RAND Corp. Received Millions From Facebook Co-Founder to Influence AI Policy

Here is more from Politico:

The RAND Corporation — a prominent international think tank that has recently been tied to  a growing influence network backed by tech billionaires — played a key role in drafting President Joe Biden’s new executive order on artificial intelligence, according to an AI researcher with knowledge of the order’s drafting and a recording of an internal RAND meeting obtained by POLITICO.

The provisions advanced by RAND in the October executive order included a sweeping set of reporting requirements placed on the most powerful AI systems, ostensibly designed to lessen the technology’s catastrophic risks. Those requirements hew closely to the policy priorities pursued by Open Philanthropy, a group that pumped over $15 million into RAND this year.

Financed by billionaire Facebook co-founder and Asana CEO Dustin Moskovitz and his wife Cari Tuna, Open Philanthropy is a major funder of causes associated with “effective altruism” — an ideology, made famous by disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, that emphasizes a data-driven approach to philanthropy.

At RAND, both CEO Jason Matheny and senior information scientist Jeff Alstott are well-known effective altruists, and both men have Biden administration ties: They worked together at both the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Security Council before joining RAND last year.

RAND spokesperson Jeffrey Hiday confirmed that RAND personnel, including Alstott, were involved in drafting the reporting requirements and other parts of the AI executive order.

 

The article notes that RAND employees having started to raise concerns about the think tank's new association with effective altruism.

Think Tank Quickies (#488)

• Heritage Foundation paid Ginni Thomas more than $936,000 between 2001 and 2007 (tax filings before 2001 are not available).  Clarence Thomas reported her employment at Heritage in 2011, after left-leaning activists raised questions. 
• Mexico only has one think tank focused on foreign policy.
  
• Conservative Partnership Institute: "The MAGA movement's nerve center."
• The National Interest: Why is the Heritage Foundation embracing Viktor Orban?
  
• Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the CAP IDEAS Conference/20th anniversary celebration at the LINE Hotel.
• Heritage Foundation reversed its opposition to an Article V convention to endorse Mark Meckler and Convention of States Action (COSA) two days after Mike Johnson became House speaker.
  
• "A longtime staple of the liberal Center for American Progress, [Ruy] Teixeira, 71, left last year to take a perch at the American Enterprise Institute, the bastion of pro-market conservatism.  It's an odd place for someone with a social-democratic take on the economy - but a move he said he made because he couldn't stand the cultural climate of liberal think tanks."
• Heritage is running an ad blasting Senate Republicans for criticizing Sen. Tommy Tuberville's (R-AL) holds on Pentagon nominations.
• Think tankers arming themselves amid spike in DC violence.
  
• Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies: "An independent, non-profit futures think tank founded in 1969."
  

Trump-Backed Think Tank Raising Huge Sums Before 2024 Election

Trump-aligned think tanks are raising huge sums of money, including massive amounts from anonymous donors.  Here is more from CNN:

A nonprofit that employs numerous Trump administration officials and is laying the groundwork for the former president’s potential second term raised more than $23 million last year – nearly a third of which came from a single anonymous donor, previously unreported tax documents show.

The documents show that America First Policy Institute – a think tank that’s been described as a “White House-in-waiting” and has released a spate of conservative policy proposals – burned through most of the funds it raised, spending $22 million over the course of the year. That included the rental of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for a fundraising gala that featured a keynote speech by Trump himself.

But AFPI’s windfall has also sparked tensions with Trump’s team, with some advisors concerned the group has been taking in donations that would be better routed to the former president’s campaign or affiliated political action committees, a source familiar with the internal conversations told CNN.

AFPI’s board of directors includes several wealthy GOP donors such as Texas energy magnates Tim Dunn and Cody Campbell, Florida philanthropist Trish Duggan, and Goya Foods CEO Bob Unanue, as well as former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. A new addition to the board in 2022 was Mark Pentecost, a Florida entrepreneur who runs a skincare and nutrition company but does not have as significant a history of political donations. 

The group doesn’t publicly disclose any of its donors. But additional tax documents reviewed by CNN reveal that it received some donations from foundations connected to wealthy businessmen or their estates, including the Jackson Howard Foundation, which gave about $304,000, the Leandro P Rizzuto Foundation, which gave $260,000, the Dunn Foundation, which gave $250,000, and the Herche Family Foundation, which gave $200,000. 

 

The story quotes an AFPI spokesperson as saying that the think tank has received donations from 44,000 donors since its inception in 2021.  The article also notes that AFPI employed 81 people and had 50 volunteers in 2022.

