{{Short description|Defunct American think tank}} {{Distinguish|East–West Center}} {{Infobox organization | name = EastWest Institute | full_name = Institute for EastWest Studies, Inc. | image = EWI 35th Anniversary Logo.png | caption = 35th Anniversary Logo | formation = {{start date and age|1980}} | founder = [[John Edwin Mroz]]<br>[[Ira D. Wallach]] | dissolved = {{end date and age|2021|01|31}} | type = Public policy think tank | tax_id = 13-3091844 | headquarters = 10 Grand Central, 155 E. 44th Street, Suite 1105 | location = [[New York City|New York, NY]] | leader_title = President | leader_name = Bruce W. McConnell | website = [http://www.eastwest.ngo eastwest.ngo] }}
The '''EastWest Institute''' ('''EWI'''), originally known as the '''Institute for East-West Security Studies''' and officially the '''Institute for EastWest Studies, Inc.''', was an international not-for-profit, non-partisan think tank focused on international conflict resolution through a variety of means, including [[track II diplomacy|track 2 diplomacy]] and track 1.5 diplomacy (conducted with the direct involvement of official actors), hosting international conferences, and authoring publications on [[international security]] issues. EWI employed networks in political, military, and business establishments in the [[United States]], [[Europe]], and the former [[Soviet Union]].
EWI was founded by [[John Edwin Mroz]] and [[Ira D. Wallach]] in 1980 as an independent, global organization that promotes peace by creating trusted settings for candid, global discourse among leaders to tackle intractable security and stability challenges.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ira D. Wallach † {{!}} EastWest Institute|url=https://www.eastwest.ngo/profile/ira-d-wallach-%E2%80%A0|access-date=2021-09-10|website=www.eastwest.ngo}}</ref> Mroz served as president and CEO of the institute for 34 years until his death, in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |title=EWI mourns the loss today of Founder and CEO John Edwin Mroz {{!}} EastWest Institute |url=https://www.eastwest.ngo/john |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=www.eastwest.ngo}}</ref>
The organization discontinued operations effective January 31, 2021. This decision was taken at the conclusion of a four-month strategic assessment in light of increasing challenges resulting from the global pandemic and related financial challenges facing many nonprofit organizations.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=The EastWest Institute Transitions for Post-COVID World|url=https://www.eastwest.ngo/idea/eastwest-institute-transitions-post-covid-world|url-status=live|website=EastWest Institute|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107150025/https://www.eastwest.ngo/idea/eastwest-institute-transitions-post-covid-world |archive-date=2021-01-07 }}</ref>
EWI's initiatives focused on a number of different areas including [[computer security|cybersecurity]],<ref>[http://www.dailypioneer.com/todays-newspaper/be-smart-online-at-your-peril.html "Be ‘smart’ online at your peril"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624015801/http://www.dailypioneer.com/todays-newspaper/be-smart-online-at-your-peril.html |date=2016-06-24 }}. ''The Pioneer'', 18 December 2015 | Vineeta Pandey | Wuzhen (Shanghai, China)</ref> [[preventive diplomacy]], strategic trust-building (which encompasses [[Russia-United States relations]] and [[China-United States Relations]]), Economic Security, and Regional Security (focusing on specific areas such as [[Southwest Asia]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=EastWest Institute {{!}} Building Trust. Delivering Solutions. |url=https://www.eastwest.ngo/pillars/global-security |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=www.eastwest.ngo}}</ref>
==History== The Institute for East-West Security Studies was founded in 1980, when then CEO [[John Edwin Mroz]] and [[Ira D. Wallach]] set out to study means of addressing areas of political dispute across the [[Iron Curtain]].<ref name="Quandt2002">{{cite book|author=Richard E. Quandt|title=The Changing Landscape in Eastern Europe: A Personal Perspective on Philanthropy and Technology Transfer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I6DDns_7OjwC&pg=PA336|date=20 June 2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-534912-2|pages=336–}}</ref>
In 1984, EWI hosted the first track 2 military-to-military discussions between the [[NATO]] and [[Warsaw Pact]] countries. These talks, focusing heavily on the establishment of [[Confidence and security-building measures|confidence-building measures]] (CBMs) between the two parties, ultimately resulted in an agreement requiring each side to alert the other of troop movements.
After the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]] and the eruption of conflicts in Southeastern Europe, EWI worked to foster economic stability in the region, encouraging cross-border cooperation and training leaders for democratic states. In the 2000s (decade), EWI's operations expanded geographically to [[China]], Southwest Asia and the [[Middle East]], focusing on issues like cybersecurity, economic security, and countering [[violent extremism]].
