Atlas Network

Atlas Network, formerly known as the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, is a non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States that provides training, networking and grants for libertarian and free-market groups around the world.[4][5][6][7]

This article is about the United States-based organization that supports think tanks. For the European police organization, see ATLAS Network. For other networks, see Atlas (disambiguation).
Atlas Network
Founder(s)Antony Fisher
Established1981 (1981)
ChairDebbi Gibbs[1]
Chief executive officerBrad Lips
BudgetRevenue: $15,545,000
Expenses: $12,963,000
(2020)[2]
Members506[3]
Formerly calledAtlas Economic Research Foundation
Location
Arlington, VA
,
United States
Websitewww.atlasnetwork.org

Atlas Network has about 500 partner organizations in nearly 100 countries.[8][9]

History

Atlas Network was founded in 1981 by Sir Antony Fisher, a British entrepreneur, who was influenced by economist F.A Hayek and his book, The Road to Serfdom.[10][11] After founding the Institute of Economic Affairs in London in 1955, Fisher helped establish the Fraser Institute, the Manhattan Institute and the Pacific Research Institute in the 1970s.[11]

In 1981, Atlas Network helped economist Hernando de Soto found the Institute for Liberty and Democracy (ILD) in Peru[9] and invested in the Institut Economique de Paris (IEP) in France.[12] In 1983, Fisher helped launch the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) in Dallas, Texas[9] and the Jon Thorlaksson Institute in Iceland.[12] That organization was replaced by the Icelandic Research Centre for Innovation and Economic Growth.[12]

Atlas Network helped establish the Hong Kong Centre for Economic Research in 1987 and the Liberty Institute in New Delhi in 1996.[9]

Margaret Thatcher, F. A. Hayek, and Milton Friedman formally endorsed the organization.[9] 

Fisher conceived of Atlas Network as a means to connect various think tanks via a global network through which the organizations could learn best practices from one another and "pass the best research and policy ideas from one to the other, and so avoid the need to reinvent the wheel."[13] Atlas would receive funding from American and European businesses and think tanks to coordinate and organize neoliberal organizations in the developing world.[6] With few exceptions, all affiliated think tanks were established with Atlas Network funding.[14] The organization has been described as "self replicating, a think tank that creates think tanks."[15]

It is not named after Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged.[16] The 2019 and 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report, ranked the Atlas Network as the 54th "Top Think Tanks in the United States".[17][18]

Atlas Network’s Templeton Freedom Award, supported by Templeton Religion Trust and named after Sir John Templeton, was established in 2004.[19][20] In 2015, the Acton Institute was awarded $100,000 for its documentary film, “Poverty, Inc.”[20] In 2020, the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies won the award for their Affordable Food for the Poor Initiative.[21]

In August 2021, Atlas Network partnered with Cuban anti-communism activist Ruhama Fernandez to share her story after Fernandez was arrested for criticizing the Cuban government.[22]

The chief executive officer of Atlas Network is Brad Lips.[23] Lips joined Atlas Network, then known as Atlas Economic Research Foundation, in 1998[9] and became CEO in 2009. Matt Warner is the organization's president.[24]

Programs

Training and networking

The Atlas Network Academy teaches individuals about management and communication through credit-based courses.[25] In 2020, Atlas Network trained nearly 4,000 people in promoting free-market voices, preparing nearly 900 people to work at global think tanks.[26][27] Philadelphia Magazine described the Atlas Network as "supporting free-market approaches to eliminating poverty and noted for its refutation of climate change and defense of the tobacco industry".[28]

Atlas Network holds four regional Liberty Forums (in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe) and an international conference in the United States.[24]

Atlas Network has partnered with the F.A. Hayek Foundation in Slovakia, the Association for Liberal Thinking in Turkey, the Lithuanian Free Market Institute, and Libertad y Desarrollo in Chile to establish Free Enterprise Training Centers.[24]

Atlas Network’s Think Tank Shark Tank competition allows professionals to pitch their liberty-advancing projects to judges.[29] In 2018, Dhananath Fernando won the Asia Think Tank Shark championship for his research on the high cost of construction in Sri Lanka and his proposal to lower the taxes on construction materials.[30] Students for Liberty Brazil won the 2021 Latin America competition for their project on educating Brazilian favela residents about property rights.[31]

Grants

Atlas provides limited amounts of financial support to new think tanks on a case-by-case basis. Grants are usually given for specific projects and range between $2,000 and $5,000.[32] In 2020, Atlas Network provided more than $5 million in the form of grants to support its network of around 500 partners worldwide.[33]

Financials

As a non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization, Atlas Network receives donations from different foundations, individuals, and corporations, but does not accept government funding.[25]

As of 2005, Atlas had received $440,000 from ExxonMobil,[34] and has received at least $825,000 USD from the tobacco company Philip Morris.[35] Of Atlas Network partners, 57% in the United States had received funding from the tobacco industry.[35] Atlas has received funding from Koch family foundations.[4] Corporate funding accounted for less than 2% of Atlas Network's total donations in 2020. Atlas partners have received tobacco-related funding in the past.[36]

As of 2020, Atlas Network had assets of $15,450,264.[37]