CEO Brooke Rollins made $550,000 in total compensation last year.

Russia Blacklists US Think Tank RAND Corp.

Here is more from The Moscow Times:

Russia’s Justice Ministry has added the U.S. global policy think tank RAND Corporation to its list of “undesirable” organizations, banning its activities and putting staff at risk of jail in Russia.

RAND’s designation, dated Dec. 6 on the ministry website, is not accompanied by a statement explaining Moscow’s decision to blacklist the research and development nonprofit.

The California-based RAND Corporation has published extensive research into Russia’s military since Russian troops invaded Ukraine in early 2022.

Organizations labeled “undesirable” must cease all operations inside Russia, and it is illegal for individuals and media outlets in Russia to republish or share their content.

The “undesirable” designation also places the organizations' staff and members at risk of jail time.

Russia introduced its “undesirable” list in 2015 to crack down on foreign NGOs and ban Russians from working with or donating to them.

 

As Think Tank Watch has reported, A number of other Western think tanks have been blacklisted by Russia in recent years.

CFR Member Charged With Spying for Cuba

Here is more from Reuters:

The United States on Monday charged a former ambassador to Bolivia with spying for Cuba for over 40 years, in what the Justice Department described as one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the U.S. government by a foreign agent.

Victor Manuel Rocha, who served as U.S. ambassador to Bolivia from 2000 to 2002, was charged with committing multiple federal crimes including acting as an illegal foreign agent and using a fraudulently obtained passport, the Justice Department said in a statement.

 

Rocha was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

Think Tank Quickies (#487)

• Heritage Foundation is an ally of new House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), according to Punchbowl News.
• RAND Corp. among those that uncovered covert campaign by China to use AI to spread lies about Maui wildfires.
  
• The McCain Institute organized a delegation visit to Ukraine to meet with senior officials, including the prime minister.  Evenlyn Farkas, the think tank's executive director, led the group, which including members from the Ukraine Business Alliance, including Palantir Technologies, Microsoft, Skydio, and Fortem Technologies.
  
• Harry Kazianis has rejoined the Center for National Interest as a senior director of national security affairs and will serve as executive director of its publication, The National Interest.  He was previously a political consultant and senior director of Korean Studies at CSIS.
• Former undersecretary of defense for policy, Colin Kahl, has joined Brookings as a scholar in residence.
• Arms control expert Jon Wolfsthal has joined the Federation of American Scientists as director of global risk.
  
• Derek Mitchell, the former US ambassador to Myanmar, is rejoining CSIS as a non-resident senior adviser.
• David Miliband and Yalda Hakim have joined CNAS's board of advisers.
• Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Aspen Institute announce Bloomberg CityLab 2023 in Washington, DC.
  
• How did free-market think tanks take over Westminster?
  

New Think Tank Dedicated to Serbia-US Ties

Here is more from Politico:

Vuk Velevit has started the Pupin Initiative, a think tank dedicated to bolstering ties between Serbia and the US.  He most recently was an international strategy fellow at Schmidt Futures and previously worked in startups as well as consulting on security issues in the Western Balkans.

 

Here is a link to the think tank's website, which indicates it has offices in both Serbia and Washington, DC.  The think tank says it sustains its operations through a "tiered membership structure."

Here are pictures from its October 2023 launch in Belgrade, which was attended by more than 200 people.

AEI Expands DC Presence

In a rare move these days, a think tank is expanding its physical presence in Washington, DC.  Here is more from Washington Business Journal:

The American Enterprise Institute, a D.C.-based foreign policy and defense think tank, is taking the rare step, for these days at least, of expanding its local offices.

The AEI, headquartered at 1789 Massachusetts Ave., NW, has inked a 22,581-square-foot lease at 11 Dupont Circle NW, according to real estate services firm Newmark.

11 Dupont Circle, spanning 153,228 square feet, was recently renovated inside and out, with a new tenant lounge, fitness center, conference center and bike storage room, newly activated courtyard and mechanical, electrical and plumbing upgrades.

 

The two buildings are just one block away from each other.  Here is a look at what the updated 11 Dupont Circle looks like.

AEI bought the 1789 Massachusetts Ave. property in 2013 for $36.5 million, and moved in around three years later following more than $80 million in renovations.

It is unclear if AEI's famous cookies will be available at the new location.

