Three Russian think tanks included in University of Pennsylvania's 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report
MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax) - The Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO), the Carnegie Moscow Center, and the Moscow State Institute of international Relations (MGIMO) have been included in the prestigious 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report compiled by the University of Pennsylvania.
IMEMO ranks 33rd; MGIMO is 124th.
The Top 5 are: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (U.S.), Bruegel (Belgium), the Getulio Vargas Foundation (Brazil), the Center for Strategic and International Studies (U.S.), the French institute of international relations (France), and the Japan Institute of International Affairs was rated the best think tank of the year.
The analysis covered more than 11,000 analytical centers over the world (with its 143 think tanks, Russia ranks 12th in terms of numbers globally), 174 of which made it to the global index.
In Central and Eastern Europe, there were 17 think tanks from Russia, including the Center for Economic and Financial Research and Development of the New Economic School (in 15th place), the Academy of Sciences' Institute for US and Canadian Studies (26th place), the Independent Institute of Social Policy (29th), Yegor Gaidar Institute of Economic Policy (32nd), the Economic Expert Group (44th), the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC, 47th), and the Analytical Center of the Russian Government (54th).
IMEMO, the Institute for US and Canadian Studies, MGIMO, RIAC and the Council for Foreign and Defense Policies were also included in the rating of defense and national security think tanks; they are also, along with the Academy of Sciences' Institute of Europe, are in the rating of centers for foreign policy and international relations.
IMEMO also ranked number 12 in the Think Tank Conference category.
IMEMO Director Feodor Voitolovsky told Interfax that "think tanks as a phenomenon have existed for more than 100 years already."
"Over this period, not only have they become important suppliers of ideas and analytics for governments, but they have turned into important players of international communications and formation of the global agenda. Besides, expert advisory centers are important suppliers of professional expert knowledge about the world economy and politics to the public in a world torn apart by information rivalry and overflown with fake news. It is particularly important. Another key function of think tanks is so-called Track II diplomacy - expert consultations on challenging issues of global politics and international security. Representatives of the expert and analytical community face the same burden of responsibility as professional diplomats, but they may prove to be very helpful in formulating and openly discussing ideas that may further be used in official negotiations," he said.
RAS Institute for US and Canadian Studies Director Valery Garbuzov, in turn, said that independent analytical centers are a "necessary element within the mechanism of political decision making of any state."
"They play a special, unmatched role in developing and forming a country's foreign policy, in forming foreign policy of a government. Without preliminary analysis of possible options of decisions that are being adopted, effective government regulation of the economy, the social sector, and appropriate foreign policy conduct are hardly possible," Garbuzov told Interfax.
MGIMO Rector, RAS Academician Anatoly Torkunov, for his part, noted that the "University of Pennsylvania ranking differs from other recognized world rankings by its approaches to making assessments."
"Its specific features include consideration for the university's expert authority, the relevance of its employees' comments in the media, and the applied analytical potential of the university's team," he said.
Global recognition of achievements of MGIMO as a think tank gives "crucial impetus to the further development of scientific and expert infrastructure, to self-motivated search for subjects for analysis that are meaningful from a practical standpoint," he said.
"I am convinced that Russian studies of international relations and the role of people in them should become more accessible to the global audience, not only within the academic community, but also among people who make decisions. The establishment in 2020 of the world-class Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Human Potential will help tackle this vital task," the MGIMO rector said.
An expert meeting dedicated to the publication of the 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report will be held next week as part of the joint project of IMEMO and Interfax "Russia and the World: the professional conversation". The subject of the upcoming meeting will be Russian think tanks within the global dimension. The meeting will center on the positions of Russian think tanks in the global context, key avenues of their work, their development prospects, and challenges they face.
