New Think Tank to Take On Private Equity, Hedge Funds

Here is more from Politico:

A new conservative think-tank in Washington is launching its first campaign Wednesday with what could be a long-shot goal — persuading pro-business Republicans that they should cast a more skeptical eye on Wall Street’s private equity firms and hedge funds,” Bloomberg News’ Robert Schmidt and Sabrina Willmer report. “American Compass, the brainchild of former Mitt Romney campaign staffer Oren Cass, wants to re-direct Republican policies to support businesses that make things and contribute to the real economy.” The think tank, unsurprisingly, doesn’t plan to identify its donors. It has ties to Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Romney.

Here is a previous Think Tank Watch piece on American Compass.

Washington Post columnist Henry Olsen recently penned a piece on American Compass entitled "This New Think Tank Wants to Reform Conservatism.  Republicans Ignore it at Their Peril."

Think Tanker Becomes Queen of the Antitrust Movement

Here is more from the New York Times:

Ms. [Sarah] Miller has been central in making the issue prominent. From her onetime seat as the deputy director of the Open Markets Institute, a research and advocacy group focused on antitrust, she spent three years as a thorn in Silicon Valley’s side, guiding a coalition of liberal groups that demanded federal officials break up Facebook.

Now there’s opportunity to ratchet up the pressure on policymakers even more, Ms. Miller said. So she left Open Markets at the beginning of this year to lead the American Economic Liberties Project, a new organization dedicated to pushing government to confront corporate concentration.

The organization is aiming to spend $3 million in its first year, funded by philanthropic organizations including the Omidyar Network, linked to eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.

Her political education began before the crisis, on Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. After Mrs. Clinton dropped out of the race, Ms. Miller was hired by John Podesta, the Democratic power broker who was leading the Center for American Progress, one of Washington’s most influential progressive groups.

There, she met her eventual husband, Faiz Shakir, who was running the organization’s blog, ThinkProgress. Mr. Podesta officiated at their wedding. Mr. Shakir now manages the Democratic presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Here is a link to the American Economic Liberties Project, which is currently hiring a director of government relations as well as a communications/program associate.  The new entity says it does not receive any corporate funding (although it appears to do so indirectly).

New Conservative Think Tank Opens Shop in DC

Here is more from the Washington Post:

Oren Cass believes conservatives have blundered by outsourcing GOP economic policymaking to libertarian “fundamentalists” who see the free market as an end unto itself, rather than as a means for improving quality of life to strengthen families and communities. The former domestic policy director on Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign quit his job as a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute to launch a new group called American Compass that aims to reorient the right. He previewed their plans in an exclusive interview on Monday afternoon.

Joining him on the board of directors will be Sen. Marco Rubio’s chief of staff Mike Needham, the former chief executive of Heritage Action for America; Julius Krein, the editor of American Affairs, a quarterly political journal; and David Azerrad, a Hillsdale College professor who was formerly a fellow at the Heritage Foundation. Wells King will be the research director. Until last week, the former McKinsey consultant was a policy adviser to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on the Joint Economic Committee.

Here is more from Oren Cass, who is the executive director on the new think tank.

Here is what Brad Polumbo of the Washington Examiner had to say about the new think tank.

Here is what the National Review says.

Sen. Tom Cotton Attacks New Anti-War Think Tank

Here is more from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency:

Sen. Tom Cotton accused the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a new think tank funded by the billionaires George Soros and Charles Koch, of fostering anti-Semitism in speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday.

Cotton, R-Ark., referred to anti-Semitism as an “ancient hatred” and referenced recent attacks against Jews in Brooklyn and Monsey.

“[Anti-Semitism] festers in Washington think tanks like the Quincy Institute, an isolationist blame America first money pit for so-called ‘scholars’ who’ve written that American foreign policy could be fixed if only it were rid of the malign influence of Jewish money,” he said in remarks quoted prior to the speech by Jewish Insider.

The institute’s list of affiliated experts includes some figures who have at times been accused by mainstream Jewish groups of crossing from political commentary on Israel into anti-Semitism, such as political scientist John Mearsheimer, author of “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.” No evidence ties any of the experts affiliated with Quincy to the recent rise in anti-Semitic attacks.

More about the Quincy Institute can be found here.

Liberty University Launches Its Own Think Tank

Here is more from The News & Advance:

Liberty University has added a new institution to its ever-expanding campus: a think tank.

The school announced Saturday the launch of the Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty, which aims to shape government policies, national institutions and American culture around Judeo-Christian principles.

