The Brookings Institution building near Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. |
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| Abbreviation | Brookings |
| Motto | Quality. Independence. Impact. |
| Formation | 1916 |
| Type | Public Policy Think Tank |
| Headquarters | 1775 Massachusetts Avenue NW |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| President | Strobe Talbott |
| Website | brookings.edu |
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C.,[1] in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and global economy and development.[2][3]
Its stated mission is to "provide innovative and practical recommendations that advance three broad goals: strengthen American democracy; foster the economic and social welfare, security and opportunity of all Americans; and secure a more open, safe, prosperous, and cooperative international system."[1]
Brookings states that its scholars "represent diverse points of view" and describes itself as non-partisan.[1][4]
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Brookings was founded in 1916 as the Institute for Government Research (IGR), with the mission of becoming "the first private organization devoted to analyzing public policy issues at the national level."[5]
The Institution's founder, philanthropist Robert S. Brookings (1850–1932), originally financed the formation of three organizations: the Institute for Government Research, the Institute of Economics, and the Robert Brookings Graduate School affiliated with Washington University in St. Louis.[3] The three were merged into the Brookings Institution on December 8, 1927.[3][6]
During the Great Depression economists at Brookings embarked on a large scale study commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to understand the underlying causes of the depression. Brookings's first president Harold Moulton and other Brookings scholars later led an effort to oppose President Roosevelt's New Deal policies because they thought such measures were impeding economic recovery.[7] With the outbreak of World War II, Brookings researchers turned their attention to aiding the administration with a series of studies on mobilization.
In 1948, Brookings was asked to submit a plan for the administration of the European Recovery Program. The resulting organization scheme assured that the Marshall Plan was run carefully and on a businesslike basis.[8]
In 1952, Robert Calkins succeeded Moulton as president of the Brookings Institution. He secured grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation that put the Institution on a strong financial basis. He reorganized the Institution around the Economic Studies, Government Studies, and Foreign Policy Progams. In 1957, the Institution moved from Jackson Avenue to a new research center near Dupont Circle on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, DC.[9]
Kermit Gordon assumed the presidency of Brookings in 1967. He began a series of studies of program choices for the federal budget in 1969 entitled "Setting National Priorities." He also expanded the Foreign Policy Studies Program to include research in national security and defense. After the election of Richard Nixon to the presidency in 1968, the relationship between the Brookings Institution and the White House deteriorated – in the report that became known as the Huston Plan (also referred to sometimes as the White House Horrors), Nixon's aide Charles Colson proposed a firebombing of the Institution. Yet throughout the 1970s, Brookings was offered more federal research contracts than it could handle.[10]
By the 1980s, the Institution faced an increasingly competitive and ideologically charged intellectual environment. The need to reduce the federal budget deficit became a major research theme as well as investigating problems with national security and government inefficiency. Bruce MacLaury, fourth president of Brookings, also established the Center for Public Policy Education to develop workshop conferences and public forums to broaden the audience for research programs.[11]
In 1995, Michael Armacost became the fifth president of the Brookings Institution and led an effort to refocus the Institution's mission heading into the 21st Century. Under Armacost's direction, Brookings created several interdisciplinary research centers such as the Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy (now the Metropolitan Policy Program, led by Bruce J. Katz), brought attention to the plight of cities and metropolitan areas, and the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies, which brings together specialists from different Asian countries to examine regional problems.
Strobe Talbott became president of Brookings in 2002. Shortly thereafter, Brookings launched the Saban Center for Middle East Policy and the John L. Thornton China Center. In October 2006, Brookings announced the establishment of the Brookings-Tsinghua Center in Beijing. In July 2007, the Institution announced the creation of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform to be directed by senior fellow Mark McClellan, and then in October 2007, the creation of the Brookings Doha Center directed by fellow Hady Amr in Qatar.
