CIRSS Ranked Among Top Think Tanks in the Region

The Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies (CIRSS) of the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) was ranked 66^th among the leading think tanks in Southeast Asia and the Pacific in the 2015 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report of the University of Pennsylvania’s Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) at the Lauder Institute.

CIRSS undertakes studies in support of the formulation, review, and dissemination of Philippine foreign policy. It also organizes conferences, roundtable discussions (RTD), lectures, and forums as channels for interaction, cooperation, and integration of the efforts of local and foreign experts from government, private and academic sectors on foreign policy issues and their domestic implications. Its regular publications consist of CIRSS Commentaries, short articles focusing on the latest regional and global developments and issues, and FSI Insights, which features in-depth analyses of global and regional strategic issues that impact the Philippines and provides inputs for Philippine foreign policy.

Of the 95 institutions included in the list of top think tanks in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, CIRSS was cited along with other think tanks in the country: the Institute for Strategic and International Studies (22^nd), the Institute for Strategic and Development Studies (ISDS) (28^th), the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) (40^th), the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center (APC) (62^nd), the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (77^th), and the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) (87^th).

A total of 6,846 think tanks catalogued in the TTCSP database were encouraged to participate. Around 4,750 journalists, policymakers, public and private donors, and functional and regional area specialists were surveyed to both nominate and rank public policy research centers of distinction for 2015.

Since 2006, TTCSP has released annual reports to increase the profile, performance and impact of think tanks and to create a transnational and interdisciplinary network of centers of public policy excellence. The 2015 Index Report was compiled with assistance from peer institutions and experts from the print and electronic media, academia, public and private donor institutions and governments around the world. It ranked the top 150 global think tanks across four general categories: Top Think Tanks in the World, Top Think Tanks by Region, Top Think Tanks by Area of Research and Top Think Tanks by Special Achievement.

The full report is available at http://repository.upenn.edu/think_tanks/10/