Ajay Kumar at 09:34, 30 September 2023

2023-09-30T09:34:43Z

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{{Short description|British international affairs think tank}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = International Institute for Strategic Studies
| image = Arundel House.jpg
| caption = [[Arundel House]], [[Temple, London|Temple]], London
| size =
| abbreviation = IISS
| motto =
| formation = {{start date and age|1958}}
| type = [[International relations]] [[think tank]]
| headquarters = [[London]], [[England]], [[United Kingdom]]<br />{{Coord|51.511502|-0.113550|display=inline,title}}
| leader_title = Director-General and Chief Executive
| leader_name = [[John Chipman (chief executive)|John Chipman]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.iiss.org/}}
}}

The '''International Institute for Strategic Studies''' ('''IISS''') is a British research institute or [[think tank]] in the area of [[international affairs]]. Since 1997, its headquarters have been at [[Arundel House]] in [[London]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Contact Us |url=https://www.iiss.org/contact-us |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=IISS |language=en}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}

The 2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index ranked IISS as the tenth-best think tank worldwide and the second-best Defence and National Security think tank globally,<ref>{{cite web |last = McGann |first = James G. |url = https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=think_tanks |title = 2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report |date = 31 January 2018 |access-date = 7 August 2018 |archive-date = 30 March 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190330003743/https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=think_tanks |url-status = live }}</ref> while [[Transparify]] ranked it third-largest UK think tank by expenditure, but gave it its lowest rating, "deceptive", on funding transparency.<ref>{{cite web |author=Transparify |author-link=Transparify |title=Pressure grows on UK think tanks that fail to disclose their funders |date=16 November 2018 |url=https://www.transparify.org/blog/2018/11/16/pressure-grows-on-uk-think-tanks-that-fail-to-disclose-their-funders |access-date=17 February 2019 |archive-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116160608/https://www.transparify.org/blog/2018/11/16/pressure-grows-on-uk-think-tanks-that-fail-to-disclose-their-funders |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Overview ==
The current director-general and chief executive is [[John Chipman (chief executive)|John Chipman]].<ref name=":0" /> [[Michael Howard (historian)|Sir Michael Howard]], the British military historian, founded the institute<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/30/sir-michael-howard-distinguished-historian-dies-aged-97|title=Sir Michael Howard, distinguished historian, dies aged 97|last=Thorpe|first=Vanessa|date=2019-11-30|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-11-30|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=3 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203155605/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/30/sir-michael-howard-distinguished-historian-dies-aged-97|url-status=live}}</ref> together with the British Labour MP [[Denis Healey]] ([[Secretary of State for Defence|Defence Secretary]], 1964–1970 and [[Chancellor of the Exchequer|Chancellor]], 1974–1979) and [[University of Oxford]] academic [[Alastair Francis Buchan]].<ref>{{cite news
|title=Authors of the report – Iraq
|date=10 September 2002
|work=[[The Times]] }}</ref>

Based in London, the IISS is both a [[private company limited by guarantee]] in UK law and a [[registered charity]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.iiss.org/about-us/iiss-governance-and-advisory-structure/ |title = IISS Governance and Advisory Structure |access-date = 11 May 2011 |archive-date = 9 March 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130309171648/http://www.iiss.org/about-us/iiss-governance-and-advisory-structure/ |url-status = dead }}</ref>

== Research ==
The institute has worked with governments, defence ministries and global organisations such as [[NATO]].<ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=NATO Defense College and the International Institute for Strategic Studies convene the first NATO-Gulf Strategic Dialogue in Manama |url=https://www.ndc.nato.int/news/news.php?icode=544 |website=www.ndc.nato.int |access-date=7 July 2021 |archive-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116160616/https://www.ndc.nato.int/news/news.php?icode=544 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Publications ==
In 2011 the institute published the [[FARC files]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2011/5/11/farc-files-show-ties-to-chavez|title=FARC files 'show ties to Chavez'|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=20 November 2020|archive-date=16 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116160634/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2011/5/11/farc-files-show-ties-to-chavez|url-status=live}}</ref>—documents captured from the [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia]] that shed light on the movement's inner workings.

The 2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index ranked the [[Shangri-La Dialogue]] as the best Think tank conference worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |title=Think Tanks |url=https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=think_tanks |website=repository.upenn.edu |access-date=7 July 2021 |archive-date=30 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330003743/https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=think_tanks |url-status=live }}</ref>

==History==
[[Raymond L. Garthoff]] wrote in 2004:<ref>A Journey Through the Cold War, 2004, p. 64. See also "Conflict: An International Journal", 1987 edition, 85–86.</ref>
{{Block quote|In 1959 the IISS issued a pamphlet on the "military balance" between the Soviet Union and NATO. It was unfortunately replete with errors, having been put together from published sources of widely varying quality. I called this to the attention of [[Alastair Francis Buchan|Alastair Buchan]], the director of the institute, who was quite disturbed. A new version was issued in November 1960, much more correct and accurate, though still not up to the latest intelligence. Again, I called this to Buchan's attention, and he undertook to check out with British authorities what became annual issuances.}}

