To promote this, it offers educational programs to its members and general audiences that address security challenges facing the U.S. and publishes a variety of publications, including the bimonthly journal, American Foreign Policy Interests.

It held public seminars regularly, assembled task forces in order to analyze areas of critical concern to the United States, and published journals and pamphlets containing summaries and policy recommendations derived from high-level conferences and briefings featuring American and foreign policymakers.

Recipients include George F. Kennan, Cyrus R. Vance, Paul A. Volcker, Richard C. Holbrooke, John D. Negroponte, and General David H. Petraeus.

When the British and Irish governments issued the Downing Street Declaration at the end of that year, the National Committee under his leadership placed a full-page ad in The New York Times challenging every party involved in the conflict to attend an NCAFP-sponsored conference to air the arguments of all sides.

Adams's first appearance in the United States enabled him to begin to develop ties with key leaders in New York and Washington that gave him and his party the assurance necessary to enter into peace negotiations, sign the Belfast Agreement, and contend for and win political office in the North.

While the committee's scope has broadened, it remains anchored to its values: the preservation and strengthening of national security; supporting political, religious, and cultural pluralism; improving U.S. relations with its allies; advancing human rights; curbing nuclear proliferation, encouraging realistic arms-control agreements; and promoting an open global economy.

Its long-term task forces bring together U.S. and foreign scholars, foreign-policy practitioners, and others to off-the-record and sometimes closed-door forums where adversaries can, over a period of years, air their views unencumbered by official rhetoric.

Each year, the organization convenes a series of programs, including single speaker events, panels and round tables addressing immediate and long-term issues of national security.

When, after study and discussion, the organization or one of its task forces reaches a consensus on an aspect of foreign policy that affects American national interests, it makes that judgment known to the Administration, the U.S. Congress, the media and the general public.