Difference between revisions of "International Crisis Group"

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According to [http://www.spinwatch.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=807 Jan Oberg]:
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'''International Crisis Group''' was founded in 1994 by World Bank Vice-President [[Mark Malloch Brown]], former US diplomat [[Morton Abramowitz]] and [[Fred Cuny]], an international disaster relief specialist who disappeared in Chechnya in 1995.
 +
 
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==Principals==
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*[[Christopher Patten]] - Co-Chair
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*[[Thomas Pickering]] - Co-Chair
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*[[Gareth Evans]] - President & CEO
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*[[Mark Malloch Brown]] co-Founder
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*[[Morton Abramowitz]] co-Founder (former acting president)
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*[[William Shawcross]] - Board Member
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*[[Martti Ahtisaari]] - Chairmen Emeritus
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*[[George J. Mitchell]] - Chairmen Emeritus
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===Executive Committee===
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<table width="80%" cellpadding="4%" cellspacing="0%" align="center" border="1">
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<tr bgcolor="white">
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<td>[[Morton Abramowitz]]</td>
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<td>[[Adnan Abu Odeh]]</td>
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<td>[[Kenneth Adelman]]</td>
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</tr>
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<tr bgcolor="Gainsboro">
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<td>[[Ersin Arioglu]]</td>
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<td>[[Shlomo Ben-Ami]]</td>
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<td>[[Lakhdar Brahimi]]</td>
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</tr>
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<tr bgcolor="white">
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<td>[[Zbigniew Brzezinski]]</td>
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<td>[[Kim Campbell]]</td>
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<td>[[Cheryl Carolus]]</td>
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</tr>
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<tr bgcolor="Gainsboro">
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<td>[[Naresh Chandra]]</td>
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<td>[[Joaquim Alberto Chissano]]</td>
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<td>[[Victor Chu]]</td>
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</tr>
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<tr bgcolor="white">
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<td>[[Wesley Kanne Clark|Wesley Clark]]</td>
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<td>[[Pat Cox]]</td>
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<td>[[Uffe Ellemann-Jensen]]</td>
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</tr>
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<tr bgcolor="Gainsboro">
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<td>[[Mark Eyskens]]</td>
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<td>[[Joschka Fischer]]</td>
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<td>[[Yoichi Funabashi]]</td>
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</tr>
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<tr bgcolor="white">
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<td>[[Leslie H. Gelb]]</td>
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<td>[[Frank Giustra]]</td>
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<td>[[Carla Hills]]</td>
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</tr>
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<tr bgcolor="Gainsboro">
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<td>[[Lena Hjelm-Wall&eacute;n]]</td>
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<td>[[Swanee Hunt]]</td>
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<td>[[Anwar Ibrahim]]</td>
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</tr>
  
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:A visit to Crisis Group's website reveals that 40% of its funds come from governments:
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<tr bgcolor="white">
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<td>[[Asma Jahangir]]</td>
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<td>[[Nancy Kassebaum Baker]]</td>
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<td>[[James V. Kimsey]]</td>
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</tr>
  
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::Agence Intergouvernementale de la francophonie, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Holland, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Taiwan, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK and the US. Isn't it a bit hard to believe that those who pay the piper would continue to do so, if reports were critical of government policies - Western governments and their conflict "management" in particular?
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<tr bgcolor="Gainsboro">
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<td>[[Wim Kok]]</td>
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<td>[[Trifun Kostovski]]</td>
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<td>[[Ricardo Lagos]]</td>
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</tr>
  
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:ICG is also supported by various foundations (covering 43%) - [[Rockefeller Foundation|Rockefeller]], [[Ford Foundation|Ford]], [[MacArthur foundation|MacArthur]], [[US Institute for Peace]] (established by Ronald Reagan), [[Carnegie Foundation|Carnegie]], [[Sarlo Jewish Community Endowment Fund[[, Hewlett, etc. and private sector donors (16%).
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<tr bgcolor="white">
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<td>[[Joanne Leedom-Ackerman]]</td>
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<td>[[Maria Livanos Cattaui]]</td>
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<td>[[Ayo Obe]]</td>
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</tr>
  
