The goal of RIESS is to enhance better communication between East and West at leadership level.[2][3] RIESS used to be hosted by Merton College, Oxford. Its permanent seat is now within the premises of the secluded former royal palace of Apethorpe.
Governance is handled by a board of trustees constituted of one permanent director (also called chairman) seconded by two vice-chairmen (Owen Matthews and Paul Laikin). The Board also includes the current President and former Presidents of the advisory board as well as two Academic representatives from respectively Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
RIESS is privately funded and free of any political affiliation.
RIESS holds periodic seminars on various facets of East West strategic relations using Track II diplomacy and applying Chatham House Rule.[4]
RIESS is supported by an advisory board constituted of fifty former Minister level Thought Leaders. Bob Hawke, former Prime Minister of Australia, was President of the advisory board from 2005 to 2019. He was succeeded by former French Defence Minister Michele Aliot-Marie. Dame Jessica Rawson, then Master of Merton College, Oxford, was Academic Adviser from Oxford University for the period between 2010 and 2015. She was succeeded by Prof. Denise Lievesley, Principal of Green Templeton College, Oxford completing her own tenure in 2022. Prof. John Coates from Emmanuel College, Cambridge was the Academic Adviser from Cambridge University during the period between 2015 and 2022. New academic advisers from both universities were appointed starting May 2023 namely Lt.Gen. Douglas Chalmers, Master of Emmanuel College, Cantab; and, Sir Michael Dixon, Principal of Green Templeton College, Oxon.