W. Geimer (August 18, 1937 – December 1, 2002) was an American lawyer, known for founding and leading The Jamestown Foundation from 1984 after his work with Soviet defector Arkady Shevchenko. He also "served on President Ronald Reagan's E ...

, an American lawyer, had been working closely with Shevchenko, and established the foundation as a vehicle to promote the writings of the former Soviet diplomat and those of Ion Pacepa, a former top

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n intelligence officer; with the help of the foundation, both defectors published bestselling books.Jamestown Foundation
Origins

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

Director

William J. Casey William Joseph Casey (March 13, 1913 – May 6, 1987) was an American lawyer who was the Director of Central Intelligence from 1981 to 1987. In this capacity he oversaw the entire United States Intelligence Community and personally directed the ...

helped back the formation of the Jamestown Foundation, agreeing with its complaints that the U.S. intelligence community did not provide sufficient funding for Soviet bloc defectors. The foundation, initially also dedicated to supporting Soviet dissidents, also aided defecting intellectuals from the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

in disseminating their ideas in the West.

Leadership

Board of directors

In the past, Jamestown's board of directors has included

Zbigniew Brzezinski Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński (, ; March 28, 1928 – May 26, 2017), known as Zbig, was a Polish-American diplomat and political scientist. He served as a counselor to Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1968 and was Jimmy Carter's National Securi ...

, former National Security Advisor to

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

. Jamestown's current board includes Michael Carpenter, the managing director of the

Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement The Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement of the University of Pennsylvania is located in Washington, D.C., and is named after Joe Biden, who was a former vice president and senator at the time of its founding in 2018, and later se ...

. Carpenter previously served in the Pentagon as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and in the White House as a foreign policy advisor to

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

(when Biden was

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

under

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

) as well as on the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

as Director for Russia. Jamestown's board also includes Michael G. Vickers, who previously served as the

Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence The under secretary of defense for intelligence and security or USD(I&S) is a high-ranking civilian position in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) within the United States Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) that ac ...

and whose role at the Central Intelligence Agency during the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...

was famously featured in George Crile's 2003 book '' Charlie Wilson's War.'' As of 2021, the foundation's current board includes General Michael V. Hayden;

Bruce Hoffman Bruce R. Hoffman (born 1954) is an American political analyst. He specializes in the study of terrorism, counter-terrorism, insurgency, and counter-insurgency. Hoffman serves as the Shelby Cullom and Kathryn W. Davis Senior Fellow for Counterterr ...

;

Matthew Bryza Matthew James Bryza (born February 16, 1964) is a former United States diplomat. His last post in the United States foreign service was the United States Ambassador to Azerbaijan. Education Bryza graduated from Stanford University with a Bachel ...

;

Robert Spalding Robert S. Spalding III (born 1966) is a retired United States Air Force brigadier general. He currently serves as a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. His work focuses on U.S.–China relations, economic and national security, and the Asia-P ...

, who acted as an architect of US-China strategy while serving on the National Security Council in the

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

administration; Michelle Van Cleave; Arthur Waldron; and

Timothy J. Keating Timothy John Keating (born November 16, 1948) is a retired United States Navy Admiral (United States), admiral. During his career, he served as commander of Carrier Strike Group 5, Carrier Group Five, the United States 5th Fleet, the United States ...

, while Jamestown's fellows included

Vladimir Socor Vladimir Socor (born 3 August 1945 in BucharestVladimir Socor - Curriculum Vitae

;

Janusz Bugajski Janusz Bugajski (born 23 September 1954, in Nantwich, Cheshire, England) is a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation in Washington, D.C. He also serves as the host of the "Bugajski Hour" television shows broadcast in the Balkans. Previously, ...

; Paul Goble;

Michael Scheuer Michael F. Scheuer (pronounced "SHOY-er"), (born 1952) is an American former intelligence officer for the Central Intelligence Agency, blogger, author, commentator and former adjunct professor at Georgetown University's Center for Peace and S ...

(who claims to have been fired for criticizing the United States' relationship with

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

), Thomas Kent, the former president of

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

;

Willy Wo-Lap Lam Willy Wo-Lap Lam (born 1952; ) is a Hong Kong columnist, economist, newspaper editor, political commentator, political scientist, public policy analyst, sinologist, and writer. He is a frequent commentator on many major media networks regarding ...

, a Hong Kong–based China specialist; Jacob Zenn, a leading expert on

Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as Jama'at Ahl al-Sunna li al-Da'wa wa al-Jihad (), is a self-proclaimed jihadist militant group based in northeastern Nigeria and also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon, and Mali. In 2016, the group spli ...

