Foreign Policy Institute (SAIS)

Foreign Policy Institute

Abbreviation	FPI
Formation	1980
Type	University affiliated Think Tank
Location	Washington, D.C.
Executive Director	Carla Freeman
Website	fpi.sais-jhu.edu

The Foreign Policy Institute (FPI) is an American research center based at The Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C. The Institute, referred to as FPI, is housed in the Benjamin T. Rome building on the Embassy Row in Washington, D.C., in the United States. FPI organizes research initiatives and study groups, and hosts leaders from around the world as resident or non-resident fellows in fields including international policy, business, journalism, and academia.

Its stated mission is "to unite scholarship and policy in the search for realistic answers to international issues facing the United States and the world".

The Foreign Policy Institute (FPI) of the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) was formerly known as the Washington Center of Foreign Policy Research. The Washington Center of Foreign Policy Research was founded in 1957 by Paul H. Nitze, former Secretary of the Navy and Deputy Secretary of Defense; Nitze, a cold war strategist and expert on military power and strategic arms whose roles as negotiator, diplomat and Washington insider spanned the era from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan, was also one of the founders of SAIS. The Washington Center, located in Washington, DC, served in effect as a major research division of SAIS. The Center was founded with a grant from the Ford Foundation and survived on further grants from the Carnegie Corporation and the Ford, Avalon, Old Dominion and Rockefeller Foundations. One of the earliest university affiliated think-tanks in the United States, The Washington Center spurred the creation of similar centers at other policy schools as well.

In mid-1980, the Washington Center of Foreign Policy Research was replaced by the Foreign Policy Institute with some changes to its structure and output. Many of the programs of the Center were adopted and expanded by the Institute. Some personnel of the Institute were members of the Center. The restructuring included the role of a Chairman, an internationally-known figure who provides prestigious leadership for the Institute. Harold Brown, Secretary of Defense during the Carter administration, became FPI Chairman in July 1984. The responsibilities of the Director of the Center were divided in the Institute between an Executive Director and the Chairman. The current Chairman of The FPI is the Dean of SAIS, Vali R. Nasr.