Anche quest’anno James McGann, direttore del "The Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program", ha dato alla luce il report "The Global Go-To Think Tanks".
Si tratta di una valutazione, un ranking, dei think tanks* operanti nel mondo effettuata attraverso un sondaggio** tra ricercatori ed esperti. Insomma, una sorta di guida.

Da una lettura veloce ecco cosa emerge:

– esistono circa 5400 think tanks operanti nel mondo, così distribuiti:
 • North America 1872 (34.25%)
 • Western Europe 1208 (22.10%)
 • Asia 653 (11.95%)
 • Eastern Europe 514 (9.41%)
 • Latin America and the Caribbean 538 (9.84%)
 • Africa 424 (7.76%)
 • Middle East and North Africa 218 (3.99%)

– il report individua alcuni "regional think tank hubs" tra cui Washington, Londra, Berlino, Bruxelles, Tel Aviv, Istanbul. Nessuna città italiana è presente;

– i Paesi con il numero più alto di think tanks sono:  Stati Uniti (1777), Regno Unito (283), Germania (186), Francia (165), Argentina (122), India (121), Russia (107), Giappone (105), Canada (94) ed Italia (87);

– a livello internazionale, escludendo gli USA, i migliori 10 think tanks sono:
1. Chatham House United Kingdom
2. International Institute for Strategic Studies United Kingdom
3. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Sweden
4. Overseas Development Institute United Kingdom
5. Centre for European Policy Studies Belgium
6. Transparency International Germany
7. German Council on Foreign Relations Germany
8. German Institute for International and Security Affairs Germany
9. French Institute of International Relations France
10. Adam Smith Institute United Kingdom

– negli USA invece sono:
1. Brookings Institution
2. Council on Foreign Relations
3. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
4. RAND Corporation
5. Heritage Foundation
6. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
7. Center for Strategic and International Studies
8. American Enterprise Institute
9. Cato Institute
T10.Hoover Institution
T10. Human Rights Watch

– l’unico think tank italiano presente nelle graduatorie è l’Istituto Affari Internazionali di Roma. Al 21esimo posto nella classifica dei migliori 25 in Europa Occidentale ed al 40esimo posto tra i top 50 a livello internazionale (Stati Uniti esclusi);

– il report effettua anche graduatorie in base al settore di attività. In ambito "Security and International Affairs" il ranking è il seguente:
1. Brookings Institution – USA
2. Chatham House – UK
3. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace – USA
4. Council on Foreign Relations – USA
5. International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) – UK
6. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) – Sweden
7. Center for Strategic and International Studies – USA
8. International Crisis Group – Belgium
9. RAND Corporation – USA
10. French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) – France

– riguardo alla creazione di nuovi centri studi il picco è stato toccato nel 1993, con circa 160 nuovi think tanks. Da allora si assiste ad un decremento costante. Nel 2007 risulterebbero essere creati solo una decina di nuovi centri studio.

Sul perchè l’Italia sia così indietro in questo settore ieri è stato pubblicato un articolo su Libero Mercato.

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* viene adottata la seguente definizione di think tank: "Think tanks are public policy research, analysis and engagement institutions that generate policy-oriented research, analysis and advice on domestic and international issues that enable policymakers and the public to make informed decisions about public policy issues. Think tanks may be affiliated or independent institutions and are structured as permanent bodies, not ad hoc commissions. These institutions often act as a bridge between the academic and policymaking communities, serving in the public interest as an independent voice that translates applied and basic research into a language and form that is understandable, reliable, and accessible for policymakers and the public".

** "Over the course of the past eight months, 407 think tanks were nominated by a diverse panel of experts comprised of peer institutions, donors, directors of think tank networks, and representatives from intergovernmental organizations. Only those organizations that received two or more nominations were included in the final rankings process, most received well in excess of that number. We then emailed and mailed the 5,465 plus organizations in the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program think tank database a list of the nominated think tanks and asked them to make their selections for the top think tanks in the world as well as by region and research area. Organizations were also asked to recognize organizations in a few special categories that were added as one of the enhancements to this year’s report."