The 100 Most Influential Think Tanks In The World For 2017

It does not come as a surprise, at least for me, that Brookings Institution was declared as the most influential think tank in the world in 2016, followed by the UK’s Chatham House, ranked 2nd, and French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), ranked third.

Meanwhile, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) was ranked 4th internationally (U.S. and non-U.S.), followed by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Bruegel, RAND Corporation, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Fundacao Getulio Vargas, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

As rated by the Think Tank and Civil Societies Program at the University of Pennsylvania, U.S. has 1,835 think tanks, the highest globally, followed by China with 435, and the United Kingdom has 288. India stands in 4th position with 280 think tanks. Report is the largest and most comprehensive database of think tanks, comprising over 6,500 institutions in 179 countries since its inception in 1989.

Most Influential Think Tanks In The World For 2017 (US & non-US)

1. Brookings Institution (United States)
2. Chatham House (United Kingdom)
3. French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) (France)
4. Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) (United States)
5. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (United States)
6. Bruegel (Belgium)
7. RAND Corporation (United States)
8. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (United States)
9. Fundacao Getulio Vargas (FGV)
10. Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) (United States)
11. Cato Institute (United States)
12. Heritage Foundation (United States)
13. International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) (United Kingdom)
14. Center for American Progress (CAP) (United States)
15. Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) (Japan)
16. Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) (Germany)
17. Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) (Germany)
18. German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) (Germany)
19. Fraser Institute (Canada)
20. Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) (United States)

21. Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) (Belgium)
22. Amnesty International (AI) (United Kingdom)
23. Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) (United Kingdom)
24. Carnegie Moscow Center (Russia)
25. American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) (United States)
26. International Crisis Group (ICG) (Belgium)
27. Transparency International (TI) (Germany)
28. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) (Sweden)
29. Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) (Japan)
30. European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) (United Kingdom)

31. Institute for World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO RAS) (Russia)
32. Human Rights Watch (United States)
33. China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) (China)
34. Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) (Republic of Korea)
35. German Development Institute (DIE) (Germany)
36. Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) (Canada)
37. Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) (Denmark)
38. Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) (China)
39. Consejo Argentino para las Relaciones Internacionales (CARI) (Argentina)
40. China Institute of International Studies (CIIS) (China)

41. Carnegie Middle East Center (Lebanon)
42. German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) (Germany)
43. Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) (Germany)
44. Korea Development Institute (KDI) (Republic of Korea)
45. IDEAS (United Kingdom)
46. Australian Institute for International Affairs (AIIA) (Australia)
47. Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) (United Kingdom)
48. Clingendael, Netherlands Institute of International Relations (Netherlands)
49. Human Rights Watch (HRW) (United States)
50. Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) (South Africa)

51. Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies (ACPSS) (Egypt)
52. Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC) (China)
53. Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) (United Kingdom)
54. Libertad y Desarrollo (LyD) (Chile)
55. Razumkov Centre (Ukraine)
56. Lowy Institute for International Policy (Australia)
57. Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies (WMCES), FKA Centre for European Studies (Belgium)
58. Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) (Norway)
59. Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) (Germany)
60. Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) (Spain)

61. Overseas Development Institute (ODI) (United Kingdom)
62. African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) (South Africa)
63. Urban Institute (United States)
64. East Asia Institute (EAI) (Republic of Korea)
65. Center for Social and Economic Research (CASE) (Poland)
66. Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) (Italy)
67. African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) (Kenya)
68. Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM) (Poland)
69. World Economic Forum (WEF) (Switzerland)
70. Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS) (Republic of Korea)

71. Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) (Norway)
72. Centre for European Reform (CER) (United Kingdom)
73. Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS) (China)
74. European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) (France)
75. Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) (Turkey)
76. South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) (South Africa)
77. Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) (Indonesia)
78. Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS) (Republic of Korea)
79. Institute of International and Strategic Studies (IISS), FKA Center for International and Strategic Studies (China)
80. Centre for Civil Society (CCS) (India)

81. Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (United States)
82. Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) (Singapore)
83. Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) (Italy)
84. Elcano Royal Institute (Spain)
85. Fundacion para el Analisis y los Estudios Sociales (FAES) (Spain)
86. Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR) (South Africa)
87. Institute of Development Studies (IDS) (United Kingdom)
88. Heinrich Boll Foundation (HBS) (Germany)
89. Association for Liberal Thinking (ALT) (Turkey)
90. Demos (United Kingdom)