Brookings as an institution produces an Annual Report.[12] The Brookings Institution Press publishes books and journals from the institution's own research as well as authors outside the organization.[13] The books and journals they publish include Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy, Globalphobia: Confronting Fears about Open Trade, India: Emerging Power, Through Their Eyes, Taking the High Road, Masses in Flight and Stalemate to name a few. In addition, books, papers, articles, reports, policy briefs and opinion pieces are produced by Brookings research programs, centers, projects and, for the most part, by experts.[14][15]
Brookings traces its history back to 1916 and has contributed to the creation of the United Nations, the Marshall Plan, and the Congressional Budget Office, as well as influenced policies of deregulation, broad-based tax reform, welfare reform, and foreign aid.[16] It is ranked the number one think tank in the U.S. in the annual think tank index published by Foreign Policy,[17] of the 200 most prominent think tanks in the U.S., the Brookings Institution's research is the most widely cited by the media.[18][19] In a 1997 survey of congressional staff and journalists, Brookings ranked as the second-most influential and first in credibility among 27 think tanks.[20] Moreover, “Brookings and its researchers are not so concerned, in their work, in affecting the ideological direction of the nation” and rather tend “to be staffed by researchers with strong academic credentials.”[20] Along with the American Enterprise Institute and The Heritage Foundation, Brookings is generally considered one of the three most influential policy institutes in the U.S.[21]
As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Brookings describes itself as independent and non-partisan. The New York Times has referred to the organization as liberal, liberal-centrist, centrist, and conservative.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28] In 2008, The New York Times published an article where it referred to the "conservative Brookings Institution,". The Washington Post has described Brookings as centrist and liberal.[29][30][31][32] The Los Angeles Times described Brookings as liberal-leaning and centrist before concluding these labels made no sense.[33][34][35][36] In 1977, Time Magazine described it as the "nation's pre-eminent liberal think tank."[37] Newsweek has described Brookings as centrist[38] while Politico has used the term "center-left."[39] In addition, the organization is described as centrist by the liberal media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.[19][40][41][42]
Some liberals argue that despite its left-of-center reputation, Brookings foreign policy scholars were overly supportive of Bush administration policies abroad.[43][44] Matthew Yglesias, for example, has pointed out that Brookings's Michael O'Hanlon frequently agrees with—and appears on stage with—scholars from conservative organizations such as the American Enterprise Institute, The Weekly Standard, and the Project for a New American Century.[43] Similarly, Brookings fellow and research director Benjamin Wittes is a member of the conservative Hoover Institution's Task Force on National Security and Law.[45] A number of Brookings scholars have served in Republican and Democratic administrations, including Mark McClellan, Ron Haskins and Martin Indyk.[46]
The Brookings Board of Trustees include prominent Republicans such as Kenneth Duberstein, a former chief of staff to Ronald Reagan, and prominent Democrats, such as Laura Tyson, former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under Bill Clinton. Its scholars include former government officials hailing from both Democratic and Republican administrations, as well as many who have not served in government and do not advertise a party affiliation.[47]
In 2002, the Brookings Institution established the Saban Center for Middle East Policy in order "to promote a better understanding of the policy choices facing American decision makers in the Middle East".[48] The Center is named after Haim Saban, an Israeli-American media proprietor, who donated $13 million toward its establishment[49] and directed by Ken Pollack.
The 21st Century Defense Initiative (21CDI) is aimed at producing research, analysis, and outreach that address three core issues: the future of war, the future of U.S. defense needs and priorities, and the future of the U.S. defense system.[50]
The Initiative draws on the knowledge from regional centers, including the Center on the United States and Europe, the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies, the Thornton China Center, and the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, allowing the integration of regional knowledge.[51]
P. W. Singer, author of Wired for War, serves as the Director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative and Dr. Michael E. O'Hanlon, serves as the Director of Research.[51] Senior Fellow Stephen P. Cohen and Vanda Felbab-Brown are also affiliated with 21CDI.[52]
Under Brookings President Bruce MacLaury's leadership in the 1980s, the Center for Public Policy Education (CPPE) was formed to develop workshop conferences and public forums to broaden the audience for research programs. In 2005, the Center was renamed the Brookings Center for Executive Education (BCEE), which was shortened to Brookings Executive Education (BEE) with the launch of a partnership with the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.[53]
At the end of 2004 the Brookings Institution had assets of $258 million and spent $39.7 million, while its budget has grown to more than $80 million in 2009.[54] Its largest contributors include the Ford Foundation, the Gates Foundation, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and her husband Richard C. Blum, Bank of America, ExxonMobil, Pew Charitable Trusts, the MacArthur Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation; and the governments of the United States, Japan, Qatar, Taipei, the District of Columbia, and the United Kingdom.