The Center for the National Interest (CFNI) (formerly known as the Nixon Center) is a think tank that focuses on U.S. foreign policy and international affairs. CFNI claims to advocate polices to promote U.S. interests and to cover “forces driving the modern world, including military power, technology, energy, trade, and finance.” ¹

The Center for the National Interest has published the foreign-policy magazine The National Interest since 2000. ¹

Background

The Center for the National Interest (CFNI) was founded in 1994 by former President Richard Nixon as the Nixon Center, an independent division of the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace Foundation. CFNI became an independent entity and separated from the Nixon Foundation in 2011. ¹

CFNI claims to advocate “strategic realism” when discussing U.S foreign policy, which it defines as a “set of principles…for thinking about the international system and the best…policies to advance and defend American interests.” ² Several of these principles include “preserving the global order” made by the U.S and its allies, increasing U.S alliances, and advocating for “bipartisan agreement[s]” in developing “sustainable policies.” ³

Funding

The Center for the National Interest is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and businesses. While CFNI does not disclose its donors, tax filings confirm donations from the Charles Koch Foundation ($300,000 in 2017), ⁴ the Carnegie Corporation of New York ($200,000 in 2019), ⁵ and the Computer and Communications Industry Association ($200,000 in 2022). ⁶

Board of Directors

Drew Guff is the board chair for Center for the National Interest (CFNI). He is also a founding partner of private equity firm Siguler Guff & Company. Guff is also a board member of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association, the 20-20 Investment Association, and the U.S.-Russia Business Council. Guff is a member of the President’s Advisory Group at the Council on Foreign Relations, a council member of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, a member of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a trustee at the Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers. ⁷

Maurice Greenberg is the chair emeritus of the board of CFNI. Greenberg is the board chair and CEO of Starr Insurance Companies and the board chair of the Starr Foundation. Greenberg is a former chair and CEO of the American International Group and a previous board chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Greenberg is a member of Business Roundtable, an honorary vice chair of the Council on Foreign Relations, the vice chair of the National Committee on United States-China Relations, and sits on the board of the US-China Business Council. ⁸

Paul Saunders is the president of CFNI and a senior advisor at the Energy Innovation Reform Project. Saunders formerly worked as senior advisor to the Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs during the George W. Bush Administration. ⁹

Pat Roberts is a former Republican U.S. Senator and Representative from Kansas and is a partner with Capitol Counsel as of 2024. Roberts also is a trustee of the Eisenhower Foundation. ¹⁰

Graham Allison is the Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at Harvard. Allison previously served as assistant secretary of defense from 1993 until 1996 during the Clinton administration and was a former director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Allison previously sat on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Getty Oil Company, Belco Oil and Gas, Chase Bank, Chemical Bank, and the International Energy Corporation. ¹¹

Richard Burt is the U.S.-based board chair for Global Zero, the managing director at McLarty Associates, and is a member of Consensus for American Security, an initiative of the American Security Project. Burt previously worked as an U.S. Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany in the Reagan administration and as a national security correspondent for the New York Times. ¹²

Ahmed Charai is the chair and CEO of Global Media Holding, the publisher of the weekly Moroccan newspaper L’Observateur, the president of MED Radio and MEDTV network, and the chair of the board of Arabic daily newspaper Al-Ahdath al-Maghrebiya. Charai is also a board member of the Atlantic Council, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the International Crisis Group, the International Center for Journalists, the Foreign Policy Research Institute, and the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security. ¹³

Jacob Heilbrunn is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and works as an editor for The National Interest. Heilbrunn previously worked as a senior editor at The New Republic and was an editorial writer for the Los Angeles Times. ¹⁴

David Keene is a previous opinion editor for The Washington Times. Keene is a former chair of the American Conservative Union and previously was president of the National Rifle Association (NRA).  ¹⁵

Zalmay Khalilzad is a former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the United Nations (UN) in the George W. Bush administration. Khalilzad was a previous board member for the National Endowment for Democracy, the United States Institute for Peace, America Abroad Media, the RAND Corporation’s Middle East Studies Center, and the Atlantic Council. Khalilzad is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. ¹⁶

Julie Nixon Eisenhower is the younger daughter of late former President Richard Nixon and a trustee of the Richard Nixon Foundation. Eisenhower is a former chair of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships and a former trustee at the Eisenhower Medical Center and the China Institute in New York. Eisenhower previously served as a board member for the National Adoption Center, the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, the Washington Crossing Foundation, and the Pearl S. Buck Foundation. ¹⁷

Grover Norquist is the founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform. Norquist formerly sat on the boards of the NRA and the American Conservative Union. Norquist previously was executive director of the National Taxpayers Union, was the executive director of the College Republican National Committee, was an economist with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and was a contributing editor of the American Spectator. ¹⁸

William Ruger is the president of the American Institute for Economic Research. Ruger previously worked as the vice president for research and policy at the Charles Koch Institute and was previously the vice president of foreign policy at Stand Together. Ruger is a board member for Defense Priorities, The American Conservative, and the John Quincy Adams Society. He also is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. ¹⁹

David Zalaznick is the co-chair and founding partner at JZ International. Zalaznick also is a trustee emeritus of Cornell University and is a board member of Columbia University’s Business School. ²⁰

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger served as honorary chair from 1994 until his death in 2023. ²¹

1. “About.” Center for the National Interest. Accessed November 9, 2024. https://cftni.org/about/.
2. “Mission.” Center for the National Interest. Accessed November 21, 2024. https://cftni.org/about/mission/.
3.  “Mission.” Center for the National Interest. Accessed November 9, 2024. https://cftni.org/about/mission/.
4. Charles Koch Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2017, Part XV, Line 3.
5.  Carnegie Corporation of New York, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2019, Part XV, Line 3.
6. Computer and Communications Industry Association, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2022, Schedule I, Part II.
7. “Drew Guff.” The Wilson Center. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/person/drew-guff.
8. “Maurice R. Greenberg.” Business Roundtable. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.businessroundtable.org/members/maurice-r.-greenberg.
9. “Paul J. Saunders.” Center for the National Interest. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://cftni.org/expert/paul-saunders/.
10. “Hon. Pat Roberts.” Capitol Counsel. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://capitolcounsel.com/team/honorable-pat-roberts/.
11.  “Graham Allison.” Harvard Kennedy School. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/graham-allison.
12. “Ambassador Richard Burt.” American Security Project. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.americansecurityproject.org/about/consensus/members/rick-burt/.
13. “Ahmed Charai.” Atlantic Council. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/ahmed-charai/.
14. “Jacob Heilbrunn.” Atlantic Council. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/jacob-heilbrunn/.
15. “David Keene.” The Washington Times. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.washingtontimes.com/staff/david-keene/.
16. “Biography of Zalmay Khalilzad.” U.S. House of Representatives Document Repository. Accessed November 9, 2024. https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA00/20240215/116840/HHRG-118-FA00-Bio-KhalilzadZ-20240215.pdf.
17. “Julie Nixon Eisenhower.” Richard Nixon Foundation. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.nixonfoundation.org/board-of-directors/julie-nixon-eisenhower/.
18. “Grover Norquist.” Institute of Politics and Public Service. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://politics.georgetown.edu/profile/grover-norquist/.
19. “William Ruger.” American Institute for Economic Research. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://aier.org/author/william-ruger/.
20. “Our Team.” JZ International. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.jzieurope.com/team.
21. “Board of Directors.” Center for the National Interest. Accessed November 9, 2024. https://cftni.org/about/board-of-directors/.