Friday, August 30, 2019

Members of Congress Advising Epstein-Connected Think Tank

Here is more from the conservative Daily Caller:

Democratic representatives Adam Schiff, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Maxine Waters are just three elected officials who sit on the congressional advisory board of a foreign policy think-tank led by Jeffrey Epstein’s brother, Mark Epstein.
Co-founded by socialite heiress Constance Milstein in 1988, the Humpty Dumpty Institute works closely with the United Nations, the State Department, and “various countries” to “put the pieces back together” in parts of the world ridden with conflict.
Mark Epstein has played a significant role in this mission. According to the organization’s website, Jeffrey Epstein’s brother serves as Humpty Dumpy’s vice chairman, and has represented the group abroad on delegations alongside members of Congress and U.N. dignitaries.
While Humpty Dumpty lists over thirty elected officials on their advisory board, only four are Republicans.

Did Jeffrey Epstein give millions of dollars to think tanks?

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Mike Gravel Wraps Up Presidential Bid and Forms New Think Tank

Here is more from ABC News:

Long-shot Democratic presidential hopeful Mike Gravel -- an 89-year-old former Senator from Alaska whose quirky campaign is spearheaded by a group of teenagers running his feisty Twitter account -- is about to call it quits.
And while the campaign may be coming to an end, the teens running the campaign already have their eyes set on another related venture: The Gravel Institute.
The Gravel Institute, campaign staffers said, will be a “leftist think tank” which will focus on “ending the American empire,” “reforming our Democracy,” and “direct action by elected officials to end injustice and suffering.”
On Gravel's Twitter feed, the staffers offered a glimpse into the types of action they foresee the institute calling for.
“As an example, the Chair of House Oversight could subpoena every migrant in detention -- throwing a massive wrench in an inhuman and decrepit immigration machine and single handedly forcing change,” the campaign tweeted.

Think Tank Watch will closely track the new think tank once it officially launches.

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Think Tank Quickies (#356)

  • Jeffrey Epstein gave millions to think tanks?
  • Washingtonian interviews Robert Doar, the new head of AEI; so does WaPo.
  • What is the East-West Center and why are taxpayers giving it $16.7 million a year?
  • What is a think tank, how do they work, and are they a nonprofit?
  • New technology and "old" think tanks.
  • Her think tank helped forge the Texas miracle.
  • Can the new Quincy Institute put a stop to endless war?  Can billionaires buy world peace?
  • Think tanks are hiring sci-fi writers to predict the future.
  • Why have think tanks failed to figure out why infrastructure is so expensive?
  • Polish officials meet leading US think tanks.

Friday, August 2, 2019

Only 9% of Americans Can Name a Think Tank

A new poll from UK-based consultancy We Are Flint that was conducted online by YouGov shows that only 9 percent of Americans can name a think think, and 36% don't know what a think tank is.

Of the half of the population (55%) who claim to know what a think tank is but cannot name one:
  • Close to half associate think tanks with lobbying (46%).
  • Over one third believe think tanks are manipulative (34%).
  • One quarter claim they do backroom deals and are corrupt (28% and 22%).
  • Just 21% say think tanks are innovative.

The Heritage Foundation (5.7%) is the only think tank that more than 5% of the population could name, followed by Brookings Institution (3.9%), Cato Institute (3.0%), RAND Corporation (2.2%), American Enterprise Institute (1.4%), Center for American Progress (1.2%), Hoover Institution (1.1%), and Council on Foreign Relations (0.6%).

Another recent We Are Flint poll found that less than 4% of the UK public can name a think tank.

Watch this video of Americans being asked to try to explain what a think tank is.

Think Tank Watch analysis: 9 percent sounds quite high, and we wonder what the figure would have been if the poll was actually conducted in person rather than online.

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Russia Bans Major US Think Tank Atlantic Council

Here is more from the Salt Lake Tribune:

The Russian government has banned a U.S.-based think tank previously headed by Jon Huntsman, a former Utah governor who is now serving as America’s top envoy in Moscow.
The Russian Justice Ministry declared the Atlantic Council as “undesirable,” essentially barring it from working in the country, according to the Russian government-controlled Tass news outlet.
“On July 29, the Russian Justice Ministry has placed the Atlantic Council of the United States on the list of foreign and international nongovernmental organizations, whose activities are declared undesirable on the Russian territory,” the Justice Ministry said.

Here is an official statement from Atlantic Council.

Last year, the Atlantic Council, which supports close US-EU relations and NATO ties (the think tank actually receives funding from NATO), held an event meant as a protest to President Donald Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Among other things, Atlantic Council is working with Facebook to fight election disinformation.