Goldman Sachs Launches New Think Tank-Like Entity

Here is more from FT:

Goldman Sachs is setting up an institute to analyse geopolitics and technology, the latest firm to bet on demand from companies for advice on how to navigate a disorderly world.

The Goldman Sachs Global Institute, announced on Thursday, will initially be focused on geopolitical tensions and disruption from the rise of artificial intelligence.

It will be led by Goldman partners George Lee and Jared Cohen. The two men also co-lead the investment bank’s Office of Applied Innovation, which was established last year to spot commercial opportunities related to shifts in technology and the geopolitical landscape.

Lazard last year launched a unit of advisers to counsel companies on geopolitical risks. The McKinsey Global Institute, an offshoot of the management consulting firm McKinsey, and similar corporate research and analysis units have been around for decades. The Goldman Sachs Global Institute is a successor to the bank’s Global Markets Institute, which was formed in 2004 to focus on the relationship between capital markets and public policy. 

 

Here is a link to the Goldman Sachs Global Institute.  Here is more about the Global Markets Institute (GMI).

Booz Allen Backs Government Client With New CSIS Report

Here is a summary from Politico:

Despite decades of efforts to bolster its cyber defenses, the U.S. government is vulnerable to crippling attacks that could disrupt essential services and undermine national security no matter how much money you throw at it, according to a new report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The 97-page report was six months in the making — compiled by a task force of former senior government officials, cyber experts and private sector executives. It finds that while the U.S. has made progress in securing its networks, it’s still not enough to keep up with the evolving threat landscape. Here’s what stands out to us from the analysis.

 

The full report, which provides specific recommendations for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), can be found here.  CSIS notes that the report was funded by Gray Space Strategies, a strategic advisory firm based in Washington, DC.  The firm has noted that Booz Allen Hamilton was also behind the report.  In return, Booz Allen Hamilton is promoting it as strictly a CSIS report.

Booz Allen Hamilton has received millions of dollars from CISA.  

In a July 2023 CSIS press release announcing the launch of a "CSIS Task Force on CISA's Evolving .gov Mission" along with the goal of releasing the report in Oct. 2023, there is no mention of Booz Allen, but Gray Space Strategies' CEO is quoted as saying it would be an "independent study."

Gray Space Strategies has funded other things at CSIS, including a Sept. 2023 event on user cyber games to understand emerging threats.

Canadian Think Tank MLI Opening Up Shop in DC

Here is more from a press release:

Canada and the United States are quietly diverging on many important geopolitical issues. Yet any reasoned survey of the two neighbors’ interests would quickly conclude that Washington and Ottawa should be closely aligned on matters including national security, the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, opposition to authoritarian regimes, the Arctic, energy, critical minerals, and more. To put the US-Canada relationship back on sound footing, the nations should start by telling each other the truth and seeing the relationship as it really is.

The Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI), Canada’s leading think tank, is launching a new project in Washington to take on this truth-telling task. This project—the Center for North American Prosperity and Security (CNAPS, pronounced “synapse”)—will go beyond clichés to drive an honest dialogue on the issues that matter most for the security and prosperity of citizens on both sides of the border.

Hudson Institute, in partnership with MLI, is proud to host the launch of CNAPS. The event will highlight two urgent matters facing policymakers on both sides of the border: the lessons from Canada’s extensive experience with institutional capture by the Chinese Communist Party, and the potential for a continental energy policy that would keep prices low, ensure energy security for the liberal-democratic world, and reduce the flow of money to some of the world’s nastiest regimes.

 

The launch is scheduled for November 14, 2023. 

MLI is based in Ottawa, Canada and is affiliated with the libertarian Atlas Network.  MLI was founded in 2010.

Think Tank Quickies (#486)

• Former AEI president Arthur Brooks now a self-help guru writing books with Oprah.
• Stony Brook University received a donation of $500 million, one of the largest gifts to a university in American history.
• Think tank experts call for increased diplomatic engagement with Iran.
  
• Major new Politico piece on Project 2025 at the Heritage Foundation. 
• Former Undersecretary of Defense Colin Kahl is joining the Brookings Institution's Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy and Technology as their Sydney Stein, Jr. scholar in residence.
  
• The annual conference of the European House Ambrosetti, an Italian think tank, was held at the Villa d'Este on the shore of Lake Como.  Sens. John Thune, Lindsey Graham and Bob Menendez attended.
• Heritage Foundation backs continuing resolution (CR) deal in Congress. 
  
