The Henry L. Stimson Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan global security think tank based in Washington, DC. Its stated mission is to urge "pragmatic steps toward the ideal objectives of international peace and security." Stimson pursues its vision by conducting independent analysis and offering fresh perspectives for the policymaking community, the media and concerned citizens.

The Center draws inspiration from the life and work of Henry L. Stimson

Henry L. Stimson

Henry Lewis Stimson was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican Party politician and spokesman on foreign policy. He twice served as Secretary of War 1911–1913 under Republican William Howard Taft and 1940–1945, under Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the latter role he was a leading hawk...

, whose bipartisan service to five presidents included appointments as Secretary of War for Presidents William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...

, Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

, and Harry Truman, and Secretary of State for President Herbert Hoover

Herbert Hoover

Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...

.http://www.stimson.org/about Henry Stimson believed strongly in “pragmatic idealism,” the notion that progress toward peace is only possible through practical steps and strong US engagement in the world.

In 2002, Ellen Laipson joined Stimson as its newest President and CEO. Laipson directs Stimson's work on Southwest Asia and contributes to its projects on Regional Voices and Homeland Security.

History

Stimson was founded in 1989 by Barry Blechman and Michael Krepon, who were committed to creating an enterprise that would be able to synthesize pragmatism and idealism in public policy. Initially, the Center was mainly focused on arms control and reducing the risk of nuclear war - projects prescient for the end of the Cold War. Throughout the years, Stimson ventured into new research areas, and its agenda has evolved to include a broad range of security issues, both traditional and nontraditional. The Center’s work is now focused on three priorities:

• Reducing threats of weapons of mass destruction and transnational threats;
• Building regional security; and
• Strengthening institutions for international peace and security.

Stimson conducts in-depth research and analysis to provide policy alternatives and overcome obstacles to a more peaceful and secure world. The organization's pragmatic approach seeks to understand and illuminate complex issues, develop new knowledge, and engage policymakers, policy implementers and non-governmental institutions to craft recommendations that are cross-partisan, actionable, and effective.

Transnational threats

Reducing the global risks created by weapons of mass destruction and proliferation continues to be a major focus of Stimson analysis and policy impact. In addition, in response to the changing threat environment, Stimson has expanded its research agenda to encompass emerging transnational challenges sparked by accelerating globalization, technological advances, and environmental stress. Finding workable solutions to these complex, often inter-related challenges requires ingenuity, new insights and cooperative action.

Global Health Security program

The Stimson Center's Global Health Security Program evaluates the rapidly changing policy frameworks for global public health, including infectious disease surveillance and reporting, focusing on case studies of the local, national, regional, and international responses to emerging disease threats as well as ongoing epidemics. The Global Health Security Program focuses on evidence-based decision making at the nexus of science and policy.

The Health Security program is directed by senior associate Dr. Julie Fischer.

Space Security program

The Space Security program aims to increase public awareness about the dangerous consequences of flight testing and deploying space weapons; provide policy makers, legislators, negotiators, and NGOs with information to construct wise space security choices; and offer a pragmatic alternative to space weapons. In 2006 the Space Security program engaged international partners to expand and particularize the Code of Conduct for Responsible Space-Faring Nations. Capitalizing on the Center's work in the past drafting a model code, the project seeks to popularize the ideas of cooperation, debris mitigation, and rules of the road in space amongst foreign diplomats and leaders. It has since been endorsed by The Economist.
It was also endorsed by the countries of Italy and Switzerland. The European Union has also endorsed the Code.

The program is directed by Stimson co-founder and Distinguished Fellow Michael Krepon.

Cooperative Nonproliferation program

In January 2005, the Henry L. Stimson Center launched the multifaceted Cooperative Nonproliferation program designed to accelerate existing efforts, and design new projects aimed at more rapidly and sustainably securing dangerous weapons, materials and expertise in the former Soviet Union and around the globe. Currently, the program is in the process of initiating its second year of the Pathogens for Peace Initiative (P4P), which aims to find sustainable employment for former Soviet Union biotech and nuclear scientists while also addressing neglected diseases, promoting economic development, and sustained scientific engagement.

The program is directed by senior associates Brian Finlay and Dr. Elizabeth Turpen.

