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Jamestown Foundation

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Jamestown Foundation
Formation1984;40 years ago(1984)
FounderWilliam W. Geimer
Type501(c)(3) organization
36-3266722
HeadquartersWashington, D.C.,U.S.
President
Peter Mattis
Websitejamestown.orgEdit this at Wikidata

TheJamestown Foundationis aWashington, D.C.-basedconservative[1][2]defense policythink tank.[3]Founded in 1984 as a platform to supportSoviet defectors,its stated mission today 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 onChina,Russia,Eurasia,and globalterrorism.

Founding and mission[edit]

The Jamestown Foundation was founded in 1984 afterArkady Shevchenko,the highest-rankingSovietofficial ever to defect when he left his position asUnder-Secretary-General of the United Nations,defected in 1978.William Geimer,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 ofIon Pacepa,a former topRomanianintelligence officer; with the help of the foundation, both defectors published bestselling books.[4][5]Central Intelligence AgencyDirectorWilliam J. Caseyhelped 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.[6][7]The foundation, initially also dedicated to supporting Soviet dissidents, also aided defecting intellectuals from theEastern Blocin disseminating their ideas in the west.[8]

Leadership[edit]

Board of directors[edit]

In the past, Jamestown's board of directors has includedZbigniew Brzezinski,formerNational Security AdvisortoU.S. PresidentJimmy Carter.[9]Jamestown's current board includes Michael Carpenter, the managing director of thePenn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.Carpenter previously served in the Pentagon as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and in the White House as a foreign policy advisor to current PresidentJoe Biden(when Biden wasvice presidentunderBarack Obama) as well as on theNational Security Councilas Director for Russia. Jamestown's board also includesMichael G. Vickers,who previously served as theUnder Secretary of Defense for Intelligenceand whose role at the Central Intelligence Agency during theSoviet–Afghan Warwas famously featured inGeorge Crile's 2003 bookCharlie Wilson's War.[10]

As of 2021, the foundation's current board includes GeneralMichael V. Hayden;Bruce Hoffman;Matthew Bryza;Robert Spalding,who acted as an architect of US-China strategy while serving on the National Security Council in theDonald Trumpadministration; Michelle Van Cleave;Arthur Waldron;andTimothy J. Keating,[11]while Jamestown's fellows includedVladimir Socor;[12]Janusz Bugajski;Paul Goble;Michael Scheuer(who claims to have been fired for criticizing the United States'relationshipwithIsrael),[13]Thomas Kent, the former president ofRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty;Willy Wo-Lap Lam,a Hong Kong-based China specialist; Jacob Zenn, a leading expert onBoko Haram;and Stephen Ulph,[14]a leading expert onJihadistideology.

Staff[edit]

In September 2023, Peter Mattis was named Jamestown president, succeeding Glen E. Howard, who served at the position for 20 years.[15]

Activities[edit]

Its primary focus is onChina,Eurasia,Russia,and globalterrorism.As of 2023, its main publications areChina Brief[16],Eurasia Daily Monitor,[17]Terrorism Monitor,andMilitant Leadership Monitor[18].Previous publications includedEurasia Security Trends,Fortnight in Review,North Korea Review,Russia and Eurasia Review,Russia's Week,Spotlight on Terror,North Caucasus Weekly,(formerlyChechnya Weekly)[19]andRecent From Turkey[20]andTerrorism Focus.Along with these publications, Jamestown produces occasional reports[21]and books.[22]

Since 1990s the Foundation issuedPrism:a monthly on the post-Soviet states.[23]

Nikolai Getman collection[edit]

The foundation hosted Russian artistNikolai Getman's paintings ofGulagcamps. Getman was imprisoned for eight years by the Soviet regime for participating inanti-Soviet propagandaas a result of a caricature ofJoseph Stalinthat 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.[24]In September 2009, the Jamestown Foundation transferred the Getman collection toThe Heritage Foundation.[25]

Reception[edit]

In 2007, theRussian governmentsaid the think tank was spreading anti-Russian propaganda by hosting a debate on violence in the Russian republic ofIngushetia.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 RussianNorth Caucasususing the services of supporters of terrorists and pseudo-experts. Speakers were given carte blanche to spread extremist propaganda, incite ethnic and inter-religious discord. "[26]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 themedia in Russia."[26]

On 8 December 2011, AmbassadorDaniel Benjamin,State DepartmentCounterterrorism Coordinatorfor theObama administration,gave the keynote address at Jamestown's Fifth Annual Terrorism Conference where he praised Jamestown for its research and analysis of terrorism issues.[27]