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:In short, major mainstream American policy-oriented foundations, none of which are known for spending just a fraction of their millions of dollars on grants that could result in building a knowledge base about, say, peace by peaceful means, non-violence and reconciliation. Neither have they promoted studies of why violent conflict-management and so-called humanitarian interventions - e.g. Kosovo - have failed so miserably since the end of the Cold War - let alone promoted criticism of the only superpower's reckless militarist, unilateralist policies these years.
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<tr bgcolor="Gainsboro">
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<td>[[Christine Ockrent]]</td>
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<td>[[Victor Pinchuk]]</td>
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<td>[[Fidel V. Ramos]]</td>
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</tr>
  
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:But let's imagine the ideal world in which, year by year, more and more government funds would come with no strings attached whatsoever. Are non-governmental people leading ICG?
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<tr bgcolor="white">
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<td>[[Ghassan Salam&eacute;]]</td>
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<td>[[Douglas Schoen]]</td>
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<td>[[William Shawcross]]</td>
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</tr>
  
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:No, they are not. Among its board members we find [[Gareth Evans]] President & CEO, Former Foreign Minister of Australia and [[Chris Patten|Lord Patten of Barnes]], former European Commissioner for External Relations, Co-Chairman. Two pro-Kosovo-Albanian Americans, [[Morton Abramowitz]], former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State and former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, [[Stephen Solarz]], former U.S. Congressman. And [[George Soros]]. Among other names that catch the "independent, non-governmental" eye you find: ambassador [[Kenneth Adelman]] (US), [[Wesley Clark]] (former NATO-commander who lead the destruction of Yugoslavia in 1999) (US), [[Zbigniew Brzezinski]], former U.S. National Security Advisor to the President, [[Ruth Dreifuss]], former President, Switzerland, [[Leslie H. Gelb]], former President of [[Council on Foreign Relations]], U.S.
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<tr bgcolor="Gainsboro">
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<td>[[Stephen Solarz]]</td>
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<td>[[George Soros]]</td>
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<td>[[P&auml;r Stenb&auml;ck]]</td>
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</tr>
  
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:Among other former-governmentals: [[Bronislaw Geremek]], former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Poland, Lena Hjelm-Wall?n, former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister, Sweden, James C.F. Huang, Deputy Secretary General to the President, Taiwan, Fidel V. Ramos, former President of the Philippines, [[George Robertson|Lord Robertson of Port Ellen]], former Secretary General of NATO; former Defence Secretary, UK, [[Salim A. Salim]], former Prime Minister of Tanzania and former Secretary General of the [[Organisation of African Unity]], P?r Stenback, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Finland, [[Thorvald Stoltenberg]], former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway, [[Ernesto Zedillo]], former President of Mexico; Martti Ahtisaari, former President, Finland, [[George J. Mitchell]], former U.S. Senate Majority Leader, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Denmark, and Mark Eyskens, former Prime Minister of Belgium.
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<tr bgcolor="white">
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<td>[[Thorvald Stoltenberg]]</td>
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<td>[[Ernesto Zedillo]]</td>
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<td>&nbsp;</td>
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</tr>
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</table>
  
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:In all fairness, there are also some business people, a novelist and a professor. But one can't help being struck by a) the overwhelming presence of (former) politicians and diplomats, b) the virtual absence of people from academia with professional training in field conflict and peace work, and c) the degree of overlap between the governments that support the ICG and the governments these board member once served.
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===Personnel===
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*[[John Prendergast]] &ndash; Senior Advisor
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*[[Jon Greenwald]] &ndash; "vice president of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group"<ref>Navbahor Imamova, [http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-11-07-voa24.cfm Uzbekistan to Hold Presidential Elections in December], VOA News, 7 November 2007</ref>
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*[[Robert Mali]] &ndash; director of the Middle East program<ref>[http://www.dailystar.com.lb/printable.asp?art_ID=86674&cat_ID=2 US congressman calls for concrete action on Lebanon], Daily Star, 10 November 2007. Article reports that he testified in front of Congress about the situation in Lebanon, but it doesn't identify him correctly.</ref>
  
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:The Washington office of the Crisis Group consists of only Americans who - no exception - have a background in the US government - Peace Corps, State Department, the National Security Council, USAID. In a couple of cases Bachelor and Master degrees are stated.
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==Funding==
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According to [http://www.spinwatch.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=807 Jan Oberg]:
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<blockquote style="background-color:beige;border:1pt solid Darkgoldenrod;padding:1%">A visit to Crisis Group's website reveals that 40% of its funds come from governments:
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<blockquote>Agence Intergouvernementale de la francophonie, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Holland, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Taiwan, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK and the US. Isn't it a bit hard to believe that those who pay the piper would continue to do so, if reports were critical of government policies - Western governments and their conflict "management" in particular?</blockquote></blockquote>
  
