INFORMAL think-tank news — January 2026

– French think-tank director jailed for one year

– a Swiss think-tanker was given a 3-year prison sentence

– disbanded in September 2025, following the political downfall of its founder

– Why are Hong Kong think tanks facing a bleak future?

– 2 Russian think-tanks monitoring Western think-tanks

– Pentagon suspends participation in think tank events

– secretly funded British government overseas propaganda

– Interview with the President of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies 

– and with the president of the Wilson Center

– Closed by Trump in 2025. 

– eliminated by an executive order

– Has eventually survived ! 

– the Pentagon’s internal think-tank is now back, with a reduced budget

– Creative Bureaucracy Festival

– nice error 404 message: “I’ve made quite a few mistakes, but that’s part of life. — Reinhard Mohn”

– and a Bipartisan one : “100% of Americans Agree: This Page Does Not Exist.”

– the Koch-funded Atlas Network is also targeting Europe

– Holacratie, a decentralized management method, that works well to run a think-tank

– 75% of the staff are women

– “foreign assholes with opinions”

– India-Russia Heads of Think Tanks Forum: HoTT

– Central Asian Think Tanks Forum

– China-Korea Think Tank Dialogue

– Russia has invented Binge think-tanking! ( each week, dozens or even hundreds of experts write their opinion on a given subject )

– Think Tank Funding in America

– Top Influential Think Tanks 

– new American tech think-tank 

– Russian disinformation operation targets Western intelligence officials

– yet another think-tank spy network

– WE WERE WRONG

– CRANK Call ( monthly review of developments involving cooperation, and at times contention, among China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea )

– new major transatlantic international security conference

– French investigative think-tank harassed by French foreign intelligence services.

– a bill that would throw the philanthropic baby out with the woke bathwater

– nom d’origine retrouvé : Commissariat Général au Plan > 2006, le Centre d’analyse stratégique > 2013 France Stratégie > 2025 Haut-Commissariat au Plan 🙂 

– A-t-on encore besoin des think tanks aujourd’hui ?

– Que sont-ils devenus ? les trajectoires professionnelles des anciens chercheurs de l’IRSEM

– histoire – passionnante – de l’IFRI

– Organismes de recherche et think tanks – État de la menace informatique

– obligation nouvelle pour les laboratoires d’idées de transmettre à la HATVP le montant des dons et versements étrangers qu’ils reçoivent

– Art et Géopolitique

48 Russian think-tank indices (August 2025)

Quality of life rating

CSR digest    

Rating of the best universities in Russia

Index of intellectual maturity of the system of state and municipal administration of the Russian Federation

Integral rating of State Duma deputies

Budgets of digital transformation of federal authorities 

Pancake Index

Review of events in China  

ESG-INDEX OF CITIES AND REGIONS  

Eurasian integration for the week 

Moscow in the ratings

Business Environment Index

Venture Guide

Startup Guide

Innovative Development Rating of the Subjects of the Russian Federation

Investment Attractiveness of Regions

Urban Environment Quality Index

Monitoring attempts of foreign interference 

New Diplomatic Dictionary

National Rating Agency

Climate change in Russia and the globe

Rating of creative regions of Russia

Social Well-Being Index 

Index of economic potential of regions of the Russian Federation

Regions leading in socio-economic sustainability 

Regional Index of Demand for Personnel for the Innovative Economy 

Rating of the subjects of the Russian Federation by the level of openness of budget data 

Forbes Ratings

National Anxiety Index

University ranking (fondpotanin.ru)

Rating of innovative attractiveness of world cities

National rating of development agencies and corporations of the Russian Federation

National rating of technology parks of Russia 

National rating of industrial parks of Russia 

Quality of life index in Russian cities

Navigator of Russian regional practices

Security Index  

Interactive map of the implementation of climate projects and initiatives

50+ leading Russian think-tanks that I have discovered recently

tedo.ru
d-russia.ru
tadviser.ru
xn--d1aqf.xn--p1ai ( дом.рф )
delret.ru
raex-rr.com
journal.ecostandard.ru
politex.spbu.ru
issek.hse.ru
russiasmartcity.ru
fondpotanin.ru
gcii.hse.ru
fief.ru
jeees.ru
energypolicy.ru
acra-ratings.ru
nifi.ru
finjournal-nifi.ru
carbonlab-llc.com
cdu.ru/tek_russia
inno-exp.ru
infragreen.ru
rpcecor.ru
isedc-u.com
infoculture.ru
tochno.st
cluster.hse.ru
nkibrics.ru
irjournal.spbu.ru
aevis.ru
i-regions.org
vestnik-ieran.ru
questionset.ru
imemo.ru/publications/periodical/meimo
ashpi.asu.ru
rusus.jes.su
russianfield.com
roiip.ru
nom24.ru
ifregion.com
ipsos.ru
zircon.ru
teleskop-journal.spb.ru
ra-national.ru
7universum.com
eurasian-strategies.ru
igce.ru
cwejournal.hse.ru
wec.hse.ru
svr.gov.ru/zhurnal-razvedchik
trudy.vniro.ru
v-project-online.ru
raec.ru

