CSIS Creates Brzezinski Institute on Geostrategy

WASHINGTON, September 26, 2014 — The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) announces the establishment of the Zbigniew Brzezinski Institute on Geostrategy.

“Zbig Brzezinski has played a major role in U.S. foreign and security policy not only before and when he was national security adviser but for decades thereafter,” said CSIS chairman and former U.S. senator Sam Nunn. “Zbig’s name is known throughout the world for leading the United States and its allies through the Cold War and for his role as an eminent statesman and top strategic thinker today. The Brzezinski Institute at CSIS is well-named because it will be a permanent home for a strong, effective American foreign policy.”

The mission of the Brzezinski Institute on Geostrategy is to examine the unique interaction of history, geography, and strategy, with a goal of developing policy-relevant analysis and recommendations. The Institute will also seek to develop a new generation of strategic policy thinkers at home and abroad.

The launching grant for the Institute came from Rilin Enterprises, Ltd., a global construction and logistics firm based in Hong Kong with offices in New York, Beijing, and Dandong, China. Mr. Wenliang Wang serves as chairman of Rilin Enterprises. Mr. Mark Fung, who serves on the Institute’s Advisory Board, is the firm’s general counsel and in the 1990s was Dr. Brzezinski’s student and then seminar assistant at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Located in CSIS’s new state-of-the-art headquarters in Washington, D.C., the Institute will carry out a range of dynamic programming, including annual lectures, visiting fellows from around the world, original research by CSIS scholars on geostrategic issues, new publications, and cutting-edge multimedia content. Through this work, the Institute will help to inform today’s policymakers and train tomorrow’s global leaders.

“I could not be more pleased to honor Dr. Brzezinski in this way,” said John J. Hamre, CSIS president, CEO, and Pritzker Chair. “This Institute has the potential to be the most exciting new initiative at CSIS over the next decade. The Brzezinski Institute will transform strategic thinking here and around the world. We envision that the Institute will make a lasting contribution to geostrategic thinking.” Dr. Hamre will act also as the Institute’s director during its first year.

An event will be held at CSIS on Wednesday, October 1, to mark the establishment of the Institute, with a keynote address by former prime minister Kevin Rudd of Australia. Details about the October 1 event will be issued separately.

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The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a bipartisan, nonprofit organization that seeks to advance global security and prosperity by providing strategic insights and practical policy solutions to decisionmakers.