Center for International Policy
Encyclopedia
The Center for International Policy (CIP) is a non-profit public policy
Public policy
Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...

 research and advocacy think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...

 with offices in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. It was founded in 1975 in response to the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

. The Center describes its mission as "promoting a U.S. foreign policy based on international cooperation, demilitarization and respect for human rights." The Center is the parent organization for a variety of projects, including Global Financial Integrity
Global Financial Integrity
Global Financial Integrity is a non-profit, research and advocacy organization located in Washington, DC. GFI advocates and conducts research on national and multilateral policies, safeguards, and agreements aimed at curtailing illicit financial flows and enhancing global development and security...

, Win Without War
Win Without War
Win Without War is a coalition of roughly 40 organizations that promotes a progressive, demilitarized U.S. foreign policy.Based in Washington, DC, Win Without War was founded in 2002 by former U.S...

, and Avoided Deforestation Partners
Avoided Deforestation Partners
Avoided Deforestation Partners, or ADP, is an organization promoting the role of the world’s forests in stopping climate change. The organization is involved in the climate change debate...

. It also collborates with the Washington Office on Latin America
Washington Office on Latin America
The Washington Office on Latin America is an American non-governmental organization whose stated goal is to promote human rights, democracy and social and economic justice in Latin America and the Caribbean....

 and the Latin America Working Group to publish the Just the Facts website.

Several prominent individuals serve as senior fellows with CIP, including Wayne Smith
Wayne Smith (diplomat)
Wayne S. Smith is a former US diplomat, and currently an academic and author.-Government service:In 1949, Smith joined the United States Marine Corps, and served until 1953, including combat in the 1950-1953 Korean War. In 1957, he joined the US State Department, and served in the Soviet Union,...

, Robert White
Robert White (ambassador)
Robert E. White served as U.S. ambassador under different administrations. He is currently president of the Center for International Policy....

, Michael Barnes
Michael D. Barnes
Michael Darr Barnes represented the eighth district of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1987 and was the president of the Brady Campaign gun control organization from 2000 through 2006.After serving in the Marine Corps , being discharged with the rank of...

, and Matthew Hoh, director for the Afghanistan Study Group. Luis Gilberto Murillo
Luis Gilberto Murillo
Luis Gilberto Murillo Urrutia is the Former Elected Governor of the predominantly Afro-Colombian Department of Chocó in Colombia. He is currently the Vice President for Programs and Strategy at Phelps Stokes in Washington, DC.-Education:Mr...

 and Cynthia McClintock are co-chairs of the organization's Board of Directors, which also includes Darcy Burner
Darcy Burner
Darcy Gibbons Burner is a Democrat from Carnation, Washington. She was a candidate for in 2006 and 2008, but lost to incumbent Dave Reichert in both elections. She worked for twelve years in high technology including five years at Microsoft as a Marketing Manager, working on .NET...

, Alfredo Duran
Alfredo Duran
Alfredo Gonzalez Durán is a Cuban-born lawyer and an advocate for dialogue as a way to bring regime change in Cuba. His views are considered controversial in some parts of the Cuban exile community in Miami.-U.S.-Cuban Relations:...

, Mike Farell, and Dessima Williams
Dessima Williams
Dessima Williams is a Grenadian diplomat and former Ambassador to the United Nations from Grenada who was reappointed to the ambassadorship in 2008. She was a professor of sociology, development and gender at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Dr. Williams holds a Ph.D. from American...

.

1970s

The Center was founded in 1975 under the fiscal sponsorship of the Fund for Peace
Fund for Peace
The Fund for Peace is an independent Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit research and educational institution. Founded in 1957, FfP, a non-governmental organization, "works to prevent violent conflict and promote sustainable security.”...

 by activists, including current Executive Director Bill Goodfellow
William Goodfellow
William Chester Goodfellow is a founding member and Executive director of the Center for International Policy.Goodfellow earned his undergraduate degree in 1970 from Boston University and received his Masters from the Cambridge-Goddard Graduate School for Social Change in 1972. He served as an...

 and then-retired US foreign service official Donald Ranard, who served as the Center's first Executive Director.

During its first years, the Center focused its work on Asia, especially United States foreign policy towards South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

 and its relationships with the Park Chung-hee
Park Chung-hee
Park Chung-hee was a Republic of Korea Army general and the leader of South Korea from 1961 to 1979. He seized power in a military coup and ruled until his assassination in 1979. He has been credited with the industrialization of the Republic of Korea through export-led growth...

-led government. In 1976, Ranard testified to Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 on human rights violations in South Korea and the role of South Korean lobbyists in Washington. In 1978, the Center established an Indochina Program, which advocated the normalization of diplomatic relations with Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...

, and Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

; the program was later closed in 1989.