References
  1. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/942763845/05_2021_prefixes_92-94%2F942763845_202012_990_2021052118161289
  2. "Annual Report 2020" (PDF). Atlas Network. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  3. "Global Directory". Atlas Network. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  4. Fang, Lee (August 9, 2017). "Sphere of Influence: How American Libertarians Are Remaking Latin American Politics". The Intercept. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  5. Subramanian, Samanth. "Why have two long-dead Austrian economists become cult figures in Brazil?". Quartz. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  6. Mitchell, Timothy (2005). "The work of economics: how a discipline makes its world". European Journal of Sociology. 46 (2): 299–310. doi:10.1017/S000397560500010X. S2CID 146456853.
  7. Neil (2019-12-01). "The Foundation for Economic Freedom and the Templeton Prize". BusinessWorld Online. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  8. "Vaping: The real dollars behind fake consumer organisations". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2021-11-03. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
  9. Plehwe, Dieter (2020). Nine Lives of Neoliberalism (PDF). London: Verso. p. 259. ISBN 978-1-78873-253-6.
  10. "Margaret Thatcher and Antony Fisher: Free markets and philanthropy". Philanthropy Daily. 2013-04-10. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
  11. "A quiet Briton whose think tanks back a free market". Christian Science Monitor. 1984-01-19. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
  12. Salles-Djelic, Marie-Laure (2017-10-27). "Building an architecture for political influence: Atlas and the transnational institutionalization of the neoliberal think tank". Power, Policy and Profit: 25–44. doi:10.4337/9781784711214.00007. ISBN 9781784711214.
  13. Steinmo, Sven (2007). Growing Apart?: America and Europe in the 21st Century. Cambridge University Press. pp. 145–149. ISBN 978-1139468619.
  14. Growing apart? : America and Europe in the twenty-first century. Jeffrey Kopstein, Sven Steinmo. New York: Cambridge University Press. 2008. ISBN 978-0-511-36771-7. OCLC 191887434. With only a few exceptions, the birth of these organizations came after Atlas set up shop ...CS1 maint: others (link)
  15. Meagher, Richard (2008). Right Ideas: Discourse, Framing, and the Conservative Coalition. City University of New York. p. 94. ISBN 978-0549807100.
  16. FAQS (2014-08-14). "Was Atlas Network named after the book Atlas Shrugged?". Atlas Network. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
  17. James G. McGann (Director) (January 27, 2020). "2019 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report". Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  18. McGann, James G. (January 28, 2021). "2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report" (PDF).
  19. "Commemorating Sir John Templeton (1912–2012)", The Science and Religion Dialogue, Peter Lang, 2014, doi:10.3726/978-3-653-04874-2/12, ISBN 9783631651858, retrieved 2021-08-31
  20. "Acton Institute film about poverty wins $100,000 Templeton Freedom Award". mlive. 2015-11-13. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  21. "Promoting Food Security Through Free Trade Ideas, A Congratulations to the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies". www.propertyrightsalliance.org. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  22. Fernandez, Ruhama. "I'm a Cuban dissident. We need America to stand with us against this communist regime". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  23. "People". Atlas Network. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  24. Ball, Stephen (2012). Global Education Inc: New Policy Networks and the Neo-liberal Imaginary. Routledge. pp. 19–40. ISBN 978-0415684095.
  25. McGann, James; Whelan, Laura (2020). Global Think Tanks: Policy Networks and Governance. New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-367-27854-0.
  26. "Vaping: The real dollars behind fake consumer organisations". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2021-11-03. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
  27. Armiak, David. "Koch-Backed Donor Network Wants to Blame COVID Deaths on Public Health Measures". Truthout. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  28. Hingston, Sandy (2020). "Science and Religion Have Never Been More at Odds. Can Conshohocken's Templeton Foundation Bridge the Divide?". Philadelphia Magazine.
  29. "ILAPI to compete in 2019 Think tank shark tank Award in Kenya". Rainbow Radio International. 2019-08-18. Retrieved 2021-09-10.
  30. "Dhananath Fernando wins US$ 10,000 for Sri Lanka in Think Tank Shark Tank in Asia - Business News | Daily Mirror". www.dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  31. Guarulhos, Redação Click (2021-06-26). "Projeto para favelas do Brasil vence Shark Tank da América Latina". Click Guarulhos (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2021-09-10.
  32. Wyszomierski, Sara (2010). Guide to Funding for International & Foreign Programs. University of Michigan. p. 409.
  33. Roberts, Ken Schwencke, Mike Tigas, Sisi Wei, Alec Glassford, Andrea Suozzo, Brandon (9 May 2013). "ATLAS ECONOMIC RESEARCH FOUNDATION - Form Form 990 for period ending Dec 2020 - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  34. "Put a Tiger In Your Think Tank". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2017-09-22.
  35. Smith, Julia; Thompson, Sheryl; Lee, Kelley (2016-01-01). "The atlas network: a "strategic ally" of the tobacco industry". The International Journal of Health Planning and Management. 32 (4): 433–448. doi:10.1002/hpm.2351. ISSN 1099-1751. PMC 5716244. PMID 27125556.
  36. "Vaping: The real dollars behind fake consumer organisations". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2021-11-03. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
  37. "Atlas Network | Arlington, VA | Cause IQ". www.causeiq.com. Retrieved 2021-08-05.

Further reading
  • Marie Laure Djelic: Building an architecture for political influence: Atlas and the transnational institutionalization of the neoliberal think tank. In: Christina Garsten, Adrienne Sörbom (eds.), Power, Policy and Profit. Corporate Engagement in Politics and Governance. Elgar, Cheltenham 2017, ISBN 978 1 78471 120 7

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