DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The World Economic Forum today launched the Think Tank Leaders Forum, a new community of 25 leading international policy and research institutes that will advise Forum members and constituents on key issues facing the international community.
The Think Tank Leaders Forum will operate as an important intellectual community under the Forum’s Centre for Global Strategies. Specifically, it will leverage the Forum’s platform to bridge the gap between research and policy-making in areas such as globalization, healthcare, ageing, innovation, peace and security, education, the environment, poverty reduction and international economics.
“With globalization seemingly in retreat, the world’s 7.2 billion people urgently need not only new ideas, but also new ways to build consensus that involve all stakeholders in moving the best ideas from theory to practice,” said Martina Larkin, Senior Director and Head of the Global Knowledge. “None of the many issues identified in the recently released Outlook on the Global Agenda 2015 report can be addressed effectively without thorough and continuing consultation across the spectrum of stakeholders.”
A number of events are planned to coincide with the launch of the community at the Summit on the Global Agenda 2014 in Dubai, including a discussion of the main trends coming out of the 2015 Outlook publication, with emphasis on crafting workable responses to pressing issues. The community will also contribute to the Forum’s various events, initiatives and knowledge products, while engaging with various Forum communities to enhance their effectiveness as an important policy formulation group.
“The world is undergoing fundamental geopolitical change, challenging many of the assumptions that have shaped global thinking since the end of the Cold War. At this new inflection point, we need to interpret what this all means,” said Espen Barth Eide, Managing Director and Head of the Centre for Global Strategies. “The Think Tank Leaders Forum community is another way the Forum is fostering collaboration with an important civil society group to better understand the changing dynamics.”
The members of the inaugural community are:
Strobe Talbott
Brookings Institution
US
Jessica Tuchman Mathews
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
US
John Hamre
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
US
Michael Rich
RAND Corporation
US
Fred Kempe
The Atlantic Council
US
Anne Marie Slaughter
New America Foundation
US
Adam Posen
Peterson Institute for International Economics
US
Alicia Barcena
Economic Commission for Latin America & the Caribbean (ECLAC)
Chile
Carlos Ivan Simonsen Leal
Fundacion Getulio Vargas
Brazil
Robin Niblett
Chatham House
UK
John Chipman
International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
UK
Mark Leonard
European Council on Foreign Relations
UK
Ian Anthony
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
Sweden
Volker Perthes
German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP)
Germany
Guntram Wolff
Bruegel
Belgium
Daniel Gros
Center for European Policy Studies
Belgium
Jakkie Cilliers
Institute for Security Studies
South Africa
Elizabeth Sidiropoulos
South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA)
South Africa
Abdulaziz Sager
Gulf Research Center
Saudi Arabia
Pratap Bhanu Mehta
Center for Policy Research
India
Michael Fullilove
Lowy Institute for International Policy
Australia
Long Guoqiang
Development Research Center of the State Council
China
William Overholt
Fung Global Institute
HK
Joon-Kyung Kim
Korea Development Institute
South Korea
Nicholas Fang
Singapore Institute of International Affairs
Singapore
The Co-Chairs of the Summit on the Global Agenda 2014 are Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates and Sami Dhaen Al Qamzi, Director-General, Department of Economic Development of the Government of Dubai.