• Vivek Ramaswamy gives speech at Trump-aligned American First Policy Institute; Ron DeSantis gives speech at Heritage Foundation.
  
• Logan Wright: Director of China markets research at Rhodium Group and senior associate of the Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at CSIS.
• Growing wave of volunteers expose faulty or fraudulent research papers.
  

Billionare-Backed Network of Think Tankers Pushing AI Agenda

Here is more from Politico:

An organization backed by Silicon Valley billionaires and tied to leading artificial intelligence firms is funding the salaries of more than a dozen AI fellows in key congressional offices, across federal agencies and at influential think tanks.

The fellows funded by Open Philanthropy, which is financed primarily by billionaire Facebook co-founder and Asana CEO Dustin Moskovitz and his wife Cari Tuna, are already involved in negotiations that will shape Capitol Hill’s accelerating plans to regulate AI. And they’re closely tied to a powerful influence network that’s pushing Washington to focus on the technology’s long-term risks — a focus critics fear will divert Congress from more immediate rules that would tie the hands of tech firms.

Acting through the little-known Horizon Institute for Public Service, a nonprofit that Open Philanthropy effectively created in 2022, the group is funding the salaries of tech fellows in key Senate offices, according to documents and interviews.

Current and former Horizon AI fellows with salaries funded by Open Philanthropy are now working at the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department, as well as in the House Science Committee and Senate Commerce Committee, two crucial bodies in the development of AI rules. They also populate key think tanks shaping AI policy, including the RAND Corporation and Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, according to the Horizon web site. In 2022, Open Philanthropy set aside nearly $3 million to pay for what ultimately became the initial cohort of Horizon fellows.

Horizon is one piece of a sprawling web of AI influence that Open Philanthropy has built across Washington’s power centers. The organization — which is closely aligned with “effective altruism,” a movement made famous by disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried that emphasizes a data-driven approach to philanthropy — has also spent tens of millions of dollars on direct contributions to AI and biosecurity researchers at RAND, Georgetown’s CSET, the Center for a New American Security and other influential think tanks guiding Washington on AI.

 

Politico notes that RAND received a $5.5 million grant from Open Philanthropy in April to research “potential risks from advanced AI,” and another $10 million in May to study biosecurity.

It adds that both grants can be spent at the discretion of RAND CEO Jason Matheny, "a luminary in the effective altruist community who in September became one of five members on Anthropic's new Long-Term Benefit Trust."  Matheny, the founding director of CSET, is a former Biden Administration official.  CSET, notes Politico, is funded almost entirely by Open Philanthropy.

Vietnam Tried to Hack Think Tank Experts

Here is more from the Washington Post:

Vietnamese government agents tried to plant spyware on the phones of members of Congress, American policy experts and U.S. journalists this year in a brazen campaign that underscores the rapid proliferation of state-of-the-art hacking tools, according to forensic examination of links posted to Twitter and documents uncovered by a consortium of news outlets that includes The Washington Post.

Targeted were two of the most influential foreign policy voices on Capitol Hill: Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and chair of its subcommittee on the Middle East. Also targeted were Asia experts at Washington think tanks and journalists from CNN, including Jim Sciutto, the outlet’s chief national security analyst, and two Asia-based reporters.

 

The Washington Post notes that an Asia expert at the German Marshall Fund was targeted by Vietnam, along with the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Iran's Influence Operation Attracted Think Tankers

Here is more from Semafor:

In the spring of 2014, senior Iranian Foreign Ministry officials initiated a quiet effort to bolster Tehran’s image and positions on global security issues — particularly its nuclear program — by building ties with a network of influential overseas academics and researchers. They called it the Iran Experts Initiative.

The scope and scale of the IEI project has emerged in a large cache of Iranian government correspondence and emails reported for the first time by Semafor and Iran International. The officials, working under the moderate President Hassan Rouhani, congratulated themselves on the impact of the initiative. At least three of the people on the Foreign Ministry’s list were, or became, top aides to Robert Malley, the Biden administration’s special envoy on Iran, who was placed on leave this June following the suspension of his security clearance.

According to the emails, Iran’s Foreign Ministry, through its in-house think tank — the Institute for Political and International Studies — reached out to ten “core” members for the project, through which it planned to liaise over the next 18 months to aggressively promote the merits of a nuclear deal between Tehran and Washington, which was finalized in July 2015.

 

Semafor noted the names of several people who were part of the IEI, including Ariane Tabatabai, who formerly worked at the RAND Corp., as well as Dina Esfandiary, and Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group (ICG).