The Jamestown Foundation was criticized by the Right Web project (now the "Militarist Monitor" project) based at theInstitute for Policy Studiesfor alleged links to the CIA and for advancing a right-wing,neoconservativeagenda.[6][7]

In 2020, the office of theProsecutor-General of Russiasaid that Jamestown Foundation's publications sought to fanseparatismin 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 theRussian foreign agent law.[28]

References[edit]

  1. ^Shinkman, Paul (23 January 2019)."Russians' Confidence in Putin Drops".U.S. News & World Report.Archivedfrom the original on 4 January 2022.Retrieved4 January2022.
  2. ^"'Sangorians' take a page from insurgent playbook in fight against Taliban ".France 24.AFP.18 June 2021.Archivedfrom the original on 4 January 2022.Retrieved4 January2022.
  3. ^"Chinese Stealth Fighter Could Rival U.S.'s Best: Report".ABC News.Archivedfrom the original on 27 February 2021.Retrieved13 February2021.
  4. ^Shipler, BY David K. (7 December 1986)."AFTER THEY DEFECT..."The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved9 September2022.
  5. ^Jamestown Foundation,OriginsArchived3 May 2009 at theWayback Machine
  6. ^ab"Jamestown Foundation".Institute for Policy Studies.28 May 2013. Archived fromthe originalon 22 February 2014.Retrieved30 March2014.
  7. ^abTsygankov, Andrei P. (2009).Russophobia: Anti-Russian Lobby and American Foreign Policy(First ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 24, 36.doi:10.1057/9780230620957.ISBN978-0-230-62095-7.Archivedfrom the original on 7 January 2022.Retrieved5 January2022.
  8. ^"Who aids East bloc defectors in the US?".Christian Science Monitor.2 July 1986.ISSN0882-7729.Archivedfrom the original on 19 April 2021.Retrieved19 April2021.
  9. ^"Brzezinski Joins Jamestown Foundation Board".Jamestown.Archivedfrom the original on 31 October 2020.Retrieved4 November2020.
  10. ^"Board Members - The Jamestown Foundation".jamestown.org.Archived fromthe originalon 26 April 2009.Retrieved23 November2011.
  11. ^"Board Members".Archived fromthe originalon 28 August 2008.
  12. ^"Jamestown Fellows".Archived fromthe originalon 28 August 2008.
  13. ^Lonergan, Kenneth (15 January 2012).Lobby Hero.doi:10.5040/9781580818490.
  14. ^"Towards a Curriculum for the Teaching of Jihadist Ideology".The Jamestown Foundation.Archived fromthe originalon 23 December 2010.Retrieved31 December2010.
  15. ^"PRESS RELEASE—Jamestown Foundation Names Peter Mattis as New President".Jamestown.Retrieved10 September2023.
  16. ^"China Brief".Jamestown.Retrieved24 May2023.
  17. ^"Eurasia Daily Monitor".Jamestown.Retrieved24 May2023.
  18. ^"Militant Leadership Monitor".Jamestown.Retrieved24 May2023.
  19. ^"North Caucasus Weekly - The Jamestown Foundation".jamestown.org.Archivedfrom the original on 24 June 2009.Retrieved23 June2009.
  20. ^"Turkey - The Jamestown Foundation".jamestown.org.Archivedfrom the original on 27 June 2009.Retrieved23 June2009.
  21. ^"Recent Reports".jamestown.org.Archived fromthe originalon 2 February 2011.
  22. ^"Books" webpageArchived23 December 2010 at theWayback Machine,jamestown.org.
  23. ^Prism: A Monthly on the Post-Soviet States. Volumes
  24. ^GetmanArchived13 May 2012 at theWayback MachineRetrieved on 9 November 2010
  25. ^"Heritage Exhibits Haunting 'Gulag Collection'".The Heritage Foundation.Archived fromthe originalon 15 January 2011.
  26. ^ab"Moscow criticises US think-tank over debate".Reuters.7 December 2007.Archivedfrom the original on 1 February 2013.Retrieved1 July2017.
  27. ^Benjamin, Daniel (8 December 2011)."Al-Qaida After Bin Laden".U.S. State Department.Archived fromthe originalon 5 January 2012.
  28. ^Soldatkin, Vladimir; Balmforth, Tom (8 April 2020). Tattersall, Nick (ed.)."Russia moves to ban 'undesirable' U.S. research group".Yahoo News.Reuters.Archivedfrom the original on 18 April 2020.Retrieved10 April2020.

External links[edit]

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