The Truman Center for National Policy is a left-of-center national security-focused think tank located in Washington D.C. The organization was formed by the merger of the Center for National Policy and the Truman National Security Project in 2013. The center advances various left-of-center positions in national security, including promoting gender and racial ideology in the form of critical race and gender theory in the military and State Department. It also argues that climate change is a national security threat and encourages the “decarbonization” of the military.^{1 2 3 4}

Its predecessor organization, Center for National Policy, was founded by former Democratic cabinet members and other officeholders after electoral defeats of the Democratic Party in the late 20th century.⁵

History

Founding

The Center for National Policy was originally led by Carter administration Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, former Duke University President and North Carolina Gov. Terry Sanford (D), and Ted Van Dyk, who would become CNP’s president.⁶ Van Dyk had served as Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s former assistant in the White House of President Lyndon Johnson and an active participant in Democratic party politics through much of the latter half of the 20th century.⁷

According to Van Dyk: “Center for National Policy drew on every Democratic faction. A rethinking [after the 1980 election], we believed, could only be effective if consensus was reached internally.”⁸

CNP attracted many notable figures in the Democratic party throughout the years, including former U.S. Representative Timothy J. Roemer (D-IN), who also served as U.S. Ambassador to India in the Obama administration.⁹ Madeleine Albright worked with CNP before she became Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton. ¹⁰

CNP was over the course of its existence a left-of-center think tank predominantly focused on national security policy. It’s most up-to-date interest areas listed on its partially out of date home page include “understanding global threats,” “strengthening national resilience” in the face of “periodic catastrophes,” and “building next-generation infrastructure.” ¹¹ CNP also focuses on issues of economic security, cyber espionage, energy independence, and U.S. foreign relations. ¹²

Truman Project Merger

CNP formally joined with the Truman Project, a group founded in 2005 to develop national and foreign policy leadership ¹³ whose first office space was sublet from CNP, in 2013.¹⁴ The two organizations retained separate boards and kept both of their entire staffs, though the staff would thenceforth be shared. ¹⁵ Both organizations kept their names. ¹⁶

Tax documents reveal that CNP’s IRS Employer Identification Number (EIN) remained linked to the “Center for National Policy” until 2014, ¹⁷ but the name formally changed to the “Truman Center for National Policy” in 2015. ¹⁸

Issue Advocacy

City and State Diplomacy

The Truman Center works to promote cooperation between the U.S. State Department and local and state governments with the goal of facilitating increased engagement with the world. Specifically, the center recommends that the State Department create a new office within the State Department specifically geared to work with state and local governments. It also advocates that states and local governments invest in personnel to focus on foreign engagement, and that they also work with academic and philanthropic organizations to increase a city or region’s diplomatic capacity.¹⁹

Climate and National Security

The Truman Center advocates for government action to combat climate change. It emphasizes what it considers to be national security concerns, such as climate migration, claims that climate change undermines military readiness, and will lead to more resource-driven conflict. It advocates that the military reduce its usage of oil, and blames natural disasters, such as storms and fires on climate change.^{20 21}

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice

The Truman Center promotes critical race and gender theories and characterizes racism as being a national security issues. It claims that there is systemic racism in America. To that end it provides detailed breakdowns of the race and gender of its employees and members, as well as the race and gender of media hits and its own social media promotions. It has also hosted events focused on gender and sexuality in national security, such as “Pride and National Security” and “Transgender in the Military”.^{22 23}

Immigration and National Security

The Truman Centers advocates increased immigration, changes to how asylum seekers and processed, and a move away from detaining illegal immigrants. It also claims that it is not possible to increase security at the border.^{24 25}

Activities

Trucon

Every year The Truman Center for National Policy hosts an annual convention Trucon in Washington, D.C. Available for both members and the public. The convention features speakers to discuss a variety of topics relating to national security. Previous notable speakers include Biden administration Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Biden administration Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D), and District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser (D). For 2022, the Truman Center for National Policy partnered with Vox to promote the convention through online ads. ²⁶

Diplomatic Engagement

In 2022, the Truman Center for National Policy partnered with member and Mayor of Atlanta Andre Dickens (D) to release a report titled “Broadening Diplomatic Engagement Across America.” ²⁷ The report recommended that cities and other local governments should partner with the US State Department to conduct diplomacy on behalf of themselves. The report cites how Tokyo and Paris market themselves abroad as examples of how cities in the US should operate. The report also recommends that cities partner with nonprofits, academic institutions, and philanthropic organizations to help push themselves abroad. ²⁸

Funding

There is no complete list of donors to the Center, however the center has received support from major left-wing foundations. From 1982 to 2007, the MacArthur Foundation, a traditional giver to left-wing organizations,²⁹ gave the Center for National Policy over $500,000.³⁰

Meanwhile, the Carnegie Corporation of New York donated $500,000 in 2012 and $700,000 in 2014 to what it labeled as the “Truman Center for National Policy (formerly Center for National Policy).”³¹ Carnegie’s giving continued even after the Center for National Project’s Employer Identification Number transferred to the Truman Center for National Policy, donating $500,000 in 2016.³²

The Open Society Foundations associated with liberal billionaire George Soros were also major donors, giving $250,000 to the Center for National Policy over an 18-month period starting in 2010. ³³

People

Jenna Ben-Yehuda is the president and CEO of the Truman Center for National Policy. She is the founder of the Women’s Foreign Policy Network, has worked at the State Department. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future’s Council on U.S. National Security. In 2022 she was appointed to the Air Force Academy’s Board of Visitors by President Joe Biden.³⁴

Center for National Policy’s past presidents have included Ted Van Dyk, former assistant to Vice President Humphrey;³⁵ Kirk O’Donnell, former chief counsel to Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill (D-MA);³⁶ Madeleine Albright, former member of President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Council and later Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton;³⁷ Maureen Steinbruner, ³⁸ a longtime researcher for CNP;³⁹ former U.S. Rep. Timothy J. Roemer (D-IN);⁴⁰ Stephen Flynn, ⁴¹ former senior fellow for National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and member of the presidential transition team for President Barack Obama;⁴² Scott Bates, ⁴³ former senior policy advisor to the House Homeland Security Committee; ⁴⁴ and Michael Breen, co-founder of the International Refugee Assistance Project.⁴⁵

Former U.S. Senator and Secretary of State under President Carter Ed Muskie (D-ME) ⁴⁶ as well as former Secretary of Defense under President Obama Leon Panetta have also sat on the board of CNP.⁴⁷

1. “Truman Center for National Policy | About Us.” TrumanCenter.org. Accessed December 12, 2022. https://www.trumancenter.org/about/about-us.
2. “Truman Fact Sheet: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice.” TrumanCenter.org. Accessed December 12, 2022. https://assets.website-files.com/60b7dbd50474252e6c8c4fc5/61140d44f0bbf5f9b9e1ae83_Truman%20DEIJ%20FactSheet_FINAL.pdf
3. “Truman Center for National Policy | Diversity, Equity & Justice.” TrumanCenter.org. Accessed December 12, 2022. https://www.trumancenter.org/issues/diversity-equity-justice.
4. “Climate and National Security: Supporting COP26 Goals Talking Points.” TrumanCenter.org, December 2021. Accessed December 12, 2022. https://assets.website-files.com/60b7dbd50474252e6c8c4fc5/61c0972ba0379b4dd3ed71d1_truman-tp-climate-draft4.pdf.
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