Think Tank Used to Recruit Russian Spies?

A Russian woman named Natalia Burlinova held numerous meetings with American students and academics under the auspices of her think tank that were part of a years-long effort to influence the opinions of future leaders in the US on behalf of the Russian government, according to a US criminal complaint.

Here is more from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:

In addition to the U.S. meetings, Burlinova and her organization, called Creative Diplomacy, or PICREADI, hosted dozens of young journalists, public policy specialists, and newly minted graduate students at annual events in Russia over the course of four years -- a program that "was funded in part by the FSB, a fact never disclosed to the public," according to the FBI. The organization's website prominently features an interview with a Russian couple who were kicked out of the United States in 2010 after the FBI identified them and eight others as "sleeper agents" for Russian intelligence.

"Burlinova provided extensive information to the FSB about the U.S. citizen participants in the Meeting Russia programs, including biographical information, their interests, and their political opinions," the FBI alleged. "The FSB subsequently monitored the career developments of these U.S. citizen participants with an aim that some would become influential public figures."

 

PICREADI was founded in 2010, and its website, which is still being updated, can be found here.

Think Tank Quickies (#485)

• Think tanks draft plans for GOP president (and here).
  
• British think tank Institute for Strategic Dialogue found 114 Wagner-linked accounts across Facebook and Instagram glorifying the group or posting recruitment information to fill its ranks.
  
• Nathaniel Fick, former CEO of think tank CNAS, selected as State's inaugural cyber ambassador.
• The Pirate Bay was founded in 2003 by Swedish think tank Piratbyran.
• Lee Zeldin is now chair of America First Policy Institute's Pathway to 2025 initiative.
• Audrey Kurth Cronin to lead Carnegie Mellon Institute for Security and Technology.
  
• Dmitri Alperovitch, "a cybersecurity expert who co-founded Silverado Policy Accelerator think tank and has advised governments on satellite internet."
• Fidelity Investments, best know for managing mutual funds, also runs a think tank that focuses on futuristic ideas (Fidelity's Center for Applied Technology, or FCAT).
• A group of prominent media, tech, and research executives have raised $3 million to launch an independent policy research center (Center for News, Technology & Innovation) focusing on addressing global internet issues.  Funding is coming from Craig Newmark Philanthropies, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Lenfest Institute, and private companies.
  
• Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD): "A think tank which focuses on disinformation."
  

Heritage President to Also Lead Sister Lobbying Arm

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said he will also become president of the think tank's sister lobbying arm, Heritage Action for America.

This will be the first time that the head of the Heritage Foundation has also headed Heritage Action.

How a North Korean Cyber Group Impersonated a DC Think Tanker

Here is more from CNBC: 

Six years ago, a well-respected researcher was working late into the night when she stepped away from her computer to brush her teeth. By the time she came back, her computer had been hacked.

Jenny Town is a leading expert on North Korea at the [Stimson Center] and the director of Stimson’s 38 North Program. Her work is built on on open-source intelligence, Town said on Monday. She uses publicly available data points to paint a picture of North Korean dynamics.

“I don’t have any clearance. I don’t have any access to classified information,” Town said at the conference.

But the hackers, a unit of North Korea’s intelligence services codenamed APT43, or KimSuky, were not only after classified information.

The hackers used a popular remote-desktop tool TeamViewer to access her machine and ran scripts to comb through her computer. Then her webcam light turned on, presumably to check if she had returned to her computer. “Then it went off real quickly, and then they closed everything down,” Town told attendees at the mWISE conference, run by Google-owned cybersecurity company Mandiant.

Town and Mandiant now presume the North Koreans had been able to exfiltrate information about Town’s colleagues, her field of study, and her contact list. They used that information to create a digital doppelganger of Town: A North Korean sock puppet that they could use to gather intelligence from thousands of miles away.

 

Here is more about Jenny Town's story from a previous report.

Former Austrian FinMin Who Danced With Putin Moved to Russia to Open Think Tank

Here is more from Associated Press:

A former Austrian foreign minister who had invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to her wedding and danced a waltz with him at the 2018 reception said she has moved to St. Petersburg to set up a think tank there.

Karin Kneissl, 58, announced on messaging app Telegram on Wednesday that her ponies, which she has been keeping in Syria, were taken to Russia on a Russian military plane.

Kneissl was nominated as a non-party member by the right-wing Freedom Party to serve as foreign minister, a position which she held from 2017 to 2019.