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:If Crisis Group was really non-governmental - rather than so clearly near-governmental - it would work with civil society and promote early warning, conflict-prevention and policy-proposals from below, in partnership with local groups in conflict regions. It doesn't even try, it has an exclusivist, elite-policy of change, expressed in this manner in its Annual Report:
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===Foundation and private sector donors===
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*[[The Atlantic Philanthropies]]
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*[[Carnegie Corporation of New York]]
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*[[Ford Foundation]]
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*[[Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]]
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*[[William & Flora Hewlett Foundation]]
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*[[The Henry Luce Foundation, Inc.]]
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*[[John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation]]
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*[[The John Merck Fund]]
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*[[Charles Stewart Mott Foundation]]
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*[[Open Society Institute]]
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*[[Ploughshares Fund]]
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*[[Sigrid Rausing Trust]]
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*[[Sasakawa Peace Foundation]]
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*[[The Sarlo Foundation of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund]]
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*[[United States Institute of Peace]]
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*[[Funda&ccedil;&atilde;o Oriente]]
  
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:"Much of Crisis Group's most successful advocacy is done behind closed doors. Our major advocacy offices, in Brussels, Washington DC and New York [notice the choice among 191 UN members, JO] continued to ensure Crisis Group had the access and influence at the highest levels of the U.S. and European governments, the UN, EU and NATO; our Moscow office improved our access to Russian decision-makers; and our London office continued to strengthen Crisis Group's high profile and influence in the UK. All Crisis Group offices, both advocacy and field, receive a regular flow of senior political and official visitors."
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==Partner Organizations==
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*[[Institute for War and Peace Reporting]]
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*[[Save Darfur]]
  
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:Elsewhere it is stated in these self-flattering terms, "Crisis Group today - with its 110 full-time staff spread across some 25 locations on five continents, working simultaneously on around 50 areas of actual and potential conflict, and with an annual operating budget of nearly $12 million - is universally regarded not only as a serious player in the policy debate on just about every major conflict prevention and resolution issue, but as probably now the world's leading independent, non-government source of information, analysis and advice to governments and international organisations on conflict issues."
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==Contact==
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" width="98%" summary="International Crises Group Advocacy Offices">
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<tr>
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<td colspan="2">'''Advocacy Offices'''</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td>
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<b>Brussels Office</b> (Headquarters)<br>
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149 Avenue Louise<br>
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Level 24<br>
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B-1050 Brussels, Belgium<br>
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Tel: +32-2-502 90 38<br>
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Fax: +32-2-502 50 38<br>
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Email: [http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?action=form&amp;fid=14&amp;l=1 webform link]<br>
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Website: [http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1211&amp;l=1 www.crisisgroup.org -- Brussels]
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</td>
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<td>
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<b>New York Office</b><br>
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420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 2640<br>
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New York, New York 10170, United States<br>
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Tel: +1-212-813-0820<br>
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Fax: +1-212-813-0825<br>
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Email: [http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?action=form&amp;fid=17&amp;l=1 webform link]
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<br>Website: [http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1213&amp;l=1 www.crisisgroup.org -- NY]
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</td>
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</tr>
  
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:Closed doors, close interaction with elites who have all the formal and informal connections to power! What power? Most often the power of governments, such as the US, the UK - but also Australia, Japan and Denmark - that have repeatedly chosen to not do something about conflicts when they could but later chose to aggravate the conflicts by exporting their arms and simplifying images of "good" versus "evil" by bombing and occupying - power who does not even bother to learn the history, philosophy, vocabulary, methods or potentials of non-violence but, instead, increasingly promote violence as an integral part of their worldwide conflict "prevention" - power that is pretty isomorphic with the structure of ICG and its worldwide operation. Source: http://www.spinwatch.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=807
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<tr>
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<td>
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'''Washington Office'''<br>
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1629 K Street NW, Suite 450<br>
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Washington DC 20006, United States<br>
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Tel: +1-202-785-1601<br>
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Fax: +1-202-785-1630<br>
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Email:&nbsp;[http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?action=form&amp;fid=19&amp;l=1 webform link]
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<br>Website: [http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1212&amp;l=1 www.crisisgroup.org -- DC]
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</td>
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<td>
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<b>London Office</b><br>
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100&nbsp;Cambridge Grove (Fifth Floor)<br>
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London W6 0LE, United Kingdom<br>
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Tel: +44-20-7031-0230<br>
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Fax: +44-20-7031-0231<br>
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Email: [http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?action=form&amp;fid=20&amp;l=1 webform link ]
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<br>Website: [[http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1214&amp;l=1 www.crisisgroup.org -- London]
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</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td>
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<b>Moscow Office</b><br>
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ul. Fadeeva 6-1-32<br>
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Moscow 125047, Russia&nbsp;<br>
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Tel/Fax: +7-095-251-4485<br>
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Email: [http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?action=form&amp;fid=21&amp;l=1 webform link]
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<br>Website: [http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1215&amp;l=1 www.crisisgroup.org -- Moscow]
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</td>
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<td></td>
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</tr>
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</table>
  
