Our Centers, Projects and Initiatives

John L. Thornton China Center

The John L. Thornton China Center develops timely, independent analyses and policy recommendations to help U.S. and Chinese leaders address key long-term challenges. The Center focuses on an array of issues, including U.S.-China relations and China’s internal development. With China emerging as a major economic power and playing a growing role in the global community, the Center produces important research and events focusing on China’s economy and domestic and international policy decisions.
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Saban Center for Middle East Policy

The Saban Center for Middle East Policy conducts original research and develops innovative programs to promote a better understanding of policy choices in the Mideast region. The Saban Center’s projects and initiatives focus on foreign policy issues facing the United States and international decision makers in Israel, the Gulf region, and the Arab and Islamic worlds. Saban Center initiatives include the Middle East Democracy and Development Project.
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U.S. Relations with the Islamic World

The Saban Center’s Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World conducts policy research and hosts events that focus on the major issues confronting the United States and Muslim-majority states. Together with the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar, the Project convenes public forums, carries out research, and issues publications designed to educate, foster frank dialogue, and build positive partnerships among U.S. and Islamic communities. Each year, the Project holds the U.S.-Islamic World Forum, a major international conference that brings together leaders from the fields of politics, business, civil society, the media, and academia for discussion and debate. The Project also sponsors two initiatives that explore the use of the arts and the sciences to further understanding and promote partnerships between the United States and the Muslim world.
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Center on the United States and Europe

The Center on the United States and Europe (CUSE) fosters high-level U.S.-European dialogue on the changes in Europe and the global challenges that affect transatlantic relations. The Center offers independent research and recommendations for U.S. and European officials and policymakers, and it convenes seminars and public forums on policy-relevant issues. CUSE’s research program focuses on three key areas: the transformation of the European Union; strategies for engaging the countries and regions beyond the frontiers of the EU including the Balkans, Caucasus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine; and European security issues such as the future of NATO, forging common strategies on energy security and transatlantic counter-terrorism coordination. The Center also houses Brookings' specific programs on France, Italy, and Turkey, as well as the Brookings Arms Control Initiative, which analyzes the critical challenges of arms control and nonproliferation.  For more information on the activities of CUSE, click here. 
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Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies

Established in 1998, the Brookings Center 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 the Northeast Asia region of the world. CNAPS sponsors up to six Visiting Fellows from the region each year who spend up to ten months at Brookings conducting research, interacting with U.S. policymakers, and actively participating in a rich program of seminars, roundtables, and discussions organized by the Center.
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Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement

The Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement promotes more effective national, regional and international responses to the global problem of people displaced by natural disasters and armed conflict. The Project supports the efforts of the UN Special Rapporteur of the Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, and hosts seminars and symposia on various issues related to internal displacement.
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Latin America Initiative

In 2008, Foreign Policy at Brookings, in conjunction with Brookings Global Economy and Development, launched a new effort to stimulate and shape U.S. re-engagement in Latin America. The Latin America Initiative works to re-establish the U.S. as an influential force in the region, with the goal of advancing social, economic, and trade agendas that promote common political and security interests in the hemisphere. The Initiative’s research focuses on five core areas: emerging powers of Brazil and Mexico; U.S. policy toward Cuba in transition; shaping the U.S. immigration debate; black networks; and political and economic implications of unmet expectations. The Initiative hosts the Partnership for the Americas Commission charged with providing concrete policy ideas for addressing these and related challenges of mutual concern within the hemisphere.
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21st Century Defense Initiative

The 21st Century Defense Initiative produces cutting-edge research, analysis, and outreach to address critical issues facing defense policymakers in this century. The Initiative focuses on three core issues: the future of war, the future of U.S. defense needs and priorities, and the implications for the U.S. defense agencies and military. The Initiative is also home to the annual Federal Executive Fellows program which hosts mid-career military and intelligence officers as they carry out research in their fields. Further, the Initiative promotes a variety of exchanges between the Executive Fellows, Brookings, and the defense policy world.
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Arms 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.
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Managing Global Order

Built for a different age, different threats, and a different balance of world power, current multi-lateral institutions do not fully meet today’s global security challenges. Managing Global Order (MGO) seeks to address a broad range of issues from climate change and nuclear proliferation to civil strife and terrorism. The goal of MGO is to develop recommendations for U.S officials, the United Nations, and key international partners aimed at generating a new multilateral and multi-national security system.
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Energy Security Initiative

Foreign Policy at Brookings oversees a Brookings-wide effort entitled the Energy Security Initiative. This project produces insights into the critical role of energy security within U.S. public and private sector decision making. Energy Security Initiative research and analysis have contributed to Congressional testimony and to discussions within Executive Branch offices and agencies, the media, and all levels of public and private sector entities within Washington, D.C. and beyond.
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Brookings Goes Global

In 2006 and 2007, Foreign Policy at Brookings expanded its reach and impact by opening two new international centers in Beijing, China and Doha, Qatar. The Brookings-Tsinghua Center and the Brookings Doha Center bring the same high level of research, policy analysis, and programs to two important regions of the world.

Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy

In October 2006, the Foreign Policy program’s John L. Thornton China Center and China’s Tsinghua University founded a joint center for policy analysis and research. The Brookings-Tsinghua Center (BTC) resides at the University’s School of Public Policy and Management in Beijing. Operationally, the Brookings- Tsinghua Center provides on-the-ground research support for scholars working in the region. The BTC also provides cutting-edge research, analysis, and dialogue that focus on the opportunities and implications of China’s rapid economic and societal growth.
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Brookings Doha Center

Opening in October 2007, the Brookings Doha Center (BDC) is an initiative of the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. and is sponsored by the Government of Qatar. The BDC undertakes independent, policy-oriented research on the socioeconomic and geopolitical issues and transitions facing Muslim majority states and communities today, including issues focusing on U.S.-Muslim world relations.
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