At the Eastern Economic Forum in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok earlier this week, Kneissl told Russian state news agency Tass that she had set up the Gorki center — a think tank associated with the state university in St. Petersburg.

Because the think tank requires a lot of her time, she decided to move to Russia, she said.

 

The "Gorki" in Gorki Centre is reportedly short for "Geopolitical Observatory for Russia's Key Issues."

Heritage Foundation Scholars Forced To Remove Names From Manifesto

Here is more from Politico, in a piece entitled "Too Hot for Heritage!: Why did a pair of Heritage Foundation scholars need to hastily un-sign a conservative group's manifesto?":

Avik Roy, a longtime fixture in Republican policy-wonk circles, made a splash this summer when he organized a manifesto pushing back on the nationalist, market-skeptical tendencies on the new, Trump-era right. The document, signed by Jeb Bush, Grover Norquist, George Will, and a couple hundred other conservative worthies, generated a decent amount of inside-the-Beltway buzz when it launched in July.

It wasn’t just that Freedom Conservatism: A Statement of Principles highlighted a family feud within the movement. It was the very fact that its pieties about the majesty of capitalism were even controversial — an indication of just how far conservative economic theology had drifted.

An even bigger indication came early this month. That’s when Joel Griffith and Peter St. Onge, two scholars from the Heritage Foundation, reached out to Roy to ask that their names be removed from the document.

“They both emailed me at the tail end of Labor Day weekend saying that they had been required by Heritage to take their names off the signatory list,” Roy told me. Unlike many think tanks, Heritage has a longstanding policy requiring that employees vet their publications to make sure they don’t contradict the foundation’s official stance — a rule the pair had apparently fallen afoul of.

 

A number of think tankers outside of Heritage signed the manifesto that Joel Griffith and Peter St. Onge were forced to un-sign, including those from the Hoover Institution, Niskanen Center, Manhattan Institute, Bipartisan Policy Center, Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), and the R Street Institute.

Council on Foreign Relations Taking Heat for Hosting Closed-Door Meeting with Iranian President

Here is more from The Washington Free Beacon:

A prominent Washington, D.C., think tank is under fire for its decision to host Iran’s president while he is in New York City for the United Nations’ annual gathering.

The Council on Foreign Relations, one of Washington’s most influential foreign policy hubs, is scheduled to host an invitation-only event with Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi next Tuesday, a source confirmed to the Washington Free Beacon, when the Iranian leader is in New York City to attend the U.N.’s General Assembly, the annual weeklong gathering of world leaders.

Former senior U.S. officials and Iranian dissidents blasted the think tank for hosting a regime mouthpiece who is engaged in plots to assassinate American leaders. News of the event was first outed by a CFR fellow on Twitter. CFR has not posted details about the event on its website or publicly acknowledged it is taking place. The think tank also would not respond to Free Beacon requests for comment.

 

The most interesting tidbit from the story is how the closed-door meeting became public.  The Free Beacon notes that CFR member and Iranian dissident Roya Hakakian declined the invitation via a message on X.

A senior congressional aide reportedly said that the CFR event could violate US anti-terrorism laws.

 

Google.org Starting $20 Million Fund for AI Experts at Think Tanks

Artificial intelligence (AI) issues are getting lots of attention and funding at think tanks.  Here is the latest example, from TechCrunch:

Ahead of Wednesday’s AI-focused private congressional meeting with tech giants, Google this morning announced a new initiative aimed at supporting researchers and public policy solutions around AI with the debut of the Digital Futures Project. As part of the effort, Google’s charitable arm Google.org is establishing a $20 million fund that will provide grants to think tanks and academic institutions developing AI expertise.

The tech giant says it aims to fund independent thinkers who are looking into topics like how AI will impact global security or how it can be used to enhance the security of institutions and enterprises; how AI will impact labor and how we can transition the workforce to the AI jobs of the future; how governments can use AI to boost productivity and economic growth; and what kinds of governance structure and cross-industry efforts can best promote responsible AI innovation.

The inaugural grantees of the Digital Futures Fund include the Aspen Institute, Brookings Institution, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Center for a New American Security, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Institute for Security and Technology, Leadership Conference Education Fund, MIT Work of the Future, R Street Institute and SeedAI.

 

Google.org reportedly will fund various organizations around the world, with non-US think tanks likely to get a chunk of that money. 

Before this latest tranche of money, think tanks had already pivoted toward AI.  Brookings, for example, has an Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Initiative, while CSIS has the Wadhwani Center for AI and Advanced Technologies.

