Ready Reference

U.S. Think Tanks

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American Civil Liberties Union
http://www.aclu.org/
The ACLU was founded by Roger Baldwin, Crystal Eastman, Albert DeSilver and others in 1920. We are nonprofit and nonpartisan and have grown from a roomful of civil liberties activists to an organization of more than 500,000 members and supporters. We handle nearly 6,000 court cases annually from our offices in almost every state.

American Enterprise Institute
http://www.aei.org/
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a private, nonpartisan, not-for-profit institution dedicated to research and education on issues of government, politics, economics, and social welfare.

American Foreign Policy Council
http://www.afpc.org/
Founded in 1982, AFPC is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing information to those who make or influence the foreign policy of the United States and to assisting world leaders, particularly in the former USSR, with building democracies and market economies. AFPC is widely recognized as a source of timely, insightful analysis on issues of foreign policy, and works closely with members of Congress, the Executive Branch and the policymaking community.

Army War College Strategic Studies Institute (SSI)
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/
The Strategic Studies Institute is the U.S. Army's institute for geostrategic and national security research and analysis. The Strategic Studies Institute conducts strategic research and analysis to support the U.S. Army War College curricula, provides direct analysis for Army and Department of Defense leadership, and serves as a bridge to the wider strategic community.

The Atlas Economic Research Foundation
http://www.atlasusa.org/
Atlas wants to see free societies develop all over the world, and we believe this depends on winning “the battle of ideas” – a battle that cannot be won without local institutions making the case for human rights, economic freedom, civil society, the rule of law and limited government. That’s why Atlas works as a catalyst for the development of independent think tanks that can develop a public consensus in favor of a free society.

Baker Institute for Public Policy
http://bakerinstitute.org/
The Baker Institute is strictly non-partisan and dedicated to the highest standards of intellectual excellence and integrity with the goal of helping bridge the gap between the theory and practice of public policy by drawing together experts from academia, government, the media, business, and non-governmental organizations.

The Brookings Institution
http://www.brook.edu/
The Brookings Institution is a private nonprofit organization devoted to independent research and innovative policy solutions. For more than 90 years, Brookings has analyzed current and emerging issues and produced new ideas that matter—for the nation and the world.

The Carnegie Endowment
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States. Founded in 1910, its work is nonpartisan and dedicated to achieving practical results.

The Carter Center
http://www.cartercenter.org/
The Carter Center, in partnership with Emory University, is committed to advancing human rights and alleviating unnecessary human suffering. Founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, the Atlanta-based Center has helped to improve the quality of life for people in more than 65 countries.

Cato Institute
http://www.cato.org/
The Cato Institute was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane. It is a non-profit public policy research foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Cato Institute seeks to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets and peace.

Center for Defense Information
http://www.cdi.org/
The Center for Defense Information is dedicated to strengthening security through: international cooperation; reduced reliance on unilateral military power to resolve conflict; reduced reliance on nuclear weapons; a transformed and reformed military establishment; and, prudent oversight of, and spending on, defense programs.

Center for Responsive Politics
http://www.opensecrets.org/
The Center for Responsive Politics is a non-partisan, non-profit research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics, and its effect on elections and public policy. The Center conducts computer-based research on campaign finance issues for the news media, academics, activists, and the public at large. The Center’s work is aimed at creating a more educated voter, an involved citizenry, and a more responsive government.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies
http://www.csis.org/
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) seeks to advance global security and prosperity in an era of economic and political transformation by providing strategic insights and practical policy solutions to decisionmakers. CSIS serves as a strategic planning partner for the government by conducting research and analysis and developing policy initiatives that look into the future and anticipate change.

Center of International Studies
http://www.wws.princeton.edu/cis/
In 2003, the Center of International Studies (CIS) (formerly a research program within the Woodrow Wilson School) and the University's Council on Regional Studies were merged, combining their strengths and activities to form a new institute, the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS). PIIRS, co-created by the University and the Woodrow Wilson School, promotes collaborative, interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching on issues of global importance and aims to integrate international and regional studies at the University into informed and coherent perspectives on global affairs.

The Century Foundation
http://www.tcf.org/
The Century Foundation, founded in 1919 by Edward A. Filene, is a nonprofit public policy research institution. Our work is premised on the belief that a mix of effective government, open democracy, and free markets has been the key to the growth and prosperity of the United States.

Council on Foreign Relations
http://www.cfr.org/
Founded in 1921, the Council on Foreign Relations is an independent, national membership organization and a nonpartisan center for scholars dedicated to producing and disseminating ideas so that individual and corporate members, as well as policymakers, journalists, students, and interested citizens in the United States and other countries, can better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other governments.

Democratic Leadership Council
http://www.dlc.org/
The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) leads the New Democrat movement, a national network of elected officials and community leaders whose innovative ideas are modernizing progressive politics for the 21st Century.