==Controversy==
In 2016, ''[[The Guardian]]'' reported that IISS "has been accused of jeopardising its independence after leaked documents showed it has secretly received £25m from the [[Bahraini royal family]]", noting that leaked "documents reveal that IISS and Bahrain's rulers specifically agreed to keep the latter's funding for the Manama Dialogues secret".<ref>"[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/06/british-thinktank-iiss-received-25m-from-bahraini-royals-documents-reveal British thinktank received £25m from Bahraini royals, documents reveal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116160631/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/06/british-thinktank-iiss-received-25m-from-bahraini-royals-documents-reveal |date=16 January 2023 }}", ''The Guardian'', 6 December 2016 .</ref><ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20161110040909/http://www.iiss.org/en/about-s-us/our-s-funding Our funding]", IISS, 10 November 2016.</ref> The IISS did not dispute the authenticity of the leaked documents or deny receiving funding from [[Bahrain]], but issued a response stating that "[a]ll IISS contractual agreements, including those with host governments, contain a clause asserting the institute's absolute intellectual and operational independence as an international organisation that does not participate in any manner of advocacy".<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20161208114259/http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/iiss-activities-kingdom-bahrain IISS activities in the Kingdom of Bahrain]", IISS, 7 December 2016.</ref>

[[Peter Oborne]] in [[Middle East Eye]] subsequently reported that IISS may have received nearly half of its total income from Bahraini sources in some years.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20161213093935/http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/bahrain-and-iiss-questions-need-be-answered-446353297 Bahrain and the IISS: The questions that need to be answered]", Middle East Eye, 9 December 2016.</ref>

== Directors ==
* [[Alastair Francis Buchan|Alastair Buchan]] (1958–1969)
* [[François Duchêne]] (1969–1974)
* [[Christoph Bertram]] (1974–1982)
* [[Robert O'Neill (historian)|Robert J. O'Neill]] (1982–1987)
* [[François Heisbourg]] (1987–1992)
* [[Bo Huldt]] (1992–1993)
* [[John Chipman (chief executive)|John Chipman]] (1993–present)<ref name=":0">IISS, [http://www.iiss.org/about-us/staffexpertise/list-experts-by-name/dr-john-chipman-cmg/ Dr John Chipman CMG] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313213640/http://www.iiss.org/about-us/staffexpertise/list-experts-by-name/dr-john-chipman-cmg/ |date=13 March 2013 }}</ref>

== Council ==
Council members {{as of|2017|alt=as of}} 2017 are:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iiss.org/en/about-s-us/the-s-council |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161108145057/http://www.iiss.org/en/about-s-us/the-s-council |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 November 2016 |title=The Council |year=2017 |website=International Institute for Strategic Studies |access-date=5 October 2017 }}</ref>
* Professor [[François Heisbourg]], Chairman of the IISS and of the [[Geneva Centre for Security Policy]]
* Joanne de Asis, founder and chairperson, Asia Pacific Capital Partners
* [[Fleur de Villiers]], journalist
* Field Marshal [[Charles Guthrie, Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank]]
* [[Bill Emmott]], journalist
* [[Michael Fullilove]], academic
* [[Marillyn A. Hewson]], Chairman, President and CEO of Lockheed Martin
* [[Badr Jafar]], President of Crescent Petroleum
* [[Bilahari Kausikan]], [[Ambassador-at-Large]], [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Singapore)]]
* [[Ellen Laipson]], president and CEO, [[The Stimson Center|Henry L Stimson Center]]
* Chung Min Lee, Professor of International Relations, Yonsei University
* [[Eric X. Li]], founder and managing director, Chengwei Capital
* [[Jean-Claude Mallet]], [[Councillor of State (France)]]
* [[Moeletsi Mbeki]]
* [[Michael D. Rich]]
* [[Charles Powell, Baron Powell of Bayswater]]
* [[George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen]]
* Ambassador [[Andrés Rozental Gutman]], President, Rozental & Asociados
* Thomas Seaman, Fellow and Bursar, [[All Souls College, Oxford]]
* [[Grace Reksten Skaugen]], chair of Norwegian Institute of Directors and deputy chair of [[Statoil]]
* Major-General [[Amos Yadlin]], former [[Israeli Air Force|IAF]] General
* [[Igor Yurgens]], chairman of the management board of the [[Institute of Contemporary Development]]

== See also ==
* [[List of think tanks in the United Kingdom]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{official website}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Organizations established in 1958]]
[[Category:1958 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Organisations based in London]]
[[Category:Foreign policy and strategy think tanks based in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Private companies limited by guarantee of the United Kingdom]]

International Institute for Strategic Studies - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 09:34, 30 September 2023