Regional security

Stimson's regional security programs build on a global network of thought leaders, provide comprehensive analysis, and advance pragmatic policies in the US and abroad. Stimson's regional work stretches from the Pacific across the Indian Ocean and onto the Middle East and Africa.

Southwest Asia program

The Southwest Asia program looks at security issues in the Middle East, with particular focus on Iran, Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula. The program’s work examines security in all its dimensions, from strategic issues in the region and beyond, to managing security at the national level and also considers human security issues that have important implications for political stability. The program also examines US policies in the region, the policies of the states in the area, the views of non-state and other outside actors, including the rising Asian powers.

The program is directed by the Center’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Ellen Laipson.

East Asia program

The East Asia program seeks to illuminate and fashion practical solutions to many of the complex security challenges confronting East Asia and the Asia-Pacific region today. The program’s PRC and Taiwan-related work focuses heavily on US-PRC and cross-Strait relations, as well as US policy toward Taiwan and the region more broadly. The Program's Japan-centered work examines the implications of Japan's evolving security policy and seeks to strengthen US-Japan cooperation on a number of regional and global strategic issues. The Program also deals closely with the Korean Peninsula, exploring everything from North Korean nuclear issues to inter-Korean relations.

The program is co-directed by senior associates Alan Romberg and Yuki Tatsumi.

South Asia program

The South Asia program seeks to nurture confidence-building measures and nuclear risk reduction in Pakistan, India, and the Kashmir region. The program achieves its objectives through a host of activities including: workshops for policy makers in Pakistan, India and the United States; hosting Visiting Fellows from Pakistan and India; and through publications relating to a variety of regional issues.

The program is directed by co-founder and Distinguished Fellow Michael Krepon, whose analysis is often quoted in the mainstream press and media of the subcontinent.

Southeast Asia program

The goal of the Southeast Asia program is to promote greater understanding within the US government, the business sector, academia, and the general public of the region's complexity and importance to US interests. Specifically, the program closely follows events and policy relating to Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Burma.

The program is directed by senior associate Dr. Richard Cronin.

Regional Voices

The Regional Voices project is about understanding how knowledgeable people from the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia think about emerging non-traditional security issues. The project fosters dialogue among subject experts and strategic thinkers from various disciplines and occupational backgrounds through holding workshops in the regions, entering into partnerships with regional institutions, and carrying out interviews in the field. Additionally, the project carries out research into the state of knowledge and thinking on transnational challenges.

The Voices project is directed by senior associate Amit Pandya.

Future of Peace Operations program

The Future of Peace Operations program was designed with the idea of focusing on the two key components of peace operations: peacekeeping - the provision of temporary post-conflict security by internationally mandated forces - and peacebuilding - those efforts undertaken by the international community to help a war-torn society create a self-sustaining peace. During 2006, the Future of Peace Operations program will report on the role of the military in protecting civilians in conflict, on ways to improve the availability of international law enforcement personnel in peace operations, on best practices for fighting corruption in post-conflict settings, and on measures to reduce spoilers and promote accountability in peace operations. The program will also run a workshop series looking at these issues with a focus on Africa and issue a report on US military concerns with the International Criminal Court.

FOPO is co-directed by senior associates Dr. William Durch and Victoria Holt.

Security for a New Century program

The Security for a New Century (SNC) project is designed to inform and enhance the dialogue within Congress on international security issues across political lines. The project has Democratic and Republican sponsors from both the House of Representatives and the Senate. In this sponsored capacity, The Stimson Center’s SNC congressional fellows coordinate an ongoing briefing series intended to educate Congressional staff about the complex security challenges confronting US policymakers. The goal of SNC is to provide a “safe,” off-the-record forum featuring experts on international security issues that are important to policymakers in the long-term.

SNC is directed by Dr. Elizabeth Turpen, with assistance from Senate Fellow Geneve Mantri and Congressional Fellow Judith Oliver.

Budgeting for Foreign Affairs and Defense

The Stimson Center’s Budgeting for Foreign Affairs and Defense program examines how the nation plans and allocates resources for its foreign and national security policies. The project is unique in viewing the nation’s foreign and security policies and resources as a whole. The nation’s ability to carry out its policy agenda depends on the synergy of the diplomatic, foreign assistance, military, intelligence and homeland security tools. The Stimson Center’s Budgeting for Foreign Affairs and Defense program carries out independent analysis, provides practical solutions for planning and resourcing US foreign and national security policies and proposes ways to improve our planning and budgeting system.