The center is the brainchild of Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. and Charlie Kirk, the founder and executive director of Turning Point USA, a conservative youth organization with close ties to U.S. President Donald Trump.

The nonprofit Falkirk Center, which is named after its co-founders, will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty University and will be based in Lynchburg. The center is funded by the university, which boasts an endowment of nearly $1.5 billion, according to a financial audit released by the school. A director has not yet been named.

Erika Lane Frantzve, a former Miss Arizona USA winner; Josh Allen Murray, a former contestant on “The Bachelorette;” Antonia Okafor Cover, the spokesperson for Gun Owners of America; David J. Harris Jr., a conservative author; and Jaco Booyens, a conservative filmmaker, have all been named as the center’s first fellows.

In addition to the fellows, more than 60 “ambassadors” have joined the project to educate high school and college-age students about the “inseparable intersection of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and American first freedoms and liberties” through social media, Kirk said in an interview Tuesday.

A number of think tanks in the US are housed within colleges and universities, although only a handful advocate for policies from a conservative religious position.

New Think Tank Helping Russia Gain Influence in Africa

Here is more from the New York Times:

Mr. [Jose] Matemulane runs a think tank called Afric, which describes itself on its website as “funded by donors with a common passion to foster Africa’s development,” without mentioning Russia. In an interview, though, Mr. Matemulane said the group was launched last year with support from a St. Petersburg businessman he declined to name.

Afric received prominent billing at a summit for dozens of African leaders hosted by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia at the Black Sea resort of Sochi last week, and announced it would partner with a Russian propaganda specialist who had previously focused on the United States.

It also drew the notice of Mamadou Koulibaly, a candidate for president of Ivory Coast in elections next year.

“I will ask them if they can introduce me to people with money who will help me,” Mr. Koulibaly said of Afric. “This is important. A campaign needs money.”

Afric — an acronym for Association for Free Research and International Cooperation — is building ties with African politicians and commentators while publishing articles that extol the benefits of cooperating with Russia. It has also invested heavily in election monitoring missions that mirror Russia’s approach in its own elections: bringing in sympathetic foreigners who praise the votes’ fairness and transparency, even as established Western organizations criticize them.

The article goes on to note that investigative journalists have reported that Afric is funded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was indicted by the US for running the "troll farm" that sought to sway the 2016 US presidential election.  Afric employees deny any connection.

In July, a Russian think tank with links to an infamous troll farm said two of its employees were detained in Libya.

Here is a 2017 report on Russian think tanks and soft power from the Swedish Defense Research Agency.

Paul Ryan Launches New Think Tank

Here is more from The Hill:

Former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Monday launched a nonprofit organization that will focus on his legislative priorities during his two decades in Congress: fighting poverty, boosting economic opportunity and promoting “evidence-based” reforms on issues like welfare, foster care and criminal justice.

The American Idea Foundation, which will have offices in his hometown of Janesville, Wis., will partner with community organizations, academics and lawmakers. Ryan will serve as president of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

Here is a link to the American Idea Foundation website.

Roll Call notes that Ryan has funded his new think tank largely through his political action committee (PAC).

The Washington Examiner notes that the think tank plans to partner with other think tanks to address poverty, drug addiction, education, upward mobility, and other reforms Ryan worked on in Washington.

In September, Ryan joined the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow.

JPMorgan Chase Starts New Policy Center in DC

Here is more from Fortune:

JPMorgan today is announcing several major steps to encourage second-chance hiring for those with criminal records. The bank is officially "banning the box"—removing all questions about criminal records from its job applications. It will steer more than $7 million toward organizations that provide job- and life-skills training to the formerly incarcerated. The bank is also launching a new “policy center,” a think tank of sorts that will design and advocate for regulatory changes around certain economic issues. Its first agenda item: reforming rules that effectively bar former felons from employment, in finance and elsewhere.

The new think tank, JPMorgan Chase PolicyCenter (website here), will be run by Heather Higginbottom, a former US Deputy Secretary of State under President Barack Obama.  She is also a founder and former executive director of national security think tank American Security Project (ASP).

In 2015, JPMorgan launched a think tank (JPMorgan Chase Institute) dedicated to delivering data-rich analysis and expert insights for the public good.

Ex-California Gov. & China Launch Think Tank to Fight Climate Change

Here is more from Bloomberg:

Two of President Donald Trump’s biggest foils are teaming up on an issue he loves to scoff at: climate change.

Former California Governor Jerry Brown and China’s chief climate official, Xie Zhenhua, are launching a think tank to push policymakers on both sides of the Pacific to jointly develop better ways to cut greenhouse gases. A key part of the effort, based at the University of California, Berkeley, is trying to block Trump’s plan to roll back vehicle emissions standards.