 
==Spinwatch resources==
 
==Spinwatch resources==
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The International Crisis Group: Who Pays the Piper? The Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, April 15, 2005 by Jan Oberg, TFF director http://www.spinwatch.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=807
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Jan Oberg, [http://www.spinwatch.org/content/view/1043/9/ The International Crisis Group: Who Pays the Piper?],''Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research'', 15 April 2005.
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[[Category:Democracy Promotion]]

Latest revision as of 16:22, 17 November 2008

International Crisis Group was founded in 1994 by World Bank Vice-President Mark Malloch Brown, former US diplomat Morton Abramowitz and Fred Cuny, an international disaster relief specialist who disappeared in Chechnya in 1995.

Principals

Executive Committee

Morton Abramowitz Adnan Abu Odeh Kenneth Adelman
Ersin Arioglu Shlomo Ben-Ami Lakhdar Brahimi
Zbigniew Brzezinski Kim Campbell Cheryl Carolus
Naresh Chandra Joaquim Alberto Chissano Victor Chu
Wesley Clark Pat Cox Uffe Ellemann-Jensen
Mark Eyskens Joschka Fischer Yoichi Funabashi
Leslie H. Gelb Frank Giustra Carla Hills
Lena Hjelm-Wallén Swanee Hunt Anwar Ibrahim
Asma Jahangir Nancy Kassebaum Baker James V. Kimsey
Wim Kok Trifun Kostovski Ricardo Lagos
Joanne Leedom-Ackerman Maria Livanos Cattaui Ayo Obe
Christine Ockrent Victor Pinchuk Fidel V. Ramos
Ghassan Salamé Douglas Schoen William Shawcross
Stephen Solarz George Soros Pär Stenbäck
Thorvald Stoltenberg Ernesto Zedillo  

Personnel

Funding

According to Jan Oberg:

A visit to Crisis Group's website reveals that 40% of its funds come from governments:

Agence Intergouvernementale de la francophonie, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Holland, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Taiwan, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK and the US. Isn't it a bit hard to believe that those who pay the piper would continue to do so, if reports were critical of government policies - Western governments and their conflict "management" in particular?

Foundation and private sector donors

Partner Organizations

Contact

Advocacy Offices

Brussels Office (Headquarters)
149 Avenue Louise
Level 24
B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32-2-502 90 38
Fax: +32-2-502 50 38
Email: webform link
Website: www.crisisgroup.org -- Brussels

New York Office
420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 2640
New York, New York 10170, United States
Tel: +1-212-813-0820
Fax: +1-212-813-0825
Email: webform link
Website: www.crisisgroup.org -- NY

Washington Office
1629 K Street NW, Suite 450
Washington DC 20006, United States
Tel: +1-202-785-1601
Fax: +1-202-785-1630
Email: webform link
Website: www.crisisgroup.org -- DC

London Office
100 Cambridge Grove (Fifth Floor)
London W6 0LE, United Kingdom
Tel: +44-20-7031-0230
Fax: +44-20-7031-0231
Email: webform link
Website: [www.crisisgroup.org -- London

Moscow Office
ul. Fadeeva 6-1-32
Moscow 125047, Russia 
Tel/Fax: +7-095-251-4485
Email: webform link
Website: www.crisisgroup.org -- Moscow

Spinwatch resources

Jan Oberg, The International Crisis Group: Who Pays the Piper?,Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, 15 April 2005.

  1. ↑ Navbahor Imamova, Uzbekistan to Hold Presidential Elections in December, VOA News, 7 November 2007
  2. ↑ US congressman calls for concrete action on Lebanon, Daily Star, 10 November 2007. Article reports that he testified in front of Congress about the situation in Lebanon, but it doesn't identify him correctly.
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