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Research

The research agenda and recommendations of Brookings’s experts are rooted in open-minded inquiry and our scholars represent diverse points of view. More than 200 resident and nonresident fellows research issues; write books, papers, articles and opinion pieces; testify before congressional committees and participate in dozens of public events each year. The Institution’s president, Strobe Talbott, is responsible for setting policies that maintain Brookings’s reputation for quality, independence and impact.

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A Meeting Place for Ideas

The Brookings Institution has always played an important role in bringing expertise, balance and informed debate to the public discussion of policy choices.

Our unique convening power has brought together diverse voices from a range of critical regions such as the Middle East, helping to clarify differences and find common ground.

The opening of the Brookings Doha Center office

In addition to its Washington, D.C. office, Brookings also has an international presence in the Doha Center in Qatar and the Brookings-Tsinghua Center in Beijing.

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As it reaches an increasingly global audience, Brookings now offers select content in in Arabic, Chinese and Spanish.

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History

Brookings traces its beginnings to 1916, when a group of leading reformers founded the Institute for Government Research, the first private organization devoted to analyzing public policy issues at the national level. In 1922 and 1924, one of the institute’s backers, Robert Somers Brookings (1850-1932), established two supporting sister organizations: the Institute of Economics and a graduate school bearing his name. In 1927, the three groups merged to form The Brookings Institution.

Over the past 90 years, Brookings has contributed to landmark achievements in public policy, including organization of the United Nations, design of the Marshall Plan, creation of the Congressional Budget Office, deregulation, broad-based tax reform, welfare reform and the design of foreign aid programs. We also offer a platform to world leaders, using our convening power to inform the public debate. As part of our global mission, we operate the Brookings-Tsinghua Center in Beijing and the Brookings-Doha Center in Qatar.

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Funding

Brookings is financed through the support of philanthropic foundations, corporations and private individuals as well as through an endowment. These friends of the Institution respect our experts’ independence to pose questions, search for answers and present their findings in the way that they see fit.

Our board of trustees is composed of distinguished business executives, academics, former government officials and community leaders. An International Advisory Committee is composed of corporate and government leaders from fifteen countries.

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America's Top Think Tank

"When important debates occur in Washington—whether over Middle East peace, global finance, or urban strategy—it's a fair bet that Brookings is driving the conversation. ... From health care reform to recommendations on closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Brookings has a breadth of experience that allows it to offer innovative fixes for nearly every critical issue facing the United States today."
Foreign Policy magazine's Think Tank Index, January 2009

"Brookings has been at the center of every important policy debate in this country for 90 years."
Sen. Chuck Hagel, July 28, 2006

"What I think the world needs today, particularly in the grip of financial uncertainty, is hard and serious thinking from hard-headed, warmhearted, and serious-minded people and that is of course what we have here at Brookings."
Hon. Wayne Swan, MP, Treasurer of Australia, October 10, 2008

"You are a national institution, so important to, at least, the Executive Branch—and, I think, the Congress, and the country—that if you did not exist we would have to ask someone to create you."
President Lyndon Johnson, September 29, 1966 (read entire speech »)

"Brookings has achieved a special measure of respect in Washington because it has risen above partisanship, and that is not an easy thing to do in this town which is sort of built on partisanship."
Hon. Michael Bloomberg, Mayor, City of New York, August 28, 2007

"The think tanks at the top of the rankings are familiar names, led again by the Brookings Institution (which had more than twice as many citations as any other think tank)."
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, September 3, 2009

"Our job is to come up with ideas that make sense and that make a difference."
Strobe Talbott, Brookings President

Action and Impact

For more than 90 years, Brookings has produced new ideas that matter - for the nation and the world. Our goal is to conduct high-quality, independent research, and to use it to advance innovative, practical public policy recommendations.

Our experts focus on strengthening American democracy; advancing the economic and social welfare, security and opportunity of all Americans; and securing a more open, safe, prosperous and cooperative international system.

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ExpertAdele Morris

Adele Morris is a fellow and policy director for climate and energy economics. She focuses on the economics of climate change and related energy and natural resource policies.

Policy CenterCenter for Northeast Asian Policy Studies

CNAPS conducts research, analysis, and outreach designed to enhance policy development and understanding on the pressing political, economic, and security issues facing Northeast Asia.

ExpertJavier Solana

Dr. Javier Solana is a distinguished senior fellow in Foreign Policy at Brookings. He is the former secretary general of NATO, European Union high representative for common foreign and security policy and secretary-general of the Council of the European Union.

Research ProjectAfrica Growth Initiative

The Africa Growth Initiative conducts high-quality policy research and analysis focused on attaining sustainable economic development and prosperity in Africa, while amplifying the voice of African researchers in policy-making and planning.

TopicEnergy and Climate

What will it take to mitigate severe climate disruption? What should our priorities be in the relationship between fresh water and climate change? What will it take to help vulnerable countries and regions adapt to change already taking place?

