CSPC’s many initiatives cover topic areas from civility in government to U.S. relations with Syria.
In response to the multitude of problems facing our nation, the Center created the Declaration on Civility and Inclusive Leadership, a document aimed at forging national unity by crossing party lines. The Declaration has garnered support from professional athletes to government officials and has secured over 200 signatories.
Together with Meridian International Center, the Center is developing a grant-making Foundation for International Understanding (FIU) that will support the use of new media and technology to connect entrepreneurs and youth around the world. Grants will be awarded to talented media providers and content developers who use novel approaches to breaking down cross-cultural communication barriers.
Established in 2005, the National Consortium for Character-Based Leadership works to disseminate the belief that character and leadership must be fostered simultaneously. The Center brings teachers, administrators, academics, and professional leaders to together to work on creative approaches to support this belief in our youth. Since 2009, Center Fellow Bud Krogh has spoken at several NCCBL conferences about his unique experiences while working under President Nixon and the lessons he learned that resulted in “The Integrity Zone,” a decision-making model intended to help people make choices based on integrity in their professional and personal lives.
This unique non-resident program offers 85 select undergraduate and graduate students from leading colleges and universities a year-long opportunity to study the U.S. Presidency, the public policymaking process, and our Chief Executive’s relations with Congress, allies, the media and the American public. The Presidential Fellows, who are selected by their colleges and universities, travel to Washington, DC, twice a year to attend three-day conferences. At these policy workshops, Fellows discuss national issues with Presidential scholars and White House Fellows and are briefed by senior government officials and nationally recognized public policy experts. The culmination of the Fellowship year is the student’s original research paper on the modern Presidency, written with the help of a faculty advisor from the Fellow’s home campus and a Center-appointed Mentor. Students present their papers at each conference, are eligible to receive two awards, and compete for publication in the annual anthology, A Dialogue on Presidential Challenges and Leadership.
Garnered from the Federalist Papers of 1787-1788, which were published under the collective name “Publius,” the Hamilton and Publius Awards are presented to one or more individuals each year who have demonstrated bipartisan leadership at the federal level of government. Past winners include: Senator Dianne Feintsten; Ambassador Max M. Kampelman; Senator John W. Warner, Jr., and an array of other leading government officials. This year, the Center will honor Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at its spring Awards Dinner.
Currently, the Center is working with over 40 experts on NATO and South and Central Asia to enhance NATO’s involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Center is conducting an analysis of the untapped capacities and immediate reforms NATO members can provide in order to bolster the international mission in Afghanistan. In order to help convince Allies of the need for enhanced commitments, the Center is also conducting an assessment of the threat that extremists in South and Central Asia pose to Europe and North America.
Funded through a generous grant from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the Strengthening America’s Future Initiative has identified and is continuing to develop breakthrough policy options that could gain bipartisan support and meet the vast array of challenges facing our nation. The commission held its Small and mid-Sized Business roll-out on Capitol Hill in October of 2009, presented its Fiscal Future Commission before Congress in December, and will present the bulk of its report at the beginning of 2010.
The Center is striving to build a strong non-governmental relationship between the U.S. and Syria through honest exchange and discussion. In March 2009, CSPC lead a series of meetings in Damascus between medical and scientific professionals, educators, top government officials and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Center is currently working on a snapshot that addresses the major challenges for the groups identified in the discussions in Damascus.
What We Do 