The Jamestown Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.
-based institute for research and analysis, founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet dissidents
. Today its stated mission is to "inform and educate" policy makers about events and trends, which it regards as being of current "strategic
" importance to the United States
. The Jamestown Foundation most often acquires its information through indigenous primary sources. Its website claims that "utilizing indigenous
and primary source
s, Jamestown’s material is delivered without political bias
, filter or agenda
." However, Jamestown has come under criticism for alleged agenda pushing and unsubstantiated ties to the CIA.
, the highest-ranking Soviet
official ever to defect
when he left his position as Under-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 of Ion Pacepa, a former top Romania
n intelligence officer; with the help of the foundation, both defectors published bestselling books. The CIA
Director William J. Casey
, a leading figure in national security organizations, helped back the formation of The Jamestown Foundation, agreeing with its complaints that the U.S. intelligence community did not provide sufficient funding of Soviet bloc defectors. The foundation, initially also dedicated to supporting Soviet dissidents, enabled the defectors from the Eastern Bloc
to earn extra money by lecturing and writing.
According to its website: "The mission of the Jamestown Foundation is to inform and educate policy makers and the broader policy community about events and trends in those societies which are strategically or tactically important to the United States and which frequently restrict access to such information. Utilizing indigenous and primary sources, Jamestown’s material is delivered without political bias, filter or agenda. It is often the only source of information which should be, but is not always, available through official or intelligence channels, especially in regard to Eurasia and terrorism." The Foundation describes its "unique ability to elicit information from those who have first-hand experience with the regimes and groups that threaten U.S. national security". It claims to have "contributed directly to the spread of democracy
and personal freedom
in the former Communist Bloc countries."
, Eurasia
, Russia
and global terrorism
. As of 2008, its publications were Eurasia Daily Monitor, Global Terrorism Analysis, China Brief, North Caucasus Weekly, (formerly Chechnya
Weekly) and Recent From Turkey. Previous publications included Eurasia Security Trends, Fortnight in Review, North Korea
Review, Russia and Eurasia Review, Russia’s Week, Spotlight on Terror, Terrorism Focus and Terrorism Monitor. Along with these publications, Jamestown produces occasional reports and books.
As of 2010, the foundation’s current board includes General Michael V. Hayden, Bruce Riedel
, Carlton W. Fulford Jr., Kathleen Troia McFarland
, Bruce Hoffman
, James H. Burnley IV and Frank Keating
, while the Jamestown's fellows included David Satter
, Michael Scheuer
(let go in 2009, he claims he was fired because of his criticism of the U.S.-Israeli relations), Vladimir Socor
, Willy Wo-Lap Lam, a Hong Kong-based China specialist, and Stephen Ulph, a leading expert on Jihadist ideology.
's paintings of Gulag
camps. Getman was imprisoned for eight years by the Soviet regime for participating in anti-Soviet propaganda as a result of a caricature of Stalin
that 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. In September 2009, the Jamestown Foundation transferred the Getman collection to the Heritage Foundation
.
agenda driven think-tank with ties to the CIA and United States government
. The eXile
columnist Philby Burgess commented: "Most of the bitterly anti-Russian journalists who publish with these rightwing lobbies are from the small countries surrounding Russia, and they are animated by a deep hatred of their former conqueror."
The Jamestown Foundation categorically rejects all claims that link it with the neoconservative or any other specific ideological movement. In the past, Jamestown's board of directors has included Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski
, former National Security Advisor
to U.S. President
Jimmy Carter
. Jamestown's current board includes Brookings Institution
Senior Fellow Bruce Riedel, who has served in the Clinton
White House and in 2009 was tasked by President Barack Obama
to overhaul U.S. policy on Afghanistan
and Pakistan
. The Jamestown Foundation has no ties to any government agencies and accepts no money from the United States government.
In 2007 Moscow accused the research institute of spreading anti-Russian propaganda
by hosting a debate on violence in the Russia's turbulent region of Ingushetia
. 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 Russian North Caucasus
using the services of supporters of terrorists and pseudo-experts. Speakers were given carte blanche to spread extremist propaganda, incite ethnic and inter-religious discord." The Jamestown Foundation responded by saying that Russia felt threatened by it and was trying to intimidate it. Foundation president Glen Howard claimed that "they're intimidated by the power of the free word
and this goes against the state manipulation of the media in Russia
."
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....
-based institute for research and analysis, founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet dissidents
Soviet dissidents
Soviet dissidents were citizens of the Soviet Union who disagreed with the policies and actions of their government and actively protested against these actions through either violent or non-violent means...
