The Washington Center of Foreign Policy Research was founded in 1957 by the Honorable Paul H. Nitze, former Secretary of the Navy and Deputy Secretary of Defense; Nitze was also one of the founders of the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). The Washington Center, located in Washington, DC, was a major teaching and research division of SAIS. The Center was founded with a grant from the Ford Foundation and survived on further grants from the Carnegie Corporation and the Ford, Avalon, Old Dominion and Rockefeller Foundations.

The purpose of the Center was to study international politics with a focus on American foreign policy. In its literature, the Center claimed it sought to "strengthen the bonds between theory and practice, and between scholarship and policy making." Holding roundtable meetings was an important function of the Center. The meetings allowed Center members, visiting scholars, diplomats, government officials and journalists to exchange views on a wide variety of topics in international politics. Because most of the Center's files are from the 1960s, topics such as the Vietnam War, detente, and civil violence are prominent. The roundtable minutes in this subgroup capture the essence of the discussions, which were informal and encouraged the free flow of ideas. SAIS faculty served as members of the Center, while visiting lecturers and fellows were usually scholars from other research institutions or government officials.

In mid-1980, the Washington Center of Foreign Policy Research was superseded by the Foreign Policy Institute. Similarities as well as differences are visible between the Center and the Institute. First, the Institute receives more grant funding from other institutions than did the Center towards its end. Also, the Institute is less pedagogical and more research-oriented than the Center was. Many of the programs of the Center were adopted and expanded by the Institute. Some personnel of the Institute were members of the Center. However, the administration has seen changes in one major respect. The new administration established the position of Chairman, an internationally-known figure who provides prestigious leadership for the Institute. Harold Brown, Secretary of Defense during the Carter administration, became FPI Chairman in July 1984. The responsibilities of the Director of the Center have been divided in the Institute between an Executive Director and the Chairman.

The FPI organizes research and teaching in a variety of fields including security studies, international economic policy, international energy policy, and regional studies. Its Washington Roundtables deal with specialized policy-related issues in international affairs and center around papers written for this purpose by guest experts. Its Embassy Series permits the presentation by foreign diplomats of problems and policies faced by their countries. Its Policy Study Groups provide for high level discussions of foreign policy and defense issues of vital interest to the United States. Its Washington Briefings are specifically organized for the international press corps in Washington. In addition, the institute occasionally hosts other special events, such as conferences and seminars.

The FPI sponsors the publication of a monograph series--the SAIS Papers in International Affairs --that represents current research and analysis taking place within the school. It also publishes the student- edited and student-managed SAIS Review, a semi-annual journal on foreign affairs. Other publications include the FPI Policy Briefs, which examine issues of current policy interest, the FPI Case Studies on formal diplomatic negotiations, which are usually written by SAIS professors or FPI fellows working together with SAIS students as co-authors, and Policy Consensus Reports, which present recommendations of leading American citizens on vital foreign policy issues.