Since 2008, EWI has partnered with the [[China Association for International Friendly Contact]] to organize forums, termed the U.S.-China Sanya Initiative, between retired [[People's Liberation Army]] officers and retired U.S. military personnel.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cavanaugh|first=Joshua|date=June 3, 2020|title=U.S.-China Sanya Initiative Dialogue: Report from the 11th Meeting|url=https://www.eastwest.ngo/idea/us-china-sanya-initiative-dialogue-report-11th-meeting|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200905224025/https://www.eastwest.ngo/idea/us-china-sanya-initiative-dialogue-report-11th-meeting|archive-date=2020-09-05|access-date=2020-09-05|website=EastWest Institute}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Wortzel|first=Larry M.|author-link=Larry Wortzel|date=March 1, 2014|title=The Chinese People's Liberation Army and Information Warfare|publisher=[[Strategic Studies Institute]]|pages=33–34|jstor=resrep11757}}</ref> The Sanya Initiative is supported by the [[China–United States Exchange Foundation|China-United States Exchange Foundation]] (CUSEF), a Hong Kong–based nonprofit established by billionaire [[Tung Chee-hwa]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Allen-Ebrahimian|first=Bethany|date=November 28, 2017|title=This Beijing-Linked Billionaire Is Funding Policy Research at Washington's Most Influential Institutions|work=[[Foreign Policy]]|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/11/28/this-beijing-linked-billionaire-is-funding-policy-research-at-washingtons-most-influential-institutions-china-dc/|url-status=live|access-date=September 5, 2020|archive-date=August 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831001044/https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/11/28/this-beijing-linked-billionaire-is-funding-policy-research-at-washingtons-most-influential-institutions-china-dc/}}</ref>
In May 2009, EWI released its Joint Threat Assessment on Iran, produced by senior U.S. and Russian experts convened by the institute. The assessment, which concluded that the planned system would not protect against an Iranian nuclear threat,<ref>Ellen Barry, [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/world/europe/20start.html "U.S. and Russia Begin Arms Talks With a December Deadline"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615033821/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/world/europe/20start.html |date=2018-06-15 }}, ''The New York Times'', May 19th, 2009</ref> helped inform the Obama administration's decision to scrap the ballistic missile defense plan proposed by the Bush administration and replace it with a plan of its own.<ref>Peter Spiegel, [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125314575889817971 "U.S. to Shelve Nuclear-Missile Shield"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206095058/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125314575889817971 |date=2020-02-06 }}, ''The Wall Street Journal'', September 17th, 2009</ref>
In 2016, the institute helped set up an information portal which allows operators of [[critical infrastructure]] to share security information internationally.<ref>[http://www.darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/new-portal-launched-for-ics-scada-threat-intelligence-sharing-among-nations/d/d-id/1324931 "New Portal Launched For ICS/SCADA Threat Intelligence-Sharing Among Nations"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510181141/http://www.darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/new-portal-launched-for-ics-scada-threat-intelligence-sharing-among-nations/d/d-id/1324931 |date=2016-05-10 }}. ''Information Week Dark Reading'', 3/31/2016 Kelly Jackson Higgins</ref>
==Publications== *{{cite book|author1=Peter Rutland|author2=EastWest Institute (New York, N.Y.)|title=The Challenge of Integration|year=1998|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0-7656-0359-3}} *{{cite book|author1=Jonathan P. Stein|author2=EastWest Institute (New York, N.Y.)|title=The Politics of National Minority Participation in Post-communist Europe: State-building, Democracy, and Ethnic Mobilization|year=2000|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0-7656-0528-3|pages=2–}} *{{cite book|author1=A. M. Lavrov|author2=Alexei G. Makushkin|author3=EastWest Institute (New York, N.Y.)|title=The Fiscal Structure of the Russian Federation: Financial Flows Between the Center and the Regions|year=2001|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0-7656-0713-3}} *{{cite book|author1=Oleksandr Pavli͡uk|author2=Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze|author3=EastWest Institute (New York, N.Y.)|title=The Black Sea Region: Cooperation and Security Building|year=2004|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0-7656-1225-0}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website|https://www.eastwest.ngo/}}
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[[Category:Foreign policy and strategy think tanks]] [[Category:International political organizations]] [[Category:International security]] [[Category:NATO relations]] [[Category:Think tanks established in 1980]] [[Category:International organizations based in the United States]]