. Today its stated mission is to "inform and educate" policy makers about events and trends, which it regards as being of current "strategic
Strategy
Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked...
" importance to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The Jamestown Foundation most often acquires its information through indigenous primary sources. Its website claims that "utilizing indigenous
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
and primary source
Primary source
Primary source is a term used in a number of disciplines to describe source material that is closest to the person, information, period, or idea being studied....
s, Jamestown’s material is delivered without political bias
Bias
Bias is an inclination to present or hold a partial perspective at the expense of alternatives. Bias can come in many forms.-In judgement and decision making:...
, filter or agenda
Political agenda
A political agenda is a set of issues and policies laid out by an executive or cabinet in government that tries to influence current and near-future political news and debate....
." However, Jamestown has come under criticism for alleged agenda pushing and unsubstantiated ties to the CIA.
Founding and mission
The Jamestown Foundation was founded in 1984 after Arkady ShevchenkoArkady Shevchenko
Arkady Nikolayevich Shevchenko , a Soviet diplomat, was the highest-ranking Soviet official to defect to the West.Shevchenko joined the diplomatic service of the Soviet Union as a young man and rose through the ranks of the Soviet Foreign Ministry, becoming advisor to Andrei Gromyko, Minister for...
, the highest-ranking Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
official ever to defect
Defection
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another. More broadly, it involves abandoning a person, cause or doctrine to whom or to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.This term is also applied,...
when he left his position as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations
An Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Secretary-General for a renewable term of four years....
, 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 of Ion Pacepa, a former top Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n intelligence officer; with the help of the foundation, both defectors published bestselling books. The CIA
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...
Director William J. Casey
William J. Casey
William Joseph Casey was the Director of Central Intelligence from 1981 to 1987. In this capacity he oversaw the entire United States Intelligence Community and personally directed the Central Intelligence Agency ....
, a leading figure in national security organizations, helped back the formation of The Jamestown Foundation, agreeing with its complaints that the U.S. intelligence community did not provide sufficient funding of Soviet bloc defectors. The foundation, initially also dedicated to supporting Soviet dissidents, enabled the defectors from the Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
to earn extra money by lecturing and writing.
According to its website: "The mission of the Jamestown Foundation is to inform and educate policy makers and the broader policy community about events and trends in those societies which are strategically or tactically important to the United States and which frequently restrict access to such information. Utilizing indigenous and primary sources, Jamestown’s material is delivered without political bias, filter or agenda. It is often the only source of information which should be, but is not always, available through official or intelligence channels, especially in regard to Eurasia and terrorism." The Foundation describes its "unique ability to elicit information from those who have first-hand experience with the regimes and groups that threaten U.S. national security". It claims to have "contributed directly to the spread of democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
and personal freedom
Civil liberties
Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
in the former Communist Bloc countries."
Current activities
Currently, its primary focus is on ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and global terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
. As of 2008, its publications were Eurasia Daily Monitor, Global Terrorism Analysis, China Brief, North Caucasus Weekly, (formerly Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
Weekly) and Recent From Turkey. Previous publications included Eurasia Security Trends, Fortnight in Review, 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...
Review, Russia and Eurasia Review, Russia’s Week, Spotlight on Terror, Terrorism Focus and Terrorism Monitor. Along with these publications, Jamestown produces occasional reports and books.
As of 2010, the foundation’s current board includes General Michael V. Hayden, Bruce Riedel
Bruce Riedel
Bruce Riedel is a Senior Fellow in foreign policy at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy of the Brookings Institution, a Senior Advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group, a former CIA Analyst, a counter-terrorism expert, and an author. He retired in 2006 after 29 years with the Central...
, Carlton W. Fulford Jr., Kathleen Troia McFarland
Kathleen Troia McFarland
Kathleen Troia "KT" McFarland was the deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs at The Pentagon from 1982 to 1985 under President Ronald Reagan and speech writer to Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger...
, Bruce Hoffman
Bruce Hoffman
Bruce Hoffman is the Director of the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service and a specialist in the study of terrorism and counter-insurgency...
, James H. Burnley IV and Frank Keating
Frank Keating
Francis Anthony "Frank" Keating is an American politician from Oklahoma. Keating served as the 25th Governor of Oklahoma. His first term began in 1995 and ended in 1999...
, while the Jamestown's fellows included David Satter
David Satter
David Satter is a former Moscow correspondent and expert on Russia and the Soviet Union who wrote books about the decline and fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of post-Soviet Russia.-Life and career:...