Brown, a Democrat, said one of his goals for the initiative, called the California-China Climate Institute, is to push China to toughen its own vehicle emissions standards. The move, he said, would make it “very likely” that automakers continue to make low-emission vehicles even if Trump succeeds in rolling back American standards.

The initiative at Berkeley will work with government agencies in California and China, as well as the Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Here is a link to the think tank's new website.

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.

Think Tankers Help Resurrect Group to Warn Against China's Rise

Here is more from the New York Times:

The Committee on the Present Danger, a long-defunct group that campaigned against the dangers of the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s, has recently been revived with the help of Stephen K. Bannon, the president’s former chief strategist, to warn against the dangers of China.

Once dismissed as xenophobes and fringe elements, the group’s members are finding their views increasingly embraced in President Trump’s Washington, where skepticism and mistrust of China have taken hold. Fear of China has spread across the government, from the White House to Congress to federal agencies, where Beijing’s rise is unquestioningly viewed as an economic and national security threat and the defining challenge of the 21st century.

An increasing number of people in Washington now view the decoupling of the two economies as inevitable — including many of the members of the Committee on the Present Danger. At an inaugural meeting in April, Mr. Bannon, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, and others issued paeans to Ronald Reagan — a former member of the group — and were met with standing ovations as they called for vigilance against China.

The committee’s two earliest iterations, in the 1950s and again in the 1970s, called for an arms buildup to counter the Soviets. The second iteration, formed over a luncheon table at Washington’s Metropolitan Club in 1976, issued documents warning against Soviet expansionism, with titles like “Is America Becoming Number 2?”

The group was briefly active again starting in 2004, this time to warn against the threat of Islamic extremism. The committee’s vice chair, Frank Gaffney, is the founder of the Center for Security Policy, a think tank that argues that mosques and Muslims across America are engaged in a “stealth jihad” to “Islamize” the country by taking advantage of American pluralism and democracy.

The group’s activity largely died down until concern over China rekindled interest.

Other think tankers on the committee include Mark Stokes of Project 2049 Institute, Richard Fisher of the International Assessment and Strategy Center, and Mark Helprin of the Claremont Institute.  Besides Frank Gaffney, others from his think tank on the committee include Clare Lopez, Michael Waller, and Robert McEwen.  A full list of members can be found here.

Meet the World's First Fully Cloud-Operated Policy Think Tank

The think tank world in changing rapidly, with a number of new think tank concepts that are changing the way ideas and policies are shaped and distributed.

The latest example is the Gagra Institute (website here), the world's first digital and fully cloud-operated independent policy think tank.  Gagra says it is based on the concept of an "officeless office."

Gagra was founded in Tbilisi, Georgia in 2018 and focuses largely on European and transatlantic security issues.

Its website lists five experts at the think tank, including Beka Kiria, the founder and former official at Georgia's Ministry of Defense.

Donations to the think tank can be made in cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and ZCash.

Koch and Soros Join Forces in New Think Tank

An unlikely pair of billionaires are joining forces to start a new anti-war think tank called the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.  Here is more from The Boston Globe, which broke the news:

In one of the most remarkable partnerships in modern American political history, [George] Soros and Charles Koch, the more active of the two [Koch] brothers, are joining to finance a new foreign policy think tank in Washington.  It will promote an approach to the world based on diplomacy and restraint rather than threats, sanctions, and bombings.  This is a radical notion in Washington, where every major think tank promotes some variant of neocon militarism or liberal interventionism.

Since peaceful foreign policy was a founding principle of the United States, it's appropriate that the name of the think tank harken back to history.  It will be called the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a homage to John Quincy Adams, who in a seminal speech on Independence Day in 1821 declared that the United States "goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy.  She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all.  She is the champion and vindicator only of her own."

The institute plans to open its doors in September and hold an official inauguration later in the autumn.  Its founding donors - Soros's Open Society Foundation and the Charles Koch Foundation - have each contributed half a million dollars to fund its takeoff.  A handful of individual donors have joined to add another $800,000.  By next year the institute hopes to have a $3.5 million budget and a staff of policy experts who will churn out material for use in Congress and in public debates.  Hiring is underway.

It aims to issue four reports before the end of 2019: two offering alternative approaches to the Middle East and East Asia, one on "ending endless war," and one called "democratizing foreign policy."