Economic Policy Institute
http://www.epi.org/
The Economic Policy Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to broaden the public debate about strategies to achieve a prosperous and fair economy. The mission of the Economic Policy Institute is to provide high-quality research and education in order to promote a prosperous, fair, and sustainable economy.

Electronic Policy Network
http://movingideas.org/
Care2.com, a network of 6 million civic-minded members, is the new home for the Moving Ideas Network! Building upon the services that Moving Ideas and its founder, The American Prospect, have developed for its nonprofit members and community, Care2 will continue to take Moving Ideas towards its goal of becoming the one-stop home for nonprofits and progressives alike.

Electronic Privacy Information Center
http://www.epic.org/
EPIC is a public interest research center in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and constitutional values.

Foreign Policy
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/
Founded in 1970 by Samuel Huntington and Warren Demian Manshel, and now published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., FOREIGN POLICY is the premier, award-winning magazine of global politics, economics, and ideas. Our mission is to explain how the world works—in particular, how the process of global integration is reshaping nations, institutions, cultures, and, more fundamentally, our daily lives.

Foreign Policy In Focus
http://www.fpif.org/
Foreign Policy In Focus (FPIF) is a think tank for research, analysis, and action that brings together scholars, advocates, and activists who strive to make the United States a more responsible global partner.

The Heritage Foundation
http://www.heritage.org/
Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institute - a think tank - whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.

Hoover Institution
http://www.hoover.org
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University, is a public policy research center devoted to advanced study of politics, economics, and political economy—both domestic and foreign—as well as international affairs.

Hudson Institute
http://www.hudson.org/
Hudson Institute is a non-partisan policy research organization dedicated to innovative research and analysis that promotes global security, prosperity, and freedom.

Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis
http://www.ifpa.org/
Founded in 1976 and now in its thirtieth year, the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis (IFPA) is an independent, nonpartisan research organization specializing in national security, foreign policy, and defense planning issues.

Institute for International Economics
http://www.iie.com/
The Institute for International Economics is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research institution devoted to the study of international economic policy. Since 1981 the Institute has provided timely, objective analysis and concrete solutions to key international economic problems.

Institute for National Strategic Studies
http://www.ndu.edu/inss/insshp.html
The Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) is a policy research and strategic gaming organization within the National Defense University serving the U.S. Department of Defense, its components, and interagency partners.

Legislative Analyst's Office
http://www.lao.ca.gov/
The Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) has been providing fiscal and policy advice to the Legislature for more than 55 years. It is known for its fiscal and programmatic expertise and nonpartisan analyses of the state's budget.

Johns Hopkins University's Foreign Policy Institute (FPI)
http://www.sais-jhu.edu/centers/fpi/index.html
The Foreign Policy Institute, (FPI), an integral part of The Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), was established in 1980 to unite the worlds of scholarship and public affairs in the search for realistic answers to international issues facing the United States and the world.

National Center for Policy Analysis
http://www.ncpa.org/
The National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization, established in 1983. The NCPA's goal is to develop and promote private alternatives to government regulation and control, solving problems by relying on the strength of the competitive, entrepreneurial private sector. Topics include reforms in health care, taxes, Social Security, welfare, criminal justice, education and environmental regulation.

National Center on Education and the Economy
http://www.ncee.org/
The National Center on Education and the Economy is dedicated to providing the tools and technical assistance the nation needs to lead the world in education and training.

National Endowment for Democracy
http://www.ned.org/
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a private, nonprofit organization created in 1983 to strengthen democratic institutions around the world through nongovernmental efforts.

National Security Studies
http://nss.edu/
National Security Studies is the premier professional development and training program for the senior civilian and military leadership of the Defense Department.

The Pacific Institute
http://www.pacinst.org/
Founded in 1987 and based in Oakland, California the Pacific Institute is an independent, nonpartisan think-tank studying issues at the intersection of development, environment, and security.

RAND Corporation
http://www.rand.org/
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. For nearly 60 years, the RAND Corporation has pursued its nonprofit mission by conducting research on important and complicated problems. Initially, RAND (the name of which was derived from a contraction of the term research and development) focused on issues of national security. Eventually, RAND expanded its intellectual reserves to offer insight into other areas, such as business, education health, law, and science. RAND's innovative approach to problem solving has become the benchmark for all other "think tanks" that followed.

United States Institute for Peace
http://www.usip.org/
The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan, national institution established and funded by Congress. Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent international conflicts, promote post-conflict stability and democratic transformations, and increase peacebuilding capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide.

The Urban Institute
http://www.urban.org/
In the mid-1960s, President Johnson saw the need for independent nonpartisan analysis of the problems facing America's cities and their residents. The President created a blue-ribbon commission of civic leaders who recommended chartering a center to do that work. In 1968, the Urban Institute became that center.

Worldwatch Institute
http://www.worldwatch.org/
The Worldwatch Institute offers a unique blend of interdisciplinary research, global focus, and accessible writing that has made it a leading source of information on the interactions among key environmental, social, and economic trends. Our work revolves around the transition to an environmentally sustainable and socially just society—and how to achieve it.