The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank and research institution created to support American foreign policy and national security during the height of the Cold War. ¹

The organization receives most of its revenue from grants and contributions by organizations, corporations, and private grantmaking foundations including the Smith Richardson Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Charles Koch Foundation, World Wildlife Fund, Bank of America Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corporation, BP, Citigroup, Facebook, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Raytheon Company, Amazon, Apple, IBM, and Disney. ^{2 3}

Background

The Center for Strategic and International Studies is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. The organization, created as part of Georgetown University, was founded by Admiral Arleigh Burke and David Abshire in 1962. Burke and Abshire founded CSIS to find solutions to the problems with American foreign policy and national security during the height of the Cold War. The organization continues to focus on national security and foreign policy issues but has broadened its research to other issues including environmentalism, cybersecurity, and global health. ^{4 5}

CSIS became an independent nonprofit organization in 1987, and currently employs more than 240 staff. CSIS notes on its website that it hires scholars and former “government and private-sector officials” who conduct research and develop “policy prescriptions.” CSIS also notes that members of staff work with stakeholders “inside and outside the government.” ^{4 6}

CSIS states that it is regularly “called upon by Congress, the executive branch,” and the media. CSIS states that testifying is a “key element” in its engagement with Congress, noting that in 2020 16 “experts” from the organization participated in 18 House and Senate hearings. It also provides Congress with analysis on current issues, reports with policy recommendations, and staff-focused policy discussions. ⁷

Financials

The Center for Strategic and International Studies receives most of its income from grants and contributions from private organizations and grantmaking foundations. In 2018, CSIS received a total of just under $83.3 million in revenue, $77 million of which came from contributions and grants, and $7 million from program services. The organization had a total expense amount of just under $45 million, $17 million of which was used to pay for salaries and wages while another $3.3 million was used to pay for executive compensation. Revenue dropped significantly in 2017 when the organization received $50.6 million in total revenue and had just over $46 million in total expenses. ⁸

CSIS had a total revenue of approximately $45.5 million in both 2018 and 2019 and received around $40 million in contributions and grants for both years. The organization received just under $3 million in government grants in 2018 and just over $2 million in 2019. ^{8 8}

Its total expenses were also similar for both years, reaching around $45 million. Despite a total revenue substantially less than it had in 2016, CSIS spent approximately $18 million on salaries and wages in 2018 and 2019. It also spent $4.6 million in executive compensation in 2018, and approximately $5.1 million in 2019. ⁸

Funding

The Center for Strategic and International Studies receives most of its contributions and grants from private grantmaking foundations including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

The Gates Foundation is one of the biggest funders of CSIS. It has contributed approximately $42 million in grants from 2001 to 2020. Most of the grants the Gates Foundation made were listed under the topics of global health, and agricultural development. ⁹

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (also known as the Hewlett Foundation) is a left-of-center private grantmaking foundation that provides a substantial amount of money to CSIS. In total, the Hewlett Foundation has contributed $5,081,200 in grants from 2000 to 2021. ¹⁰

The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a left-of-center grantmaking foundation founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1911. It is a substantial funder of CSIS and has provided grants to the organization since 2005. The Carnegie Corporation of New York has granted approximately $13.5 million to CSIS as of June 2022. ¹¹

The Henry Luce Foundation a left-of-center grantmaking organization, has provided CSIS 24 grants from 1989 to 2022. The grants amount to a total of $4,067,500 and are mostly aimed at improving foreign relations and international affairs. ¹²

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is an American philanthropic family foundation founded in 1934 by Alfred P. Sloan, former president and CEO of General Motors. The Sloan Foundation today serves as a grantmaking organization that funds projects in science, economics, and technology. The foundation has provided CSIS with five grants, totaling $793,400, from 2016 to 2020. ¹³

The Open Society Foundations (OSF) is a private grant making foundation created and funded by billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros. OSF has provided CSIS with seven grants between 2017 and 2020. The grants amount to a total of $570,178, primarily to support foreign policy initiatives. ¹⁴

The ClimateWorks Foundation is a left-of-center “pass-through” funding entity that distributes funds from donors to environmentalist advocacy groups around the world. Many of these nonprofits lobby for emissions taxes, restricting coal use, international climate treaties with strict enforcement mechanisms, and diminishing the use of cars. It provided two grants to CSIS, both under its “transportation” program. One grant of $160,000 was awarded in April 2019, and another grant of $150,000 in May 2020. ¹⁵¹⁶