The piece notes that Trita Parsi, former President of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), is a co-founder of the think tank, along with Suzanne DiMaggio (at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace), Stephen Wertheim (Columbia University), and Andrew Bacevich (Boston University).  The National Interest also notes that journalist Eli Clifton is a co-founder.

Here is what Vox had to say about Washington, DC's newest think tank.  Here is Reason's reaction.  Bill Kristol does not seem to be a big fan.  The Washington Times likens the new think tank to "bringing another U.N. in America's gates."

The think tank's new website can be found here.  It is currently seeking a director of media relations.

Update I: "Can this new think tank clean up America's flabby foreign policy?"

Update II: Politico notes that donors now include Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Arca Foundation, and Ploughshares Found.

Update III: The Hill says that Quincy Institute (QI), which held its opening reception on Dec. 4, is now made up of 14 founding staff and 40 non-resident fellow.  It adds that an online publishing forum named Responsible Statecraft will display US foreign policy news and opinions.

Jamal Khashoggi Wanted to Start a Washington Think Tank

Here is more from the Washington Post:

Even in exile, [Jamal] Khashoggi remained loyal to Saudi Arabia and reluctant to sever ties to the royal court. In September 2017, at the same time he was embarking on a new role as opinion columnist for The Washington Post, he was pursuing up to $2 million in funding from the Saudi government for a think tank that he proposed to run in Washington, according to documents reviewed by the paper that appear to be part of a proposal he submitted to the Saudi ministry of information.

Here is reaction from the think tank community about taking Saudi money.

Think Tank Funded Through Online Platform Patreon

Here is more from The Economist:

Matt Bruenig funded the People’s Policy Project, a left-wing think-tank, through Patreon in 2017. Mr Bruenig already had a large audience before Patreon, with 130,000 followers on Twitter, garnered largely from arguing about the left-wing American politician Bernie Sanders. But now his ideas—expressed through radical papers, such as one on a wealth fund—have a larger audience. And his army of patrons suggests that there is an appetite, at least among younger types, for more radical left-wing proposals in America: with 1,700 patrons Mr Bruenig raises around $9,200 each month.

Here is a link to the People's Policy Project (3P) website, which notes that the think tank is supported by over 1,800 small donors pledging between $5 to $15 per month.  It uses Patreon as well as the ActBlue platform to raise funds.

Matt Bruenig, 3P's president, previously worked as a lawyer at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

He was also a policy analyst at the think tank Demos, where he was fired after sparring with Neera Tanden, the head of the Center for American Progress (CAP).

Vox has noted that Demos is smaller and more left-wing than CAP.

Think Tank of the Week: "Center for Advanced Bullshit Studies"

From news satire organization The Onion:

Revealing that the “you aren’t going to fucking believe this” metrics were currently measuring off the goddamn charts, experts at the Center for Advanced Bullshit Studies published a report Monday that this week’s all hell breaking loose was projected to be 30 percent more insane than last week’s complete shitshow. “All of our reports are projecting tomorrow’s Total Fucking Pandemonium Magnitude at three times more bonkers than what it was a few days ago,” said Director Adrienne Morehead, who confirmed that this week will be at least 60 percent more of a batshit fucking insane circus compared to last week’s batshit fucking insane circus. “We are currently looking at a seven-week high on the ‘Jesus Christ Not That’ and the ‘Fuck This Shit’ charts. People need to be prepared for at least a doubling of recent ‘Fucking Nightmare Levels,’ because if our measurements are correct, the ‘Everything’s Going To Shit’ ratio is a whopping 179 percent higher than it was this time last year.” At press time, sources confirmed, “Oh, fuck, here we fucking go.”

Think Tank Watch has documented various examples of The Onion creating new think tanks.

Obama Allies Start "Non-Think Tank" to Target Trump Foreign Policy

Here is more from Politico:

Former Obama administration officials unveiled a new advocacy group Tuesday aimed at pushing back on President Donald Trump's foreign policy initiatives.

The push is led by former deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes and former White House deputy assistant Jake Sullivan, who both served under President Barack Obama. Rhodes and Sullivan, who also worked as senior policy adviser to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016, will co-chair the new National Security Action organization.

“We’re committed to organizing an effective, strategic, relentless, and national response to this administration’s dangerous approach to national security," Sullivan said in a news release. "This is not a new think tank or policy shop. Our role is to help shape the public debate on foreign policy and national security, holding Trump accountable and lifting up an alternative, affirmative vision."

Mr. Sullivan already works at a well-known think tank, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he is a Senior Fellow in the Geoeconomics and Strategy Program.

