Center for International Policy records, 1960-2020 and undated; 1960-ongoing

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Collection is open for research.
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Summary

Creator:
Center for International Policy (Washington, D.C.)
Abstract:
Non-profit organization founded in 1975, based in Washington, DC, whose chief focus is promoting changes in U.S. foreign and military policy in support of global human rights. The records of the Center for International Policy (CIP) span the years 1960 to 2016, and document in detail the organization's global activities in support of human rights as well as its internal administration, funding, and public relations outreach. CIP's chief areas of interest lie in United States foreign and military policies, including the activities of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Topics include human rights issues, U.S. relations with Central and South America, demilitarization, nuclear weapons, the Cuban trade embargo, money laundering and other aspects of international finance, terrorism, and the narcotics trade. The bulk of the files take the form of administrative files and records which contain correspondence, memos, data, reports, travel documents, and extensive files on other organizations; there are also many files of printed materials such as pamphlets, newsletters, and press releases.
Extent:
60 Linear Feet
Language:
Material in English and Spanish.
Collection ID:
RL.00205

Background

Scope and content:

The records of the Center for International Policy (CIP) span the years 1960 to 2020 (and continue to accrue as of 2022), and document in detail the organization's global activities in support of human rights as well as its internal administration, funding, and public relations outreach. CIP's chief areas of interest lie in documenting and reforming United States foreign and military policies, including the activities of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Specific topics covered by materials in the collection include U.S. relations with Central and South America, particularly with Colombia, El Salvador, Haiti, and Cuba; U.S. relations with South and East Asia, particularly the Korean Peninsula; demilitarization in areas of conflict; nuclear weapons and the arms race; the Cuban trade embargo; money laundering and other aspects of international finance; terrorism in various countries; and the narcotics trade. The bulk of the files take the form of administrative files and records on other organizations which contain correspondence, memos, data, reports, travel documents, and extensive files; there are also many files containing printed materials such as pamphlets, newsletters, and press releases.

The CIP records are arranged in the following series: Development Files Series; Printed Materials Series; Oversize Materials Series; Robert White Papers Series; Adam Isacson Papers Series; Selig Harrison Papers Series; Wayne S. Smith Papers Series; Geographic, Subject, and Program Files Series; and Audiovisual Materials Series.

White's and Isacson's files retain their original arrangement into groups such as correspondence (some in digital form), research and subject files, speeches, and travel documentation. Harrison's files retain their original arrangment by region, such South and West Asia, East Asia and North Korea, while some materials have been removed to the Nuclear and Energy Subseries. The research files claim the largest proportion of the files for all individuals, and contain documentation on other organizations, individuals, and extensive information in particular on Central and South America and Asia. Other countries represented in the collection files to a lesser extent include Russia, Israel, Cuba and other countries surrounding the South and East Asia regions. Correspondence files are present throughout the collection, and include key individuals such as Iowa Senator Tom Harkin; Peter Dale Scott, former Canadian ambassador and political commentator; and Harrison Selig, Director of the Asia Program. Many other well-known politicians and activists are represented in smaller folders of materials; there are also a small number of administrative files related to internal staff members and board members. The development files reveal the nature of the CIP's fundraising activities, and the extent of support from charitable organizations; the most extensive files belong to the Ford Foundation, General Service Foundation, International Center for Development Policy, and the MacArthur Foundation; smaller files represent many other similar institutions.

Collection acquired as part of the Human Rights Archive.

Biographical / historical:

The Center for International Policy (CIP), a non-governmental non-profit organization, was founded in 1975 primarily in response to the Vietnam War, and is currently (2007) based in Washington D.C. Its mission is to reform the activities of United States foreign and military policies in support of human rights in all countries. The records housed at Duke correspond to three important CIP associates: Robert White, Adam Issacson and Selig Harrison.

Robert White was hired as president of the Center for International Policy (CIP) in 1989 and served until his death in 2015. Prior to joining the CIP, White spent twenty-five years in the Foreign Service, specializing in Latin American affairs with a particular emphasis on Central America. Among the posts he held were Latin America Director of the Peace Corps, Deputy Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States, Ambassador to Paraguay and to El Salvador. After retiring from the Foreign Service in 1981, White served as a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. During his tenure at the CIP, he presided at conferences and led delegations to several Latin American and Caribbean countries, published numerous studies of U.S. policy toward the region, and led an ongoing effort to reform U.S. intelligence agencies.

The CIP's Programs Director, Adam Isacson, was hired as program director for the Colombia and Demilitarization of Latin American program in 1995. Prior to that he worked for the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress in San José, Costa Rica. Mr. Isacson has worked on Latin American security issues, particularly U.S. policy toward Central America and Colombia. He has been to Colombia more than twenty-five times and visited thirteen of the country's thirty-two departments.

The CIP's director of the Asia Project, Selig Harrison, is a senior scholar of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and director of the Century Foundation's Program on the United States and the Future of Korea. He has specialized in South Asia and East Asia for fifty years as a journalist and scholar, including as a South Asia correspondent of the Associated Press. Selig Harrison became one of the first Americans to visit North Korea since the Korean War and to interview Kim Il Sung in 1972.

Acquisition information:
The Center for International Policy Records were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2005, 2013, and 2015.
Processing information:

Processed by Loren Crippin, May 2007

Updated by Meghan Lyon, May 2018

Web content described by Michelle Runyon, April 2020.

Accession(s) described in this collection guide: 2005-0121, 2012-0074, 2013-0122, and 2015-0168.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Center for International Policy Records, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

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https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m15w2j