Atlas Network
SOURCE: Wikipedia, captured 2020-07-30
- Linda Whetstone now works for the (Fisher-founded) Adam Smith Institute. Whetstone is also the Chairperson of the International Policy Network, and was on the Board of Directors of the Mont Pelerin Society [2008-2010], the Institute of Economic Affairs, and the Atlas Network in the United States.
The Atlas Network, formerly known as the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, is a nonprofit organization based in the United States. The group aims to promote free-market economic policies across the world. The stated mission of the Atlas Network is "Atlas Network increases global prosperity by strengthening a network of independent partner organizations that promote individual freedom and are committed to identifying and removing barriers to human flourishing." the Atlas Network has awarded grants of over $20 million. Atlas Network is not named after Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged." ["Atlas Shrugged" depicts a dystopian United States in which private businesses suffer under increasingly burdensome laws and regulations.] [Source]
History
The Atlas Network was founded in 1981 by Sir Antony Fisher. After founding the Institute of Economic Affairs in London in 1955, Fisher had helped to establish the Fraser Institute, the Manhattan Institute, and the Pacific Research Institute in the 1970s. Fisher conceived of the 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." The Atlas Network has been described as "self replicating, a think tank that creates think tanks."
According to the 2019 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report, the Atlas Network is ranked number 54 (of 109) in the "Top Think Tanks in the United States."
The Chief Executive Officer of the Atlas Network is Brad Lips. Lips joined the Atlas Network, then known as the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, in 1999 and became CEO in 2009. Matt Warner is President.
Funding
As of 2005, the Atlas Network had received $440,000 from ExxonMobil, and has received at least $825,000 USD from the tobacco company Philip Morris. Among Atlas Network partners, 57% in the United States had received funding from the tobacco industry. The Atlas Network has received funding from Koch Family Foundations.
As of 2017, the Atlas Network had assets of $7,483,000.
Funding details as of 2017:
Programs
Training and networking
The Atlas Network offers a variety of grant and award programs as well as financial support to enable think tank executives to participate in conferences that feature training sessions on non-profit management. The organization holds four regional Liberty Forums (in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe) and an international conference in the United States that draws thank tank staff and attendees from all over the world.
The Atlas Network directly operates online and in person training programs that help think tank leaders and intellectual entrepreneurs develop and refine strategic plans for their organizations. The courses includes seminars, classroom exercises, group projects, and lectures from outside speakers and Atlas Network staff.
Past Programs
The 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. These centers are now defunct.
Working with Judy Shelton, FreedomWorks, and Representatives Paul Ryan and Mike Pence, Atlas Sound Money Project's "A Guide to Sound Money" was published in December 2010. The project seeks to define principles of "sound money," countering the government policies the Atlas Network considers to be inflationary.
The Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award was given in honor of Sir Antony Fisher, the late founder of the Atlas Network, to the think tank that produced the best book or other publication that improves public understanding of the free society. The award was given through 2016.
Outreach programs
The Atlas Network's "Doing Development Differently" campaign is guided by the principles of a global manifesto published by the Building State Capability program at Harvard University's Center for Global Development Global Initiative.
Templeton Freedom Awards
See also: Templeton Foundation
Awarded since 2004, the Templeton Freedom Award is named for the late investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton. The award annually honors his legacy by identifying and recognizing the most exceptional and innovative contributions to the understanding of free enterprise, and the public policies that encourage prosperity, innovation, and human fulfillment via free competition. The award is supported by the Templeton Religion Trust, and is presented during the Atlas Network's "Liberty Forum & Freedom Dinner" closing ceremony in New York City. The winning organization receives a $100,000 prize and the five runners-up receive $20,000.
Sir Antony Fisher Achievement Awards
This award is given in honor of Sir Antony Fisher, the late founder of the Atlas Network, to an individual for his or her work to advance a free, prosperous, and peaceful world where the principles of individual liberty, property rights, limited government, and free markets are secured by the rule of law. In 2019 the first recipient of the award was Lawrence J. Mone, former president of Manhattan Institute. The 2020 recipient is Ronald Manners, Officer of the Order of Australia and founder of Mannkal Economic Education Foundation.
Grants
The Atlas Network 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. In 2014 the Atlas Network provided funding in the form of grants at USD 4,340,000 to 177 partners in 68 different countries.
The organization has provided grants to free-market think tanks in Latin America, including to groups that supported the Free Brazil Movement. The Atlas Network provided funding to a think tank that merged with the political party formed by Mauricio Macri, a businessman who became the president of Argentina. The Atlas Network has also supported the anti-government movement in Venezuela and the campaign of Sebastián Piñera, the president of Chile.
Atlas Network: Global Partners
[Image source [captured 2020-10-02]. Click image to open in new window.]
Here is a local copy [html, captured 2020-10-02] listing of all of Atlas Network's Global Partners.
Atlas Network: Global Partners -- Canada
[Image source [captured 2020-10-02]. Click image to open in new window.]
Center for U.S. and Canada
About
Atlas Network's Center for the U.S. and Canada is part of a proven strategy for improving the effectiveness of think tanks and other players in the freedom movement. The United States and Canada represent more than a quarter of the world's economy, and together they have an even greater role on the world stage as beacons of free enterprise and individual liberty. To ensure that the 21st century is marked by peace and prosperity, civil society organizations in these two countries must provide leadership in defense of free enterprise and limited government. By leveraging Atlas Network's strengths in training programs, competitive grants, media outreach, and events, and by building new capacity through coalition engagement, the Center for the U.S. and Canada will engage a peer-to-peer network that is advancing innovation and idea diffusion and multiply the impact of those working for a freer, more prosperous future. A special priority of the Center for the U.S. and Canada is to seek solutions for achieving a more inclusive prosperity in American and Canadian communities via an engagement strategy that has yielded successes for Atlas Network in other countries. We seek to transcend traditional ideological divides and focus on the important role of the individual, not the state, in carving a path out of poverty.John Tillman, Director
John Tillman, Director of Atlas Network's "Center for U.S. and Canada."
John Tillman is also the CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute, and the Chairman of the Liberty Justice Center.
Reception
An article in the Washington Times (a publication on the political right) said that the Atlas Network promotes think tanks that support private-property rights, limited government, the rule of law, and market economics.
An article in the Intercept (a publication on the political left) said that the Atlas Network operates as an extension of U.S. foreign policy, with Atlas-affiliated think tanks receiving funding from the United States Department of State and the National Endowment for Democracy.
Additional Reading
[2020-10-02] Right-Wing Think Tank Accused of Demonizing Sikh-Canadians Also Works to Send Canadian Oil to India. Why did the Macdonald-Laurier Institute publish a controversial report authored by retired CBC journalist Terry Milewski?
[2018-06-23] What Does the Canadian Taxpayers Federation Get From Its Right-Wing U.S. Partner?. Atlas Network "has reshaped political power in country after country," report says.
[2018-06-23] Canadian Taxpayers Federation a "partner" of right-wing U.S.-based Atlas Network
Additional Reading
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