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) was a key funder of groups advocating for the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. RWJF provided funds to Enroll America, an organization that the Obama administration used to recruit sign-ups for Obamacare health plans. ¹⁷

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) made a single grant of $244,049 to CSIS in 2020 under the title “Promoting policies to address vaccine hesitancy.” According to the grant description, CSIS would create a year-long forum on “Improving Vaccine Confidence and Addressing Social Media Misinformation Campaigns.” ¹⁸

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund has provided two grants to CSIS both of which focused on work surrounding the Western Balkans. One grant of $100,000 was awarded in June 2017, and the other was for $120,000 in August 2019. ¹⁹

On its website, the Center for Strategic and International Studies notes donors that contributed $5,000 or more during the 2020 fiscal year. These donors include the Smith Richardson Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Charles Koch Foundation, Oceans 5, ClearPath, Freedom House, Bloomberg Philanthropies, World Wildlife Fund, Bank of America Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corporation, BP, Citigroup, Facebook, General Atomics, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Raytheon Company, Amazon, Apple, IBM, and Disney. ^{20 21}

Government Funding

According to Think Tank Funding Tracker, a project of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, from 2019 through 2024, CSIS received the ninth-most funding from foreign governments ($1,975,000) of all U.S. think tanks, and the third-most funding from Pentagon contractors ($4,115,000). ²²

As of January 2025, CSIS lists funding from 16 foreign governments: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Norway, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Lithuania, and Vietnam. CSIS has also received funding from the United Nations and NATO. ²³

Alleged Conflicts of Interest

Business with Japan

In September 2014, the New York Times published an article highlighting reports of U.S-based think tanks receiving donations and grants from foreign governments, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) being listed for receiving a $1 million donation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government to build the organization’s new headquarters in Washington, D.C. CSIS later acknowledged it received funds from 14 foreign governments including those from Germany, China, and Japan. According to the same New York Times report, in 2013 the CSIS had hosted several events and advocated in favor of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement that were aligned with goals set by the Japanese government. Allegedly, in the previous four years the CSIS had received roughly $1.1 million in donations from the government of Japan. Then-CSIS head John Hamre responded to the report claiming that the organization’s goals had aligned with Japan’s in those cases,  but denied that Japan’s donations influenced CSIS’s activity. ²⁴

Corporate Influence

In August 2016, the New York Times published a report identifying the CSIS, along with the Brookings Institution and American Enterprise Institute (AEI), as one of several U.S-based think tanks that had received corporate donations in the past. ²⁵

The report further alleged CSIS had received tens of thousands in donations from General Atomics, manufacturer of the Predator military drone aircraft, prior to a report it released highlighting the effectiveness of drone warfare. In addition, the report claimed that CSIS had arranged “confidential” meetings between representatives of General Atomics and U.S. officials including representatives of the U.S Navy, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Representatives of Boeing and Lockheed Martin were also invited to these meetings, but they did not attend. The New York Times article also claimed that CSIS had not filed a lobbying report regarding these meetings. In response, CSIS scholar Samuel J. Brannen declared, “We do not lobby.” ²⁵

In February 2015, the U.S. State Department approved the sale of Predator drones to Saudi Arabia, the first non-NATO state to be permitted a sale at the time. ²⁵

In January 2023, two think-tank scholars based in Paris published a report alleging up to 45 international policy think tanks including CSIS produced reports on nuclear weapon policy analysis had conflicts of interest due to their corporate donations. The report claimed those listed think tanks were “plagued by widespread self-censorship, conformism, and enduring disconnects between accepted knowledge and available evidence.” ^{26 27}

Ukraine and Defense Contractors

In June 2023, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft released a report seemingly criticizing several foreign policy think tanks, including CSIS, over allegedly encouraging the U.S government to provide military aid and support for Ukraine following the 2022 Russian invasion. The Quincy report claimed that such think tanks had received funding and donations from defense contractors which were involved with providing such military aid. ²⁸

People

John J. Hamre is the president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Before accepting his position as president of the organization in 2000, Hamre was the 26th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense and an undersecretary of defense in the Clinton administration, a staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the deputy assistant director for national security and international affairs in the Congressional Budget Office. He was also made chairman of the Defense Policy Board by then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in 2007. ²⁹

