Center for the National Interest

Center for the National Interest
Founder(s)	Richard Nixon
Established	1994
Focus	Foreign policy
Staff	18
Subsidiaries	The National Interest
Formerly called	Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom
Address	1025 Connecticut Ave NW, S-1200 Washington, DC 20036
Location	United States
Coordinates	38°54′12″N 77°02′21″W / 38.9033°N 77.0393°W / 38.9033; -77.0393
Website	cftni.org

The Center for the National Interest is a Washington, D.C.-based public policy think tank. It was established by former U.S. President Richard Nixon on January 20, 1994, as the Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom.^[1]

The group changed its name to The Nixon Center in 1998. In 2001 the center acquired The National Interest, a bimonthly journal, in which it tends to promote the realist perspective on foreign policy.^[2] Its CEO for nearly 30 years was Dimitri K. Simes, who retired at the end of 2022.^[3]

The current president, Paul J. Saunders, was appointed in early 2024. Saunders is a former Senior U.S. State Department official.^[4]

In March 2011, the center was renamed the Center for the National Interest (CFTNI or CNI).^[5]^[6] The change was due to a conflict between Center leadership 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."^[7] 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."^[8]

According to the 2014 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report (Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program, University of Pennsylvania), the center is number 43 (of 60) in the "Top Think Tanks in the United States".^[9] 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".^[10] In 2006 it had an annual budget of $1.6 million.^[11]^{[needs update]}

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.^[12]^[13]^[14] The Trump campaign's interactions with Simes and the Center became part of the 2017-2019 Special Counsel investigation.^[15]^[16]^[17] The Mueller report ultimately found no evidence of wrongdoing by Simes or the center, but the investigation reportedly hurt the think tank financially.^[16]

YouTube Encyclopedic

1/4
Views:
26 241
5 507
16 058
892

Transcription

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).^[18]^[19]^{[needs update]}

As of 2023, its Board of directors consists of Chairman Emeritus Maurice R. Greenberg, Chairman Drew Guff, and Vice Chairman Richard Plepler. Members include Senator Pat Roberts, Graham Allison, Jeffrey Bewkes, former ambassador Richard Burt, Kris Elftmann, Jacob Heilbrunn, David Keene, former ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Grover Norquist, William Ruger, Paul J. Saunders, Dimitri K. Simes, J. Robinson West and David Zalaznick.^[20]

As of 2023, its Advisory Council includes Chairman Dov Zakheim, Ahmed Charai, Peter Charow, Susan Eisenhower, Evan Greenberg, Bob Kerrey, John D. Negroponte, Lee Feinstein, and Thomas Pickering.

References

^ The Nixon Center: Mission statement Archived October 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
^ Kirkpatrick, David D. (2005-03-13). "Battle Splits Conservative Magazine". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
^ Lippman, Daniel; Ward, Alexander; Berg, Matt. "Money problems hit right-leaning foreign policy magazine". Politico. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
^ "Center for the National Interest Appoints Paul Saunders as New President – Center for the National Interest". cftni.org. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
^ "Center for the National Interest". Archived from the original on 2011-08-15.
^ "Mueller report reveals Kushner's contacts with a 'pro-Kremlin' campaign adviser". Politico.
^ Smith, Ben (April 19, 2011). "Nixon's name". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
^ "Nixon Center Becomes Center for the National Interest".
^ James G. McGann (Director) (February 4, 2015). "2014 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report". Retrieved February 14, 2015.
^ McGann, James (2020-06-18). "2019 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report". TTCSP Global Go to Think Tank Index Reports. doi:10.4324/9780429298318. ISBN 9780429298318. S2CID 188102746.
^ Abelson 2006, p. 238 (Appendix One, Table AI.2).
^ Haberman, Maggie (2016-04-21). "Group Founded by Richard Nixon to Host Foreign Policy Address by Donald Trump". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
^ Hudson, John. "Exclusive: Think Tank Fires Employee Who Questioned Ties to Donald Trump". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
^ Kirchick, James (2016-04-27). "Donald Trump's Russia connections". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
^ Bertr, Natasha. "Mueller report reveals Kushner's contacts with a 'pro-Kremlin' campaign adviser". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
^ ^a ^b "The Unexpected Costs of Cooperating With the Mueller Investigation". Bloomberg.com. 2019-04-25. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
^ "Read the Mueller Report: Searchable Document and Index". The New York Times. 2019-04-18. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
^ Abelson 2006, p. 89; The Nixon Center 2008, Nixon Center programs Archived September 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 9-29-2008.
^ "Time to Accept North Korea As a Nuclear Weapons State? – Center for the National Interest". cftni.org. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
^ "Board of Directors – Center for the National Interest". cftni.org. Retrieved 2022-07-14.

External links

Richard Nixon

37th President of the United States (1969–1974)
36th Vice President of the United States (1953–1961)
U.S. Senator from California (1950–1953)
U.S. Representative for CA–12 (1947–1950)

Pre-presidency

Presidency
(timeline)

Foreign policy	International trips Nixon Doctrine Vietnam War Cambodian bombing Paris Peace Accords "Peace with Honor" Vietnamization Cold War period Linkage policy Tar Baby Option 1972 visit to China Shanghai Communiqué 1973 Chilean coup d'état Détente 1972 Moscow Summit Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty SALT I Treaty Prevention of Nuclear War Agreement Threshold Test Ban Treaty Operation CHAOS Space exploration
Domestic policy	Family Assistance Plan Revised Philadelphia Plan Minority Business Development Agency Native American policy Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Education Amendments of 1972 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants Title IX Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 National Cancer Act of 1971 End Stage Renal Disease Program Supplemental Security Income Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act Shafer Commission War on Drugs Drug Enforcement Administration Cannabis policy Federal Contested Elections Act Federal Election Campaign Act 1970 VRA Amendments District of Columbia Home Rule Act Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 Congressional Research Service
Economic policy	Bank Secrecy Act Fair Credit Reporting Act National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1970 Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973 Nixon shock Economic Stabilization Act of 1970 Smithsonian Agreement Occupational Safety and Health Act National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Occupational Safety and Health Administration Permissible exposure limit U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Consumer Product Safety Act Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act Securities Investor Protection Act Securities Investor Protection Corporation Tax Reform Act of 1969 Alternative minimum tax Revenue Act of 1971 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 Agricultural Act of 1970 Farm Credit Act of 1971 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act of 1972 Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 Federal Energy Administration Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act
Environmental policy	Council on Environmental Quality Environmental Quality Improvement Act National Environmental Policy Act Environmental Protection Agency Clean Air Amendments of 1970 Clean Water Act Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act National Ambient Air Quality Standards National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants New Source Performance Standards Noise Control Act Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Zone Management Act Coastal Zone Management Program Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Marine Mammal Protection Act Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 Endangered Species Act of 1969 Endangered Species Act of 1973 Oil Pollution Act of 1973 Water Resources Development Act of 1974
Watergate	Timeline Operation Sandwedge Operation Gemstone Saturday Night Massacre CRP White House Plumbers Watergate Seven Enemies List list of opponents White House tapes United States v. Nixon (1974) Senate Watergate Committee impeachment process "I am not a crook" Resignation Pardon

Life and
politics

Books

Elections

U.S. House	1946 1948
U.S. Senate	1950
Vice Presidential	1952 campaign selection convention election transition 1956 campaign convention election
Presidential	1960 campaign primaries running mate selection convention debates election Kennedy transition 1968 campaign primaries running mate selection convention election 1972 campaign primaries convention election
Gubernatorial	1962