In the mid-1970s, while at the time also co-chairs of the Center's Board, US Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 Donald Fraser
Donald M. Fraser
Donald MacKay Fraser is an American politician from Minneapolis, Minnesota.-Early life:Donald Fraser played a critical role in making human rights an important part of U.S. policy. Fraser was born on 20 February 1924 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Everett and Lois Fraser. His parents were émigrés...

 and Tom Harkin
Tom Harkin
Thomas Richard "Tom" Harkin is the junior United States Senator from Iowa and a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives ....

 introduced legislation that incorporated foreign countries' human rights records into consideration of security and economic aid.

1980s

During the 1980s, CIP campaigned in support of the Contadora Group
Contadora Group
The Contadora Group was an initiative launched in the early 1980s by the foreign ministers of Colombia, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela to deal with the military conflicts in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala, which were threatening to destabilize the entire Central American region.The original...

 and the subsequent Esquipulas Peace Agreement
Esquipulas Peace Agreement
The Esquipulas Peace Agreement was an initiative in the mid-1980s to settle the military conflicts that had plagued Central America for many years, and in some cases for decades. It built upon groundwork laid by the Contadora Group from 1983 to 1985. The agreement was named for Esquipulas,...

.

After South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 received a loan from the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...

 in 1983, the Center began a campaign that pushed for provisions that prohibited the US representative to the IMF to support loans to countries that practice apartheid. The Center continued its work with research into labor practices and economic impacts of apartheid in South Africa.

1990s

In 1990, the Center established a joint program with the Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

-based Arias Foundation, founded by Óscar Arias
Óscar Arias
Óscar Arias Sánchez is a Costa Rican politician who was President of Costa Rica from 2006 to 2010. He previously served as President from 1986 to 1990 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his efforts to end civil wars then raging in several other Central American countries.He is also a...

. The organisation's new President, Robert White
Robert White (ambassador)
Robert E. White served as U.S. ambassador under different administrations. He is currently president of the Center for International Policy....

, also worked extensively with Haitian
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

 President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian former Catholic priest and politician who served as Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in 1982 after completing his studies...

 during his exile in Washington in the 1990s.

Wayne Smith
Wayne Smith (diplomat)
Wayne S. Smith is a former US diplomat, and currently an academic and author.-Government service:In 1949, Smith joined the United States Marine Corps, and served until 1953, including combat in the 1950-1953 Korean War. In 1957, he joined the US State Department, and served in the Soviet Union,...

 joined the Center in 1991 to establish the Cuba program, working towards the normalisation of relations between the United States and Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

.

In the mid-1990s, Adam Isacson established the Latin American Security program, which still operates today. The program campaigned against the militarisation of Plan Colombia
Plan Colombia
The term Plan Colombia is most often used to refer to U.S. legislation aimed at curbing drug smuggling and combating a left-wing insurgency by supporting different activities in Colombia....

 and supporting the movement of funds to programs for judicial reforms and economic development. In June 1999, the program led the first ever congressional delegation to meet with insurgent leaders inside the territory they controlled.

2000s

Clarissa Segun and Paul Olweny, leaders for the Demilitarization for Democracy project, joined the Center in 2000. The project campaigned for diplomatic aid and United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 peacekeeping
Peacekeeping
Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....

. The project eventually closed in 2006.

Sarah Stephens
Sarah Stephens
Sarah Stephens is an Australian model, best known for winning Girlfriend magazine's Model Search 2006 and walking in the 2008 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at the age of 18.-Early life:...

 worked on Cuba policy, joining the Center in 2001 with the Freedom to Travel project. She left CIP in 2006 and then launched the Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA).

In 2003, then-President Robert White
Robert White (ambassador)
Robert E. White served as U.S. ambassador under different administrations. He is currently president of the Center for International Policy....

 established a program focused on governmental corruption
Corruption
Corruption usually refers to spiritual or moral impurity.Corruption may also refer to:* Corruption , an American crime film* Corruption , a British horror film...

 in Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

, specifically illegal logging
Illegal logging
Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission or from a protected area; the cutting of protected species; or the...

 in Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...

. Former Washington Post foreign correspondent Selig Harrison
Selig S. Harrison
Selig Seidenman Harrison it is a scholar, journalist, and author who specializes in South Asia and East Asia. He is the Director of the Asia Program and a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, and a senior scholar of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He has...

 joined CIP in the same year to head the Center's Asia program which focuses on North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

 and the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...

.

With the publishing of his book Capitalism's Achilles Heel: Dirty Money and How to Renew the Free-Market System (Wiley & Sons, 2005), CIP senior fellow Raymond Baker
Raymond W. Baker
Raymond Baker is the director of Global Financial Integrity, a research and advocacy organization in Washington, DC, and director of the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development, an international private-public coalition of civil society groups and governments working on the issue...

 founds Global Financial Integrity
Global Financial Integrity
Global Financial Integrity is a non-profit, research and advocacy organization located in Washington, DC. GFI advocates and conducts research on national and multilateral policies, safeguards, and agreements aimed at curtailing illicit financial flows and enhancing global development and security...