BFAD is directed by Gordon Adams, a Distinguished Fellow at the Stimson Center.

Publications

Stimson publishes in-depth analysis from its own institution's research as well as from external contributing authors. Recent publications include Cooperative Nonproliferation: Getting Further, Faster, The Impossible Mandate? Military Preparedness, the Responsibility to Protect and Modern Peace Operations, and Transnational Trends: Middle Eastern and Asian Views, which are all online accessible.http://www.stimson.org/pubs/

In addition, Stimson produces reports, issue briefs, commentary and background papers. The Center's experts also regularly publish opinion pieces and are cited in many international media outlets.

Stimson's website also publishes an online Spotlight series, which serves as a biweekly commentary on some of today's most pressing foreign policy issues.http://www.stimson.org/spotlight.cfm In September 2008, Stimson launched the Presidential Inbox 2009. Each week, a Stimson expert writes about an issue that will affect the incoming administration from its first day in office. Written directly to the president, these memos offer an inside look at the problem, suggested paths to move forward, and a realistic look at the consequences of inaction.

Board of directors

• Ambassador Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr.
  Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr.
  Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr. is a United States Defense Department and State Department official.-Biography:Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr. is the son of Lincoln P. Bloomfield, a political scientist widely respected as an expert on foreign affairs. Bloomfield was educated at Harvard University,...
  
   (Chairman, 2005–Present)
• Former Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering
  Thomas R. Pickering
  Thomas Reeve "Tom" Pickering , is a retired United States ambassador. Among his many diplomatic appointments, he served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 1989 to 1992.-Early life:...
  
   (Vice Chairman, 2001–Present)
• Les Aspin
  Les Aspin
  Leslie "Les" Aspin, Jr. was a United States Representative from 1971 to 1993, and the United States Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton from January 21, 1993 to February 3, 1994.-Early life:...
  
   (1994–1995)
• Zoë Baird
  Zoë Baird
  Zoë Eliot Baird is an American lawyer who is president of the Markle Foundation. She is most known for her role in the Nannygate matter of 1993.-Biography:...
  
   (1990–1991)
• Linda Banton (2001–Present)
• Barry Blechman (1989–Present, Chairman 1989 - 2007)
• Barbara Davis Blum (2001–Present)
• Avis Bohlen
  Avis Bohlen
  Avis Thayer Bohlen is a diplomat and former Assistant Secretary for Arms Control and United States Ambassador to Bulgaria . Her parents were Charles E. Bohlen, former Ambassador to the Soviet Union , and Avis Howard Thayer...
  
   (2004–Present)
• Robert Boorstin (2007–Present)
• K. David Boyer (2001–2002)
• Richard Clarke (1997–Present)
• Elmer Cooper (1991–1995)
• Alton Frye (1990–Present)
• William Harrop (2001–Present)
• Arnold Kanter (1994–2005)
• Farooq Kathwari
  Farooq Kathwari
  Farooq Kathwari is the Chairman, President and Chief Executive officer of Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. He has been president of the Company since 1985 and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since 1988. In 1989 he formed a group to purchase Ethan Allen and took the Company public in 1993. Under Mr...
  
   (2003–Present)
• Roger Leeds (1990–2005)
• Frank Loy (1990–1998, 2002–2005)
• Leo Mackay (1998–2001)
• Norman Neureiter (2005–Present)
• Philip Odeen (2001–Present)
• Condoleezza Rice
  Condoleezza Rice
  Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
  
  (1991–2001)
• Anne Richard (2006–Present)
• Rozanne Ridgway (1997–2001)
• Enid Schoettle (1992–Present)
• Jeffrey Smith (1990–Present)
• Leonard Spector (1989–1997)
• Howard Stoertz (1991–1997)
• Richard Thornburgh (1994–1997)
• Larry Welch (1997–Present)
• Carroll Wetzel (2000–Present)
• John Wickham (1992–1998)
• Susan Williams (1990–2002)
• Willard Wirtz (1991–1993)
• Charles Bailey, II (Emeritus, 1991–2004)
• Michael Krepon (Emeritus, 1989–2007)