A nation must think before it acts.
The growth of public policy research organizations over the last two decades has been nothing less than explosive. Not only have these organizations increased in number, but the scope and impact of their work has expanded dramatically. Still, the potential of think tanks to support and sustain democratic governments and civil societies around the world is far from exhausted. The challenge for the new millennium is to harness the vast reservoir of knowledge, information and associational energy that exist in public policy research organizations so that it can support self-sustaining economic, social and political progress in every region of the world.
Founded in 1989, the Think Tanks and Foreign Policy Program has laid the foundation for a global initiative that will help bridge the gap between knowledge and policy in critical policy areas such as international peace and security, globalization and governance, international economics, environment, information and society, poverty alleviation and health. This international collaborative effort is designed to establish regional and international networks of policy institutes and communities that will improve policy making and strengthen democratic institutions and civil societies around the world. The Think Tanks and Foreign Policy Program has assembled some of the leading scholars and practitioners from think tanks and universities around the world to collaborate on this program.