Media
Foreign Powers Buy Influence at Think Tanks
New York Times06.09.2014Read original
More than a dozen prominent Washington research groups have received tens of millions of dollars from foreign governments in recent years while pushing United States government officials to adopt policies that often reflect the donors’ priorities, an investigation by The New York Times has found.
The money is increasingly transforming the once-staid think-tank world into a muscular arm of foreign governments’ lobbying in Washington. And it has set off troubling questions about intellectual freedom: Some scholars say they have been pressured to reach conclusions friendly to the government financing the research…
…The arrangements involve Washington’s most influential think tanks, including the Brookings Institution, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Atlantic Council. Each is a major recipient of overseas funds, producing policy papers, hosting forums and organizing private briefings for senior United States government officials that typically align with the foreign governments’ agendas.
This is an important piece. Sometimes The Times runs some very good stuff and this is one of those times. The attached article is absolutely worth a read.
It seems that foreign governments, including Japan, Qatar, and Norway have been buying influence via some of Washington’s most prominent policy institutions including, allegedly, the Brookings Institution.