Craig Cohen

Craig Cohen is the president and chief operating officer (COO) of CSIS. He was promoted to the position after serving as the organization’s vice president for research and programs, deputy chief of staff, and fellow in the International Security Program. Prior to CSIS, Cohen worked at the United Nations. ³⁰

Nahmyo Thomas

As of January 2025, Nahmyo Thomas is the acting president of the global development department and vice president for programs and operations of CSIS. She was previously the vice president and director of CSIS’s Abshire-Inamori Leadership Academy and Executive Education program which trained government, corporate, and academic workers in geopolitics. From 2010 to 2012, Thomas worked for U.S. Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA). Earlier, Thomas was an intern in the George W. Bush administration White House. ^{31 32}

Thomas Pritzker

Thomas Pritzker is the chairman of the board of trustees of CSIS. Pritzker is a member of the billionaire Pritzker family which derived its wealth from the Hyatt Hotel chain. Thomas Pritzker is the executive chairman of Hyatt as well as serving on the executive committee of the University of Chicago. His cousin, J.B. Pritzker (D), is the governor of Illinois. ³³

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2. “Corporation and Trade Association Donors.” Center for Strategic and International Studies. Accessed June 27, 2022. www.csis.org/corporation-and-trade-association-donors.
3. “Foundation, Nongovernmental Organization, and Nonprofit Donors.” Center for Strategic and International Studies. Accessed June 27, 2022. www.csis.org/foundation-nongovernmental-organization-and-nonprofit-donors.
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5. “Topics.” Center for Strategic and International Studies. Accessed June 27, 2022. www.csis.org/topics.7
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7. McCabe, Riley. “Congressional Affairs at CSIS.” Center for Strategic and International Studies. March 15, 2022. Accessed June 27, 2022. www.csis.org/programs/about-us/congressional-affairs-csis.
8. Center for Strategic and International Studies. Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). 2018.
9. “Grant Database – Center for Strategic and International Studies.” Gates Foundation. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants?q=Center%20for%20Strategic%20%26%20International%20Studies,%20Inc.&state=District%20of%20Columbia.
10. “Grant Database – Center for Strategic and International Studies.” William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://hewlett.org/grants/?keyword=center%20for%20strategic%20and%20international%20studies&sort=relevance¤t_page=1.
11. “Center for Strategic and International Studies, Inc.” Carnegie Corporation of New York. Accessed June 27, 2022. www.carnegie.org/grants/grants-database/grantee/center-for-strategic-and-international-studies-inc/.
12. “Grant Database – Center for Strategic and International Studies.” Henry Luce Foundation. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.hluce.org/grants/?sort=newest&date_day=&date_month=&date_year=&keyword=center%20for%20strategic%20and%20international%20studies.
13. “Grants Database.” Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Accessed June 27, 2022. sloan.org/grants-database.
14. “Grant Database – Center for Strategic and International Studies.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/past?filter_keyword=center+for+strategic+and+international+studies.
15. Wooster, Martin Morse. “A Reaganite Entrepreneurs Flawed Philanthropy.” Capital Research Center. January 1, 2013. Accessed June 27, 2022. capitalresearch.org/article/a-reaganite-entrepreneurs-flawed-philanthropy/.
16. “Grant Database – Center for Strategic and International Studies.” ClimateWorks Foundation. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.climateworks.org/grants-database/?sort_by=newest&search=center%20for%20strategic%20and%20international%20studies&posts_per_page=20.
17. Horowitz, Daniel. “How the left and progressive foundations gave us ObamaCare—a law hated by so many.” Fox News. June 25, 2012. Accessed June 27, 2022. www.foxnews.com/opinion/how-the-left-and-progressive-foundations-gave-us-obamacare-a-law-hated-by-so-many.
18.  “Grant Database – Center for Strategic and International Studies.” RWJF. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.rwjf.org/en/how-we-work/grants-explorer.html#k=center%20for%20strategic%20and%20international%20studies
19. “Grant Database.” Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.rbf.org/grants-search.
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22. ^[1] “Browse our publicly available repository of foreign government, U.S. government, and Pentagon contractor funding of the U.S.’s top 50 foreign policy think tanks going back to 2019.” Think Tank Funding Tracker. Accessed January 11, 2025. https://thinktankfundingtracker.org/.
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25. Lipton, Eric; Williams, Brooke. “How Think Tanks Amplify Corporate America’s Influence.” New York Times. August 7, 2016. Accessed January 12, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/08/us/politics/think-tanks-research-and-corporate-lobbying.html?_r=0
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