Speaker Ryan's Top Foreign Policy Aides Come From Think Tanks

Here is more from the Washington Post:

Ryan will also be keeping the counsel of some of the Republican Party’s most recognized foreign policy experts, many of them veterans of the 2012 campaign in which he was Mitt Romney’s running mate.

That roster, according to Ryan aides, includes: Dan Senor, a prominent foreign policy adviser to the Romney campaign who previously worked as spokesman for the Coalition Provision Authority in Iraq; Elliott Abrams of the Council on Foreign Relations, who worked as a national security adviser to former President George W. Bush; and Eric Edelman, a former ambassador who served in Bush’s Defense Department.

Dan Senor used to be an Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).  He also established a think tank called Foreign Policy Initiative, along with William Kristol and Robert Kagan.

As the article mentions, Elliott Abrams works at CFR, where he is a Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies.

Eric Edelman, a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA).  Among other things, he is also a member of the Board of Directors at the US Institute of Peace (USIP).

Here is a previous Think Tank Watch post on Ryan's deep connection to think tanks.

Think Tank Quickies (#186)

• Brookings in a year-long development and redesign of its website to a top news site.
• Defense think tank CSBA, which just went through major shake-up, is on a hiring spree.
• Iran debate illustrates think tanks' niche in policy ecosystem.
• Paul Maley wins 2015 Lowy Institute Media Award (and $20,000).
• Many prestigious think tank refuse to pay their interns? (via USG official)
• "What are think tanks saying (and who's paying)?" via Michael Harris at Guerilla Wire.
• On Think Tanks organizing international online conference on think tank research methods.
• Hong Kong think tanks can play a positive role, if their quality is up to scratch.
• If fish tanks make you think happy thoughts, do think tanks?
• DC, home to our nation's most impressive and frequently cited think tanks (pic).
• Think tank launches summit to reshape Arab region.
• The corporate community, think tanks, policy-discussion groups, and government, via UCSC.
• Think tanks, lobbyists and the need for independent ideas in planning, via Chris Hale.
• Think tanks and universities have a complementary role to play (from Stimson Center talk).
• Jim Gilmore asked why he's running for president instead of doing something like running a think tank, and notes that he does head a think tank (i.e., Free Congress Foundation).
• The role of think tanks in the EU policy process remains largely uncharted territory for political scientists.

The End of a Prominent Defense Think Tank?

Defense One is reporting on a major shake-up that is currently underway at the think tank Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA).  Here is more:

Andrew Krepinevich, who has been president of CSBA since 1993, has begun telling colleagues and friends that he will retire from the think tank in March. Todd Harrison — perhaps the capital’s premiere defense-budget analyst — is decamping as well, heading for the nearby Center for Strategic and International Studies.

While Harrison’s move was quietly announced by CSIS last month, the news of Krepinevich’s departure follows a meeting of CSBA’s board of directors last week. Krepinevich could could be reached for immediate comment.

CSBA is considered the preeminent think tank for U.S. defense-budget issues. Its reports have been must-reads for defense officials, lawmakers, businesses and reporters, especially as Pentagon spending has come under tighter scrutiny after a decade of record highs.

But the non-profit organization has been taking in less money from contributions and government grants, and instead propping up its bottom line with more corporate consulting work, according to CSBA’s latest financial disclosures. The total value of contributions and grants fell from $4.6 million in 2011 to $2.6 million in 2013, that latest year for which figures are available. Meanwhile, its corporate consulting revenue grew from $257,294 in 2011 to nearly $2.2 million in 2013. Much of that work is for a major defense firm, according to people with knowledge of the contracts who declined to speak publicly.

The think tank, which has about 15 employees, had total revenue of just under $5.5 million in 2013. That year, Krepinevich earned $828,553 in salary and compensation, according to CSBA’s latest financial disclosure forms. Jim Thomas, the think tank’s vice president and director of studies, was its second-highest paid employee, earning $644,351 in salary and compensation.

Numerous current and former senior Pentagon officials have worked for CSBA, including Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work and Mike Vickers, the undersecretary for intelligence who recently retired. Eric Edelman, a former undersecretary for policy in the George W. Bush administration is among several former Pentagon officials that currently do work for the think tank.

Daniel Drezner notes that lots of think tanks will be confronting the same fiscal reality the CSBA is facing now.  "So think of the goings-on at CSBA as the canary in the coal mine for other, larger foreign policy/national security think tanks," writes Drezner.

Think Tank Quickies (#183)

• Atlantic Council pens new donor disclosure policy: $250 is the key number.
• How the world is changing think tanks, by Brad Lips.
• Think tanks move to fore on energy.
• CNAS is the only national security think tank to be co-led by a Democrat and a Republican.
• Even a junior analyst at a think tank can meet virtually anyone.
• Ben Wattenberg, AEI scholar and host of PBS series "Think Tank With Ben Wattenberg," dies.
• Think tanks are "overcrowded by people more concerned with official designations rather than serious policy research..."
• Heritage Foundation honors John Von Kannon with its highest honor: the Luce Award.
• Wang Chaoyong, founding Chairman and CEO of ChinaEquity Group, joins CEIP's Board of Trustees.
• Todd Harrison, formerly with CSBA, joins CSIS as Director of Defense Budget Analysis and Senior Fellow in the International Security Program.
• Robit Chopra, formerly with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, joins CAP as Senior Fellow.
• Nora Bensahel and David Barno named as Nonresident Senior Fellows at Atlantic Council.
• NAF scholars at NATO's CyCon conference; NAF cybersecurity fellows announced; NAF collaborates with community orgs to privacy and poverty in the US.
• USIP's newly-created PeaceTech Lab announces board of directors.
• RAND Corp. announces new Center of Excellence on Health System Performance.