Research ProjectBrookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement

The Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement monitors displacement problems worldwide, works with governments, regional bodies, international organizations and civil society to create more effective policies and institutional arrangements for Internally Displaced Persons.

ExpertMwangi S. Kimenyi

Mwangi S. Kimenyi is senior fellow and director of the Africa Growth Initiative. The founding executive director of the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (1999-2005), he focuses on Africa's development including institutions for economic growth, political economy, and private sector development.

ExpertAdam Looney

Adam Looney is a senior fellow in Economic Studies and policy director of The Hamilton Project. His research focuses on tax policy, labor economics, inequality and social policy. Previously, Looney was the senior economist for public finance and tax policy with the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and has been an economist at the Federal Reserve Board.

TopicGrowth through Innovation

What new practices and mechanisms will help prevent another economic downturn from turning into a financial panic that could become a truly global meltdown? What changes in the public and private sectors will build the workforce and infrastructure required for a global information-based economy?

ExpertSteven Pifer

Steven Pifer is director of the Brookings Arms Control Initiative. A former ambassador to Ukraine, Pifer’s career as a Foreign Service officer centered on Europe, the former Soviet Union and arms control.

Research ProjectMiddle East Youth Initiative

A joint project of the Wolfensohn Center for Development at Brookings and the Dubai School of Government, the Middle East Youth Initiative aims to accelerate the international community's ability to better understand and respond to the changing needs of young people in the Middle East.

ExpertAudrey Singer

Demographer Audrey Singer is an expert on international migration, race and ethnicity, U.S. immigration policy, and demographic trends in metropolitan areas.

TopicManaging Global Change

How do we develop more realistic approaches and more effective means of ending intractable old conflicts and preventing new ones? How do we enhance measures to thwart nonstate actors—especially terrorists and illicit traffickers—and prevent the spread of nuclear weapons?

ExpertEzra Suruma

Ezra Suruma is a former minister of finance, planning and economic development. He is currently the senior presidential advisor on finance and planning in Uganda. His focus is on governance in governmental and financial institutions and its impact on stability and economic growth.

ExpertVanda Felbab-Brown

Vanda Felbab-Brown focuses on the national security implications of illicit economies and strategies for managing them. She is the author of Shooting Up: Counterinsurgency and the War on Drugs (Brookings Institution Press, 2009).

ExpertSuzanne Maloney

Suzanne Maloney studies Iran, the political economy of the Persian Gulf and Middle East energy policy. A former U.S. State Department policy advisor, she has also counseled private companies on Middle East issues.

TopicOpportunity and Well-being

As they weather the current economic storm, will our governments and societies address the basic needs and aspirations of the least well-off? How can we better use education to raise individual aspirations? How should governments around the world accelerate preparations to provide social services for the billions moving from poverty into the middle class?

Research ProjectLatin America Initiative

The Latin America Initiative provides high-quality, in-depth, and independent research across a range of economic and political issues, and offers policy recommendations aimed at U.S. and Latin American policymakers.

ExpertAlice M. Rivlin

In February 1975, the Congressional Budget Office was established with Alice Rivlin as its first director. Rivlin is an expert on urban issues as well as fiscal, monetary and social policy and directs the Greater Washington Research project at Brookings.

ExpertRichard C. Bush III

Richard Bush is the director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies. His public service career spans Congress, the intelligence community and the U.S. State Department. He currently focuses on China-Taiwan and U.S.-China relations, the Korean peninsula and Japan’s security.

Policy CenterBrown Center on Education Policy

Raising the quality of education in the United States for more people is imperative for society’s well-being. The Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings examines the problems of the American education system and helps delineate practical solutions.

Policy CenterUrban-Brookings Tax Policy Center

The Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution, is comprised of nationally recognized experts in tax, budget and social policy who have served at the highest levels of government.

ExpertRebecca Winthrop

Rebecca Winthrop is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Universal Education. She is the former head of education for the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian aid NGO. Her research focuses on education in the developing world, with special attention to fragile states and contexts of armed conflict, forced migration, and violent extremism.

Research ProjectArms Control Initiative

Few problems pose greater challenges to U.S. national security than controlling, reducing and countering the proliferation of nuclear arms. The Brookings Arms Control Initiative brings the Institution’s multidisciplinary strengths to bear on the critical challenges of arms control and non-proliferation.

Policy CenterCenter for Technology Innovation

The Center for Technology Innovation is at the forefront of shaping public debate on technology innovation and developing data-driven scholarship to enhance understanding of technology’s legal, economic, social, and governance ramifications.

ExpertTed Gayer

Ted Gayer is the co-director of the Economic Studies program and the Joseph A. Pechman Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He conducts research on a variety of economic issues, focusing particularly on public finance, environmental and energy economics, housing, and regulatory policy.

ExpertHomi Kharas

Homi Kharas is a senior fellow and deputy director for the Global Economy and Development program. Formerly a chief economist in the East Asia and Pacific Region of the World Bank, Homi Kharas currently leads a research project on aid agency effectiveness, and also has expertise on East Asia development and global economic trends.