91. European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) (Belgium)
92. Timbro (Sweden)
93. Centro de Estudios Publicos (CEP) (Chile)
94. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) (Singapore)
95. Civitas: Institute for the Study of Civil Society (United Kingdom)
96. Centro de Divulgación del Conocimiento Económico para la Libertad (CEDICE Libertad) (Venezuela)
97. Atlantic Council (United States)
98. Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS) (Singapore)
99. Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) (United Kingdom)
100. Centre for Public Policy Studies (CPPS) (Malaysia)

101. Fedesarrollo (Colombia)
102. African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS) (Kenya)
103. Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) (Bangladesh)
104. Unirule Institute for Economics (China)
105. Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) (India)
106. Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) (Australia)
107. Hudson Institute (United States)
108. Center for Free Enterprise (CFE) (Republic of Korea)
109. Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) (Israel)
110. Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) (India)

111. Center for China and Globalization (China)
112. Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) (India)
113. Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) (Costa Rica)
114. IMANI Center for Policy and Education (Ghana)
115. Center for Policy Studies (CPS) (Hungary)
116. Institute for Security Studies (ISS) (South Africa)
117. Institute for International Policy Studies (IIPS) (Japan)
118. EGMONT – The Royal Institute for International Relations (Belgium)
119. Observer Research Foundation (ORF) (India)
120. European Policy Centre (EPC) (Belgium)

121. Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) (Germany)
122. Fundacao Armando Alvares Penteado (FAAP) (Brazil)
123. Free Market Foundation (FMF) (South Africa)
124. Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) (Russia)
125. Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) (Senegal)
126. Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) (United States)
127. National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) (United States)
128. Center for Strategic Studies (SAM) (Azerbaijan)
129. Instituto Ecuatoriano de Economia Politica (IEEP) (Ecuador)
130. Adam Smith Institute (United Kingdom)

131. Gulf Research Center (GRC) (Saudi Arabia)
132. Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS) (Sri Lanka)
133. Istituto Bruno Leoni (IBL) (Italy)
134. Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) (Kenya)
135. Mercatus Center (United States)
136. Centro de Estudio de la Realidad Economica y Social (CERES) (Uruguay)
137. Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI) (Lithuania)
138. National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS) (Japan)
139. Development Alternatives (DA) (India)
140. Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) (Uganda)

141. Centre for Liberal Strategies (CLS) (Bulgaria)
142. Delhi Policy Group (India)
143. Chicago Council on Global Affairs (United States)
144. Ifo Institute – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research (Germany)
145. Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) (Finland)
146. Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales (COMEXI) (Mexico)
147. EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy (Czech Republic)
148. Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) (Greece)
149. Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies (RDCY) (China)
150. Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) (Italy)

151. Hoover Institution (United States)
152. Center for Economic and Social Development (CESD) (Azerbaijan)
153. Institucion Futuro (Spain)
154. World Resources Institute (WRI) (United States)
155. German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) (United States)
156. Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty (United States)
157. Institute for Development and Global Governance (DRI) (France)
158. Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC) (Italy)
159. Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) (Germany)
160. Center for Global Development (CGD) (United States)

161. Fundar, Centro de Analisis e Investigacion (Mexico)
162. Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) (Ethiopia)
163. Centro de Investigaciones Economicas Nacionales (CIEN) (Guatemala)
164. Cambodia Development Resource Institute (CDRI) (Cambodia)
165. Israel-Palestine: Creative Regional Initiatives (IPCRI), FKA Israel-Palestine Center
for Research and Information (Israel/Palestine)
166. Copenhagen Consensus Center (Denmark)
167. Research and Information (Israel/Palestine)
168. Centro Studi Internazionali (Ce.S.I.) (Italy)
169. Ethiopian Development Research Institute (EDRI) (Ethiopia)
170. Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) (Ghana)

171. Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD) (Georgia)
172. Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) (India)
173. Centre for Geopolitical Studies (GEOPOLITIKA) (Lithuania)
174. Centre for Policy Research (OPR) (India)
175. Fundacion Libertad (Argentina)