Mr. Rhodes said that around 500 former officials and campaign veterans have agreed to help National Security Action "act as speakers, writers, or on-call experts for candidates, think tanks, or advocacy organizations."

In other words, a number of think tanks will continue to be influenced by advocacy and lobbying organizations.

Bannon & Gorka to Start National Security Think Tank?

Here is what the Daily Beast is reporting:

Multiple sources with knowledge of their conversations tell The Daily Beast that [Steve] Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist who [Sebastian] Gorka reported to both at Breitbart News and subsequently in the Trump administration, has been talking to Gorka over the past couple weeks about potentially starting a new national-security and foreign-policy initiative together. Such a group, which is in the embryonic planning stages, would champion the same clash-of-civilizations and pro-Trump, nationalist worldview that both men share.

One source said that such a project, which could take the form of a think tank or advocacy organization, would very likely have the blessing and financial backing of the Mercer family, the pro-Trump Republican mega-donors who have long worked and partnered with Bannon. The Mercers also co-own Bannon’s media flagship, Breitbart.

Bannon and Gorka worked closely together at the Strategic Initiatives Group, an internal White House “think tank,” early in the Trump presidency. Initially conceived as an informational apparatus to brief the president and staff on key policy issues, SIG was quickly seen by some in the White House as a rogue attempt to circumvent the National Security Council. It was soon disbanded, leaving Gorka without a clear portfolio of White House responsibilities, and working primarily as a Bannon aide.

Here is a previous Think Tank Watch post about the White House's now-defunct Strategic Initiatives Group, as well as Gorka's deep ties to think tanks.

Wife of Bernie Sanders Launches Think Tank

Think tanks may be losing credibility, but they are gaining in numbers.  Here is more on the latest think tank being formed, from USA Today:

A team of Berniecrats, including Jane O’Meara Sanders, launched a nonprofit, educational organization today that aims to “revitalize democracy” with progressive policies to address economic, environmental, racial and social justice issues.

“The Sanders Institute” is one of the organizations that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said last year would be created to help raise awareness of “enormous crises” facing Americans after he ended his bid for the Democratic nomination. His wife Jane is one of the 11 founding fellows who will direct the organization. Bernie Sanders will have no role in leading the institute.

The Sanders Institute has an office in Burlington and three staff members, but the fellows are participating as volunteers. Jane Sanders said she and the senator have contributed $25,000 of their personal funds to help cover startup costs of about $125,000, and they intend to be ongoing contributors. "Our Revolution" the political spinoff organization from the Sanders campaign, has provided the rest in seed money, which will be repaid as the nonprofit begins raising money for its work, she said.

Other founding fellows include high-profile advisers and supporters from the Sanders campaign. They are Robert Reich, who served as President Bill Clinton’s labor secretary; Vermont author and environmentalist Bill McKibben; actor Danny Glover; Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii; economist Stephanie Kelton; Ben Jealous, former NAACP president and chief executive officer and now a gubernatorial candidate in Maryland; author and civil rights activist Cornel West; Former Ohio state senator Nina Turner; economist Jeffrey Sachs; and entertainer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte.

The new Sanders Institute website can be found here.  Salon says that the Institute will function as a hybrid between a think tank and an educational center.

The Sanders Institute is not the only think tank connected to a sitting US senator.  Another example is the McCain Institute for International Leadership, connected to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

MGM Resorts Starts New Policy Think Tank

Casinos are not what first comes to mind when thinking about the establishment of think tanks, but that notion may be changing.

MGM Resorts International, the global hospitality and entertainment company which operates destination resorts such as Bellagio and Mandalay Bay, has started a new public policy think tank.

Here is more:

MGM Resorts International and UNLV are partnering up to create a think tank that will seek bipartisan solutions to various economic, social, political and workplace issues.

The MGM Resorts Public Policy Institute at UNLV — co-chaired by retired Sen. Harry Reid and former House Speaker John Boehner — will concentrate on comprehensive, authentic and relevant national and international policy issues that impact the travel, tourism, hospitality and gaming industries and the global communities in which they operate.

The development of the institute is part of MGM Resorts’ continuing efforts to expand its leadership in extensive conversations on matters of public policy and will continue to strengthen UNLV’s engagement on a wide variety of national and international issues.

The institute will be housed in UNLV’s School of Public Policy and Leadership within the Greenspun College of Urban Affairs.

Work will commence at the think tank later this year pending formal approval by the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents.

The Associated Press reports that MGM has committed more than $950,000 for three years to the think tank that will bear its name.

The new think tank will be one of a number of policy organizations that is housed within a college or university.