Top 15 US Think Tanks
2. Council on Foreign Relations
3. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
6. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
7. Center for Strategic & International Studies
8. American Enterprise Institute
12. Peterson Institute for International Economics
13. United States Institute of Peace
14. National Bureau of Economic Research
15. Center for Global Development
Top 20 Non-US Think Tanks
2. International Institute for Strategic Studies
3. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
4. Overseas Development Institute
5. Centre for European Policy Studies
7. German Council on Foreign Relations
8. German Institute for International and Security Affairs
9. French Institute of International Relations
11. Fraser Institute
12. European Council on Foreign Relations
14. Institute of Development Studies
15. Centre for Economic Policy Research
16. Centre for European Reform
17. International Crisis Group
18. International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
19. Kiel Institute for the World Economy
20. Canadian International Council
Top 5 Think Tanks in Latin America and the Caribbean
1. Consejo Argentino para las Relaciones Internacionales (Argentina)
2. Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (Costa Rica)
3. Libertad y Desarrollo (Chile)
4. Centro de Estudios Públicos (Chile)
5. Centro de Implementación de Políticas Públicas para la Equidad y el Crecimiento (Argentina)
Top 5 Think Tanks in Asia
1. Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (China)
2. Japan Institute of International Affairs (Japan)
3. Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (India)
4. Centre for Strategic and International Studies (Indonesia)
5. Institute for International Policy Studies (Japan)
Top 5 Think Tanks in the Middle East and North Africa
1. Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies (Egypt)
2. Center for Strategic Studies (Jordan)
3. Institute for National Security Studies (Israel)
4. Gulf Research Center (United Arab Emirates)
5. Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (United Arab Emirates)
Top 5 Think Tanks in Sub-Saharan Africa
1. Centre for Conflict Resolution (South Africa)
2. South African Institute of International Affairs (South Africa)
3. Institute for Security Studies (South Africa)
4. Free Market Foundation (South Africa)
5. Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (Senegal)
Top 5 Security and International Affairs Think Tanks
3. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
4. Council on Foreign Relations
5. International Institute for Strategic Studies
Top 5 International Development Think Tanks
2. Overseas Development Institute
3. Council on Foreign Relations
5. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Top 5 International Economic Policy Think Tanks
2. Peterson Institute for International Economics
4. National Bureau of Economic Research
There are 5,465 think tanks worldwide
Breakdown:
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1,872 in North America
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1,208 in Western Europe
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653 in Asia
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538 in Latin America and the Caribbean
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514 in Eastern Europe
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424 in sub-Saharan Africa
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218 in the Middle East and North Africa
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38 in Oceania
There are 1,777 think tanks in the United States
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Nine out of 10 U.S. think tanks were created since 1951
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The number of U.S. think tanks has more than doubled since 1980
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Approximately 350 think tanks are based in Washington, more than in any country other than the United States
Source: Foreign Policy magazine January/February 2009 issue