About Us

Mission

The Jamestown Foundation’s mission is to inform and educate policymakers and the broader community about events and trends in those societies which are strategically or tactically important to the United States and which frequently restrict access to such information. Utilizing indigenous and primary sources, Jamestown’s material is delivered without political bias, filter or agenda. It is often the only source of information which should be, but is not always, available through official or intelligence channels, especially in regard to China, Russia and Eurasia.

Programs

The Jamestown Foundation’s main publications are China Brief, Eurasia Daily Monitor and Terrorism Monitor. Click on the map below to explore them.

About Us

 

Origins

Founded in 1984 by William Geimer, The Jamestown Foundation made a direct contribution to the downfall of Communism through its dissemination of information about the closed totalitarian societies of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

William Geimer worked with Arkady Shevchenko, the highest-ranking Soviet official ever to defect when he left his position as undersecretary general of the United Nations. Shevchenko’s memoir “Breaking With Moscow” revealed the details of Soviet superpower diplomacy, arms control strategy and tactics in the Third World, at the height of the Cold War. Through its work with Shevchenko, Jamestown rapidly became the leading source of information about the inner workings of the captive nations of the former Communist Bloc. In addition to Shevchenko, Jamestown assisted the former top Romanian intelligence officer Ion Pacepa in writing his memoirs. Jamestown ensured that both men published their insights and experience in what became bestselling books. Even today, several decades later, some credit Pacepa’s revelations about Ceausescu’s regime in his bestselling book Red Horizons with the fall of that government and the freeing of Romania.

The Jamestown Foundation has emerged as a leading provider of information about Eurasia. Our research and analysis on conflict and instability in Eurasia enabled Jamestown to become one of the most reliable sources of information on the post-Soviet space, the Caucasus and Central Asia as well as China. Furthermore, since 9/11, Jamestown has utilized its network of indigenous experts in more than 50 different countries to conduct research and analysis on terrorism and the growth of al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda offshoots throughout the globe.

By drawing on our ever-growing global network of experts, Jamestown has become a vital source of unfiltered, open-source information about major conflict zones around the world—from the Black Sea to Siberia, from the Persian Gulf to Latin America and the Pacific. Our core of intellectual talent includes former high-ranking government officials and military officers, political scientists, journalists, scholars and economists. Their insight contributes significantly to policymakers engaged in addressing today’s newly emerging global threats in the post 9/11 world.

 

Nikolai Getman: The Gulag Collection

In 1946, an artist named Nikolai Getman was imprisoned in the Soviet Union’s GULAG, a system of forced labor camps across Siberia and the interior of the USSR. Upon his release in 1954, Getman commenced a public career as a politically correct painter. Secretly, however, for more than four decades, Getman labored at creating a visual record of the GULAG, which vividly depicts all aspects of the horrendous life (and death) so many innocent millions experienced during that infamous era. Getman’s collection is unique because it is the only visual record known to exist of this tragic phenomenon. In early 1997, The Jamestown Foundation learned of The Gulag Collection and that Getman was desperate to get the painting transported to the West; he feared that upon his death they would be destroyed. With the financial support of Jim Kimsey, The Jamestown Foundation brought the paintings to the United States, where in 1997 they were put on display in the U.S. Congress. The Collection remained with Jamestown until 2009, when it was permanently transferred to the Heritage Foundation, where it resides today (heritage.org).

 

Brent M. Eastwood

Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is a Professorial Lecturer at The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs in the Security Policy Studies MA Program.... MORE

Nicholas Eberstadt

Nicholas Eberstadt holds the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he researches and writes extensively on demographics and... MORE

Madelynn Einhorn

Madelynn Einhorn is a recent alumna from Western Kentucky University, where she majored in Political Science and Economics.

Yaron Eisenberg

Yaron Eisenberg is an associate with the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, specializing in terrorism, nuclear proliferation and defense policy issues. He was formerly with... MORE

Joshua Eisenman

Joshua Eisenman is the co-editor of “China and the Developing World: Beijing’s Strategy for the 21st Century,” and author of the book’s chapter on China's... MORE

Niklas Eklund

Niklas Eklund is a senior lecturer (associate professor) at the Department of Political Science, Umeå University.

Adel El-Adawy

Adel El-Adawy is a Ph.D. candidate at King’s College London War Studies Department.

Tuba Eldem

Dr. Tuba Eldem is a post-doctoral fellow at the Research College of the Transformative Power of Europe, Freie Universität, Berlin. She holds a Ph.D in... MORE

Jörgen Elfving

Jörgen Elfving is a former Swedish army officer and an expert in military issues related to the Soviet Union and Russia. Since retiring from the... MORE

Evan Ellis

Dr. Evan Ellis is an analyst of Latin American economic, political and security issues, with a research focus on Latin America’s relationships with China and... MORE

R. Evan Ellis

Dr. Evan Ellis is a research professor of Latin American Studies at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, with a focus on the... MORE

Nancy Ellison

Nancy Ellison is a celebrated photojournalist and portrait photographer. Her portrait subjects have ranged from world leaders to icons of popular culture. Besides celebrity portraiture,... MORE

J. H. Elswood

J.H. Elswood is a Scottish security and intelligence analyst based in London. After obtaining his Masters degree in Global Security and completing a course on... MORE

Jeffrey Engstrom

Jeffrey Engstrom is with the Arlington, Va., office of the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decision-making through research and analysis.

Andrew S. Erickson

Dr. Andrew S. Erickson is Professor of Strategy in, and a core founding member of, the U.S. Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute. He... MORE

Daniel Erikson

Daniel P. Erikson is Senior Associate for U.S. policy at the Inter-American Dialogue, where he manages a program on China-Latin American relations.

Bilun Erim

Bilun Erim is a research analyst at Middle East Technical University, Turkey.

Cameron Evers

Cameron Evers is a Senior Intelligence Analyst for a global risk firm where he advises a Fortune 500 financial company on geopolitical risk. He has... MORE

Andrew Exum

Andrew Exum is a Soref fellow at The Washington Institute, focusing on contemporary Middle Eastern insurgencies and counter-insurgency strategies. Mr. Exum served in the U.S.... MORE