, Michael Scheuer
Michael Scheuer
Michael F. Scheuer is a former CIA intelligence officer, American blogger, historian, foreign policy critic, and political analyst. He is currently an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's Center for Peace and Security Studies...
(let go in 2009, he claims he was fired because of his criticism of the U.S.-Israeli relations), Vladimir Socor
Vladimir Socor
Vladimir Socor is a political analyst of East European affairs for the Jamestown Foundation and its Eurasia Daily Monitor, currently residing in Munich, Germany...
, Willy Wo-Lap Lam, a Hong Kong-based China specialist, and Stephen Ulph, a leading expert on Jihadist ideology.
Nikolai Getman collection
The foundation hosts Russian artist Nikolai GetmanNikolai Getman
Nikolai Getman , an artist, was born in 1917 in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and died at his home inOrel, Russia, in August 2004. He was a prisoner from 1946 to 1953 in forced labor camps in Siberia and Kolyma, where he survived as a result of his ability to sketch for the propaganda requirements of the...
's paintings of Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
camps. Getman was imprisoned for eight years by the Soviet regime for participating in anti-Soviet propaganda as a result of a caricature of Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
that 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. In September 2009, the Jamestown Foundation transferred the Getman collection to the Heritage Foundation
Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation is a conservative American think tank based in Washington, D.C. Heritage's stated mission is to "formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong...
.
Media coverage
An article published in The Jamestown Foundation publication China Brief was credited by a Taiwanese newspaper as prompting the Taiwanese government to conduct a review of the island's defense strategy.According to a May 5, 2010 report in the Taipei-based newspaper United Daily News, the China Brief article, “Taiwan’s Navy: Able to Deny Command of the Sea?", published on April 16, 2010 written by James Holmes and Toshi Yoshihara at the U.S. Naval War College, was reportedly the reason why Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou recently directed the Ministry of National Defense to reevaluate the country's naval strategy. China Brief editor L.C. Russell Hsiao noted that this development was a major achievement for the publication and attests to the range and impact it has on the policymaking community. Published since May 2001 China Brief has a global readership of nearly 8,000 subscribers and is widely read by defense and foreign policy experts around the world, particularly policymakers in the United States.Criticism
It has been alleged that Jamestown is a neoconservativeNeoconservatism
Neoconservatism in the United States is a branch of American conservatism. Since 2001, neoconservatism has been associated with democracy promotion, that is with assisting movements for democracy, in some cases by economic sanctions or military action....
agenda driven think-tank with ties to the CIA and United States government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
. The eXile
The eXile
The eXile was a Moscow-based English-language biweekly free tabloid newspaper, aimed at the city's expatriate community, which combined outrageous, sometimes satirical, content with investigative reporting...
columnist Philby Burgess commented: "Most of the bitterly anti-Russian journalists who publish with these rightwing lobbies are from the small countries surrounding Russia, and they are animated by a deep hatred of their former conqueror."
The Jamestown Foundation categorically rejects all claims that link it with the neoconservative or any other specific ideological movement. In the past, Jamestown's board of directors has included Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski is a Polish American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman who served as United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981....
, former National Security Advisor
National Security Advisor (United States)
The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor , serves as the chief advisor to the President of the United States on national security issues...
to U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
. Jamestown's current board includes Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...
Senior Fellow Bruce Riedel, who has served in the Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
White House and in 2009 was tasked by President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
to overhaul U.S. policy on Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. The Jamestown Foundation has no ties to any government agencies and accepts no money from the United States government.
In 2007 Moscow accused the research institute of spreading anti-Russian propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
by hosting a debate on violence in the Russia's turbulent region of Ingushetia
Ingushetia
The Republic of Ingushetia is a federal subject of Russia , located in the North Caucasus region with its capital at Magas. In terms of area, the republic is the smallest of Russia's federal subjects except for the two federal cities, Moscow and Saint Petersburg...
. 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 Russian North Caucasus
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas and within European Russia. The term is also used as a synonym for the North Caucasus economic region of Russia....
using the services of supporters of terrorists and pseudo-experts. Speakers were given carte blanche to spread extremist propaganda, incite ethnic and inter-religious discord." The Jamestown Foundation responded by saying that Russia felt threatened by it and was trying to intimidate it. Foundation president Glen Howard claimed that "they're intimidated by the power of the free word
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
and this goes against the state manipulation of the media in Russia
Freedom of the press in Russia
The issue of freedom of the press in Russia involves both the ability of directors of mass media outlets to carry out independent policies and the ability of journalists to access sources of information and to work without outside pressure...
."