; and Stephen Ulph, a leading expert on

Jihadist Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Political aspects of Islam, Islamic movements that seek to Islamic state, establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation ...

ideology.

Staff

In September 2023, Peter Mattis was named Jamestown president, succeeding Glen E. Howard, who held the position for 20 years.

Activities

Its primary focus is on

, and global

. As of 2023, its main publications are ''China Brief'', ''Eurasia Daily Monitor'', ''Terrorism Monitor'', and ''Militant Leadership Monitor''. Previous publications included ''Eurasia Security Trends'', ''Fortnight in Review'', ''North Korea Review'', ''Russia and Eurasia Review'', ''Russia's Week'', ''Spotlight on Terror'', ''North Caucasus Weekly'', (formerly ''Chechnya Weekly'') and ''Recent From Turkey'' and ''Terrorism Focus''. Along with these publications, Jamestown produces occasional reports and books. Since 1990s the Foundation issued ''Prism'': a monthly on the post-Soviet states.

Nikolai Getman collection

The foundation hosted Russian artist Nikolai Getman's paintings of

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

camps. Getman was imprisoned for eight years by the Soviet regime for participating in anti-Soviet propaganda as a result of a caricature of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

that one of his friends had drawn on a cigarette box. He survived, and for four decades he secretly labored at creating a visual record of the Gulag system.Getman
Retrieved on 9 November 2010 In September 2009, the Jamestown Foundation transferred the Getman collection to

The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (or simply Heritage) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1973, it took a leading role in the conservative movement in the 1980s during the Presi ...

Reception

U.S. News & World Report and

France 24 France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned publicly funded international news television network based in Paris. Its channels, broadcast in French, English, Arabic and Spanish, are aimed at the overseas market. Based in the Paris suburb ...

have characterized the foundation's political orientation as conservative. In 2007, the

Russian government The Russian Government () or fully titled the Government of the Russian Federation () is the highest federal executive governmental body of the Russian Federation. It is accountable to the president of the Russian Federation and controlled by ...

said the think tank was spreading anti-Russian propaganda by hosting a debate on violence in the Russian republic of

Ingushetia Ingushetia or Ingushetiya, officially the Republic of Ingushetia, is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. The republic is part of the North Caucasian Federal District, and shares land borders with the country o ...

. According to a statement by the Foreign Ministry of Russia: "Organisers again and again resorted to deliberately spreading slander about the situation in Chechnya and other republics of the Russian

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...

using the services of supporters of terrorists and pseudo-experts. Speakers were given carte blanche to spread extremist propaganda, incite ethnic and inter-religious discord." In response, Jamestown Foundation president Glen Howard said that Russia was "intimidated by the power of the free word and this goes against the state manipulation of the media in Russia." On 8 December 2011, Ambassador

Daniel Benjamin Daniel Benjamin (born October 16, 1961) is an American diplomat and journalist and was the Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the United States Department of State from 2009 to 2012, appointed by Secretary Hillary Clinton. Benjamin was the dire ...

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

Counterterrorism Coordinator for the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...

, gave the keynote address at Jamestown's Fifth Annual Terrorism Conference where he praised Jamestown for its research and analysis of terrorism issues. The Jamestown Foundation was criticized by the Right Web project (now the "Militarist Monitor" project) based at the

Institute for Policy Studies The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) is an American Progressivism in the United States, progressive think tank, formed in 1963 and based in Washington, D.C. It was directed by John Cavanagh (economist), John Cavanagh from 1998 to 2021. In 202 ...

for alleged links to the CIA and for advancing a right-wing,

neoconservative Neoconservatism (colloquially neocon) is a political movement which began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist Democratic Party along with the growing New Left and ...

agenda. In 2020, the office of the

Prosecutor-General of Russia The Prosecutor General of Russia (also Attorney General of Russia, ) heads the system of official prosecution in courts and heads the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. The Prosecutor General remains one of the most po ...

said that Jamestown Foundation's publications sought to fan

separatism Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...

in some Russian regions and posed a security threat. It described the Foundation as an " undesirable organisation", which could result in the organization being banned in Russia under the

Russian foreign agent law The Russian foreign agent law requires any person or organization receiving any form of support from outside Russia or deemed to be under foreign influence to register as a "foreign agent". Unlike the United States Foreign Agents Registration Act ...

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Foreign policy and strategy think tanks in the United States Think tanks established in 1984 Charities based in Washington, D.C. Organizations listed in Russia as undesirable