An annual survey ranking think tanks around the world was released on Wednesday, with Washington, D.C.’s The Brookings Institute garnering the top ranking.
The “2011 Global Go To Think Tank Report” is compiled by the University of Pennsylvania’s Think Tanks and Civil Societies program and published by the Diplomatic Courier.
Along with the Brookings Institute, Washington, D.C. think tanks ranking in the top ten included the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (3), Center for Strategic and International Studies (5), and the Peterson Institute for International Economics (10). The Council on Foreign Relations (4) also has a strong presence in D.C., but its main office is in New York City. Twelve of the world’s top thirty think tanks were located in the United States.
Chatham House (2) and Amnesty International (7) were the two highest-ranked non-U.S. think tanks, both of whom are based out of the United Kingdom. Think tanks from Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Chile, Russia, Poland, Kenya, China, Brazil and Canada were also among the top thirty ranked in the world.
The survey also ranked the think tank’s based on their influence on certain policy issues. In the category of international affairs, the Center for Strategic and International Studies ranked number one, followed by the Brookings Institute and the Council on Foreign Relations.
The rankings are based on scores given by 793 expert panelists and 150 journalist and scholars among other elites around the world. Participants are asked to rank the think tanks on a number of criteria including publications, reputation and access to policymakers and other elites, financial resources and ability to effect societal changes.
The survey found that there were 6,545 think tanks around the world, an increase of 70 from the 2010 survey. In terms of their location, the United States is in the overwhelming lead with 1,815 think tanks followed by China (425), India (292) and the United Kingdom (286).
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