 (GFI), a non-profit, research and advocacy organisation focused on the role of illicit financial flows
Illicit financial flows
Illicit financial flows, in economics, refers to a form of illegal capital flight and occurs when money is illegally earned, transferred, or utilized. This money is intended to disappear from any record in the country of origin, and earnings on the stock of illicit financial flows outside of a...

. GFI continues today as a program of the Center.

In June 2007, the Americas Program joined CIP after the dissolution of the International Relations Center
International Relations Center
The International Relations Center is an American "policy studies institute" based in Silver City, New Mexico. It was founded in 1979 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, focusing initially on "The plight of undocumented Mexican workers and the impact of energy development on indigenous communities in the...

. The Americas Program continues as as the TransBorder Project and the Americas Project today.

Current Programs

The Center currently operates two key programs - the key Latin America Rights & Security (LARS) program and the Common Defense Campaign (CDC). In addition, Global Financial Integrity
Global Financial Integrity
Global Financial Integrity is a non-profit, research and advocacy organization located in Washington, DC. GFI advocates and conducts research on national and multilateral policies, safeguards, and agreements aimed at curtailing illicit financial flows and enhancing global development and security...

 and Avoided Deforestation Partners
Avoided Deforestation Partners
Avoided Deforestation Partners, or ADP, is an organization promoting the role of the world’s forests in stopping climate change. The organization is involved in the climate change debate...

 are projects of the Center.

Within the LARS program, the Americas project and the TransBorder project operate out of Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

 and New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

 respectively. The Cuba project, under the leadership of Wayne Smith
Wayne Smith (diplomat)
Wayne S. Smith is a former US diplomat, and currently an academic and author.-Government service:In 1949, Smith joined the United States Marine Corps, and served until 1953, including combat in the 1950-1953 Korean War. In 1957, he joined the US State Department, and served in the Soviet Union,...

, operates out of CIP's Washington office.

The Common Defense Campaign is a collection of projects related to US military policy. Win Without War
Win Without War
Win Without War is a coalition of roughly 40 organizations that promotes a progressive, demilitarized U.S. foreign policy.Based in Washington, DC, Win Without War was founded in 2002 by former U.S...

 and Afghanistan Study Group focus on the US role in the Afghanistan War. The Asia project, under the leadership of Selig Harrison
Selig S. Harrison
Selig Seidenman Harrison it is a scholar, journalist, and author who specializes in South Asia and East Asia. He is the Director of the Asia Program and a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, and a senior scholar of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He has...

, continues its original focus on North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

 relations and Indo-Pakistani relations
Indo-Pakistani relations
Relations between India and Pakistan have been strained by a number of historical and political issues, and are defined by the violent partition of British India in 1947, the Kashmir dispute and the numerous military conflicts fought between the two nations...

. The Arms & Security Project, based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, focus the worldwide arms trade. The Intelligence Reform Project focuses on the role of the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...

 and argues for its reform.

The Global Financial Integrity
Global Financial Integrity
Global Financial Integrity is a non-profit, research and advocacy organization located in Washington, DC. GFI advocates and conducts research on national and multilateral policies, safeguards, and agreements aimed at curtailing illicit financial flows and enhancing global development and security...

 program promotes national and multilateral policies to curtail illicit financial flows
Illicit financial flows
Illicit financial flows, in economics, refers to a form of illegal capital flight and occurs when money is illegally earned, transferred, or utilized. This money is intended to disappear from any record in the country of origin, and earnings on the stock of illicit financial flows outside of a...

 and enhance global development and security. AD Partners
Avoided Deforestation Partners
Avoided Deforestation Partners, or ADP, is an organization promoting the role of the world’s forests in stopping climate change. The organization is involved in the climate change debate...

 works towards the halting of tropical deforestation.
Current CIP projects:
  • Common Defense Campaign
    • Win Without War
      Win Without War
      Win Without War is a coalition of roughly 40 organizations that promotes a progressive, demilitarized U.S. foreign policy.Based in Washington, DC, Win Without War was founded in 2002 by former U.S...

    • Afghanistan Study Group
    • Asia Project
    • Arms & Security Project
    • Intelligence Reform Project
  • Latin America Rights & Security
  • Global Financial Integrity
    Global Financial Integrity
    Global Financial Integrity is a non-profit, research and advocacy organization located in Washington, DC. GFI advocates and conducts research on national and multilateral policies, safeguards, and agreements aimed at curtailing illicit financial flows and enhancing global development and security...

  • Avoided Deforestation Partners
    Avoided Deforestation Partners
    Avoided Deforestation Partners, or ADP, is an organization promoting the role of the world’s forests in stopping climate change. The organization is involved in the climate change debate...

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