Heritage Scholar Leaves Think Tank Over Ukraine Stance

Here is more from Politico:

Thomas Spoehr tendered his resignation last week as director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense, people familiar with the decision tell NatSec Daily, citing the think tank’s increasingly skeptical stance on supporting Ukraine as one reason for his departure.

Spoehr's last day at Heritage will be Sept. 1.

As the National Review (NR) noted, Heritage has recently pivoted away from its historically hawkish position on Russia.  It also notes that the think tank has rolled out a public messaging campaign that attacks continued US assistance to Ukraine for allegedly holding up disaster relief funding that could be distributed to Americans.

NR adds that over the past year and a half, the think tank "has executed a pivot toward what its top executives bill as a third-way foreign policy that is neither interventionist nor isolationist, roiling the conservative policy world."  It adds that dozens of former Heritage staffers left the think tank in 2022, with many citing a more nationalist stance as the reason for departure.

Think Tank Quickies (#484)

• US spy agencies to share more intelligence with think tanks to battle new threats?
  
• Group of think tanks have a new cost-effective way to speed up the closure of the world's coal-fired power plants?
  
• Brookings: A government shutdown is likely this fall.
• Nonprofits are lobbying a lot less. 
• Think tanks file suit to block Biden Administration's plan to cancel $39 billion in student loans.
  
• Dan Ikenson, formerly of the Cato Institute, lands at the Asia Society Policy Institute. 
• Which think tanks publish the most on the topic of US foreign policy?
• Who has been more relevant in our understanding of the war in Ukraine: universities or think tanks?
• Wall Street billionaire ends funding for think tank behind Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan.
  
• Pic: 125 high school students visit Brookings and play fiscalship.org.
  

Heritage Foundation Holding Near-Daily Talks with DeSantis Officials

Here is more from Reuters:

In mid-March, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the Ukraine war as a "territorial dispute" that was not of vital strategic interest to the United States, in a written reply to a questionnaire from Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

His comment dismayed allies and drew fierce rebukes from many Republicans who favor a more active role for the U.S. in Ukraine, including some who are challenging him for the 2024 presidential nomination.

Playing a quiet but important role in shaping the governor's remarks was the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, America's top conservative think tank, according to two people with knowledge of their interactions.

Senior Heritage officials had advocated for months in conversations with DeSantis' team that he oppose policies that could move the U.S. toward direct confrontation with Russia, the people said.

While officials at Heritage have been in contact with almost every 2024 Republican presidential campaign, including that of former President Donald Trump, the think tank's proximity to DeSantis is unique, eight people involved in the discussions said.

Heritage personnel have held near-daily conversations with DeSantis officials in recent months about key issues, including downsizing federal agencies, reorienting U.S. foreign policy to better prepare for confrontation with China, and lowering hurdles to domestic energy production, the eight people said.

Although the news agency was unable to pinpoint every policy DeSantis has adopted due to his campaign's relationship with Heritage, many of his preferences mirror the think tank's deep skepticism of the federal government, corporate elites and foreign entanglements.

 

The article goes on to note that DeSantis' policy chief, Dustin Carmack, was a Heritage research fellow before joining the campaign, and he talks to Heritage officials almost daily.  It also notes that in addition to Carmack, at least seven other Heritage officials have taken positions in the DeSantis campaign.

Here is a New York Times piece about Carmack reuniting with DeSantis.

DeSantis has also dispatched a senior adviser, David Dewhirst, to work on Heritage's Project 2025.

Lawmakers Want DOJ to Investigate Think Tank Over FARA

Here is more from Politico:

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) are requesting that the Department of Justice review whether a number of environmental rights groups are violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

— The two claim that some environmental groups are likely acting as foreign agents, although they are not registered with the DOJ. It’s part of a yearslong effort by the GOP to tie environmental groups to foreign adversaries.

— In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland dated Thursday, the two lawmakers are requesting documents related to the financial relationships between various environmental groups and those associated with Chinese interests.

— In a statement, one of the groups cited in the letter, Rocky Mountain Institute, said it has worked alongside governments for four decades on a clean energy transition.

— “We share our research and analysis routinely with governments, policymakers of both parties, fellow non-profit organizations, and corporations — including those in the fossil fuel business,” the statement read. “RMI works in China because reducing emissions in China is critical to preventing the worst consequences of climate change.”

 

The letter from Cruz and Comer can be found here.

Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) was founded in 1982 and currently has 600+ staffer working on four continents.

