Think Tank Quickies (#194)

• Russian hacks peppering think tanks.
• Readers react to thinking on think tanks series in the Washington Post.
• James McGann: Think tanks need to innovate or die.
• Jane Harman in WPost: Are think tanks too partisan?
• Ellen Laipson of Stimson: Why our demand for instant results hurts think tanks.
• Jessica Matthews of CEIP: Why think tanks should embrace "new media."
• USTR official Wendy Cutler becomes VP of Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI).
• Newt Gingrich a "political consultant for conservative think tanks."
• Joe Lieberman working on projects related to foreign policy and defense for such conservative think tanks as AEI and Hudson.
• Jane Smiley's new book "Golden Age" tells all about think tanks.
• Jason Stahl (Salon) on Elizabeth Warren: Why her war with a corporate-friendly think tank matters.
• How USAID's secret think tank funding hurts the poor; and most Australian think tanks keep their funding secret, according to new data.

Powerful Think Tanker Sells Iran Deal on Capitol Hill

Think tanker Nicholas Burns, a top diplomat in the Bush Administration, has been tapped by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to sell the recently reached Iran nuclear deal to Capitol Hill.  Here is more from Politico:

A former top diplomatic appointee in the administration of President George W. Bush will help sell the Iranian nuclear deal to House Democrats this week.

Nicholas Burns, who served as undersecretary of state for political affairs from 2005 to 2008, will brief the caucus on Wednesday at the invitation of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Burns, who helped Bush design the current detente with Iran, is a strong proponent of the nonproliferation deal.

Mr. Burns is a Director of the International Advisory Board at the Atlantic Council and sits on the board at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).  He is also a member of the board at Harvard's Belfer Center.  He also serves on the Panel of Senior Advisors at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House). He was previously a public policy scholar at the Wilson Center.

In related news, Ellen Laipson, President and CEO of the Stimson Center, has just penned a piece entitled "Iran Deal Debate Highlights Think Tanks' Role in US Policy."

Nearly every major foreign policy think tank in the US has weighed in on the Iran deal, and many are working behind the scenes to influence its outcome in Congress and elsewhere.