Informal think-tank news — August 2024

• A think-tank bought by a Competitive Intelligence agency
• What is a think-tank ? ( 15:00 )
• ( after this one ) Yet another think-tank that does not exist ( “Partners : EPI” )
• Unpacking the Washington, DC Think Tank Scene
• FBI raids home of a key Washington think-tank founder
• Once again, another think-tanker that does not exist
• EU legislative projects traffic light system
• The man who has coined the terms BRICS+ — and BRICS++
• think-tank spy ring
• A ( Russian ) think-tank game ( theme : atomic bombs )
• Interview with the founder of Israel’s most influential think-tank
• How a U.S.-Funded Israeli Think Tank is Working
• Four types of Chinese think-tanks
• Young Leaders ( made in China )
• Chinese Track-2 Diplomacy
• Freedom award
• Influence Watch
• Another think-tank corruption scandal
• A fact tank
• American TechTank and French think-tech
• Richard Haas and Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, Ph.D ( Park Avenue 2:31 )
• 42:15 : “we’re trying to think big ; and so we are relying also on those outside of government who have more time to think than we do ; for some of the big ideas”
• A think tank offers $10,000 for the seizure of an Estonian robot
• President of Ukraine held a meeting with representatives of leading think tanks of Europe and the U.S.
• ( more ) think-tank cartoons in Czech Republic
• A think-tank, and its director, on OFAC’s list
• Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund is also on the sanctions list
• The Spectre of Neuroscience in Security Studies
• think tank with Chinese characteristics
• 1–2–3 extremely opaque think-tanks working against disinformation …
• The first podcast by and for women in the US Intelligence Community ( > origin of the name )
• “Lebanon is not a real state; it is a money-laundering headquarters.” 17:33

INFORMAL THINK-TANK NEWS — MAY 2024

• Paweł Karbownik ( Bruegel ) is now the Polish Deputy Minister of Finance
• Chad P. Bown ( PIEE ) is now Chief Economist at the the US Department of State
• Urban Warfare Experts’ Christmas Wish List
• A think-tank idea picked up by the U.S government : Thousands of seized Iranian guns, rocket launchers and munitions transfered to Ukraine
• Fast Thinking, Atlantic Council
• ASPI the American, and ASPI the Australian.

Alternatives to Wikipedia think-tank pages

• militarist-monitor.org
• GroupWatch archive
• LittleSis : 25 think-tanks ; news.
• citizenaudit.org ( paid )
• insidephilanthropy.com ( paid )

INFORMAL THINK-TANK NEWS — June 2022

• 850 active projects in Georgia, and 630 in Moldova.
• 64% of women in one of the world’s most influential think-tanks.
• Gender equality plan 2022-2026.
• Parity Pledge for gender balanced events.
• A webinar about working in the think tank sector.
• What does it take to start a think-tank ?
• A mission-driven think-tank.
• Inaccuracy correction.

Think Tank Watch

twitter.com/ThinkTankWatch — Covering The Think Tank Scene in the United States and Beyond. Specializing in Think Tank News and Gossip.

Informal Think-Tank News — May 2022

• Nobody reads think-tank reports.

• “Your Central European Intelligence” : “Good Russians do not exist. They have not been born yet.”

• In 2 weeks a major think-tanker will become a French MP.

• A  think – tank  battle.

• There is already a little think-tank in the metaverse.

• Accepting bitcoins.

• 1847 initiatives , and around 300 projects in Kosovo. And 124 ongoing programs in Georgia.

• Acknowledgement of country.

Informal think-tank news — April 2022 :

• After WIIS : WCAPS.

• On domestic matters, Russia starts think-tanking cautiously :
  Open & Interactive Map of Environmental Conflicts in Russia

• Elves against Trolls.

• The 3 SUPER HEAVYWEIGHTS of the Think-Tank WORLD : > https://www.fes.de/standorte/fes-international/  > https://www.boell.de/en/worldwide  > https://www.kas.de/en/worldwide

• JOINT comes out of stealth, to “understand and strengthen EU Foreign and Security Policy in a complex and contested world”.

• New name ( it was the “Bonn International Center for Conversion” ) ;
  new name ( it was the “Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces” ).
  

• 2 examples of think-tanks that have recently decided to hide their full / initial name :
  Tata Energy Research Institute
  Rocky Mountain Institute
  
• New HQ ( from London to Berlin ).