Center for the National Interest Inc
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Regional Security Program
Geoffrey Kemp(http://www.cftni.org/indexe5dd.html?action=showPage&page=kemp) directs the Center for the National Interest's Regional Security Program, which focuses primarily on geo-political and geo-economic developments in the Greater Middle East. The current research involves two projects of great importance to U.S. interests: the future of U.S.-Iranian relations and how the growth of India and China and their increasing engagement in the Middle East influences U.S. policy. In addition to convening working groups of regional and subject-matter experts, the program has also produced a number of studies. Most recently, the program has published an essay on India and China in the Middle East and a study of the relationship between Iraq and Iran.
U.S.-Russian Relations Program
Executive Director of the Center for the National Interest, Paul J. Saunders(http://www.cftni.org/indexac74.html?action=showpage&page=saunders) , directs the U.S. – Russia Relations Program, which focuses on American policy toward Moscow and on U.S. – Russian dialogue. The program is built around a regular series of seminars on key issues in the bilateral relationship, including non-proliferation, the war on terror, energy, and Russia’s domestic evolution as it relates to democracy, the media, and corruption. The program has recently focused on U.S. and Russian interests and interaction in the former Soviet territory.
Energy Security & Climate Change Program
Geoffrey Kemp(http://www.cftni.org/indexe5dd.html?action=showPage&page=kemp) , Director of Regional Strategic Programs, and Executive Director Paul J. Saunders(http://www.cftni.org/indexac74.html?action=showpage&page=saunders) co-direct the Center's program on energy security and climate change. The effort focuses primarily on three key issues:
The program has included a U.S. - European - Japanese dialogue on energy and climate issues, as well as seminars on other related topics.
Mexico Program
Robert S. Leiken(http://www.cftni.org/indexb5e0.html?action=showPage&page=leiken) directs the Mexico Programs at the Center for the National Interest. The Mexico Program has two purposes: to assess the character and the dynamics of Mexico’s “drug war” and to inform American leaders of this assessment. Dr. Robert S. Leiken, will interview U.S. and Mexican officials, policy analysts, researchers, journalists, military officers, and average Mexicans. This assessment will be conveyed to an ongoing discussion group on Mexico at the Center for the National Interest. The group is composed of current and former policy makers, influential journalists, area experts and generalists as well as congressional staffers. The meetings offer a unique opportunity for an open and systematic discussion of an issue attracting increasing attention from those concerned with U.S. foreign policy, border control and national security. The meetings will also provide a regular and central forum on the issue in a time of divided government.
Is Mexico’s “drug war” a criminal insurgency or a turf war? a low intensity conflict or a high intensity crime scene? Does the conflict present a national security threat or a law enforcement crisis? Should it be addressed primarily by the military or the police? Should the U.S. be sending soldiers or police advisors? Is the current death toll an inevitable by-product of strategic progress or a signal of failure?
The program is weighing a wide range of policy options including: relaxation of selected U.S. drug prohibitions; increased U.S. assistance on criminal investigations and convictions; institutional reform; financial monitoring and asset seizure; the application of counter insurgency doctrine; drug treatment and prevention; increased border controls; and a return to a corporatist (PRI) model.
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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Center for the National Interest Inc
Board of directorsas of 06/07/2016
Maurice Greenberg
C.V. Starr
George Argyros
Argyros Foundation
Jeffrey Bewkes
Time Warner
Robert Blackwill
RAND Corporation
Charles Boyd
Center for the National Interest
Richard Burt
McLarty Associates
Kris Elftmann
Noelle Marketing Group
Leslie Gelb
Council on Foreign Relations
Maurice Greenberg
C.V. Starr & Co., Inc.
David Keene
Carmen Group
Henry Kissinger
Kissinger Associates, Inc.
Julie Nixon Eisenhower
No Affiliation
Grover Norquist
Americans for Tax Reform
Lionel Olmer
No Affiliation
Peter Peterson
Peter G. Peterson Foundation
Richard Plepler
Home Box Office
James Schlesinger
MITRE Corporation
Brent Scowcroft
Scowcroft Group
Dimitri Simes
Center for the National Interest
J. Robinson West
PFC Energy
Dov Zakheim
No Affiliation
Robert Ellsworth
Hamilton BioVentures