UAE Engages New PR Firm to Leverage Think Tanks

Here is more from Politico:

The United Arab Emirates’ state-owned renewable energy company has brought on a new PR firm specializing in crisis management to push back on critics and boost the wealthy oil state’s environmental creds ahead of a UAE-hosted round of United Nations climate talks in November.

— The Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, or Masdar, inked a new contract within the past few weeks with First International Resources to spin negative press and criticism of Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, the chief executive of the Emirati state-owned oil company and president of the upcoming COP28 talks, according to a copy of the contract filed with the Justice Department.

— The six-month contract comes with a $100,000-per-month retainer, plus another $132,000 for the U.S. portion of the polling project, DOJ filings show. 

— The firm offers a variety of different avenues for accomplishing that goal, which include leveraging think tanks and international groups such as the World Economic Forum, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Brookings Institutions and the Heritage Foundation to “spread favorable perceptions” of the summit and arranging meetings with members of Congress and the Biden administration. “If appropriate,” the contract adds, the firm will work to “activate or mobilize our connections inside the ‘US Jewish Establishment’ to help support the campaign’s overall objectives.”

 

As noted by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, the Emirati lobby has contacted think tanks scores of times, and a number of US think tanks - including the Atlantic Council, CSIS, and Middle East Institute (MEI) - have received millions of dollars from the UAE. 

Update: The Heritage Foundation is not happy that First International Resources (FIR) is trying to leverage the think tank, and sought to distance itself from FIR's efforts.

“I don’t know who these grifters are pretending to be able to ‘leverage’ The Heritage Foundation, but they’re selling a bill of goods,” Heritage President Kevin Roberts said, adding that “Conservatives aren’t for sale, they won’t be influenced by globalists, and they’ll never buy into the Green scam.”

Think Tank Quickies (#483)

• PIIE president: The Chinese economy is in worse long-term shape than is widely understood.
  
• Politico: "Three decades after the Cold War ended, RAND Corp. and the broader network of government agencies, national laboratories, research universities and think tanks are struggling to meet the demands of a new - and many contend, far more dangerous - chapter in the global nuclear standoff." 
• Overton looks at which think tanks are cited most in the US.
  
• The Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, a private-sector think tank in Tokyo, conducted a tabletop simulation premised on the Chinese military invading Taiwan in 2027.
  
• A confidential invite list from an Aspen Institute dinner in 2017 reveals how wealthy business donors and lawyers got privileged access to Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan and then-DC Circuit Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh at a mansion dubbed "Billionaire Mountain."
• Cato Institute launches thegreencardgame.com - an interactive online platforms to allow Americans to experience the difficulties of obtaining legal permanent residence in the US from an immigrant's perspective.
  
• Jonathan Breckon: How can researchers increase their chances of affecting change through policy?
  
• Japan Center for Economic Research: "A Nikkei-affiliated think tank."
• UK think tanks urged to be transparent about funding a $1 million in US donations revealed.
  
• Unlock Democracy: Think tanks must be more transparent.
  

Sen. Rubio Calls for Probe of Think Tanks

Here is more from Politico:

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) urged the Justice Department to open an inquiry into potential FARA violations by more than half a dozen left-wing nonprofit groups tied to tech mogul Neville Roy Singham over the organizations’ ties to the Chinese government and its propaganda apparatus.

— “Combatting Beijing’s malign influence must be a key objective for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Unfortunately, it appears the DOJ is either unaware or ambivalent to this growing Threat,” Rubio wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

— The missive follows a New York Times investigation over the weekend that shed light on a dark money network tied to Singham, who founded the software consultancy Thoughtworks and now lives in Shanghai.

— That network has pulled in hundreds of millions of dollars and produced content parroting Beijing’s talking points across the globe on issues from the democracy movement in Hong Kong to China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims, according to the Times, and even working at times alongside entities receiving financing from Chinese propaganda departments.

— None of the organizations mentioned in the story, which include the anti-war group Code Pink and the think tank Tricontinental, are currently registered as foreign agents, and Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, demanded Garland “immediately investigate” the organizations — as well as any other related groups linked to Singham — for FARA violations.

 

Rubio's letter describes Tricontinental as "a Massachusetts-based think tank that advocates for socialist revolution."

InfluenceWatch describes Tricontinental as a "Marxist think tank created by Marxist historian, author, and journalist Vijay Prashad."

At least one source notes that Prashad is affiliated with Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, a think tank affiliated with Beijing's Renmin University.