Supporting the Center for the National Interest: A Letter from Center President Dimitri K. Simes

Our mission is unique—and we hope you will join it. The Center for the National Interest was founded in 1994 by Richard M. Nixon to be a “different kind of think-tank.” Today, as fashionable demands to remake the world or withdraw from it altogether bookend our foreign policy debates, the Center stands for something else–principled realism in foreign policy, based on a strategic assessment of U.S. national interests.

In a field that is overcrowded with politicized advocacy and hidden agendas, we offer objective analysis and genuine debate in our world-renowned foreign affairs journal, The National Interest, and in the events our Center hosts. From our regular panels on hot-button issues with prominent policymakers and journalists to the several million weekly visitors to the National Interest’s website, we stand at the forefront of debates about America’s future.

The need for clear-eyed analysis and independent thinking in our country’s approach to the world has never been greater.  The two major strands of American foreign policy that dominated the post-Cold War period – neo-conservatism and liberal internationalism – have failed.  The center is playing a key role in charting a new course that bolsters American power and national security without plunging into endless  regime change wars. And our operational motto is never to become so close to any administration that we might compromise our independence but always to be positioned to speak truth to power.

We have hosted speakers from across the political spectrum, ranging from Bill Clinton to Donald Trump, from former defense secretaries James M. Mattis and Ashton Carter to national security adviser Robert C. O’Brien. The National Interest regularly features extensive interviews with leading thinkers such as Henry Kissinger. This year we also established a new national security fellows program to help form the next generation of thinkers about American foreign policy. Chances are that you’ve seen our success first-hand—our scholars and fellows regularly appear in the American and international media.

Will you contribute to help us have an even greater impact? At a moment when America is at a crossroads as it confronts the coronavirus pandemic and a hostile world, your donation, large or small, can make vital difference in our efforts.

Please click here to become a valued supporter. And rest assured that the Center for the National Interest will continue to battle against groupthink—and for America’s future.

Thank you in advance for your indispensable support.

Sincerely,


Dimitri K. Simes
President & CEO