Prominent Washington think tanks have been accepting millions of dollars from other nations’ governments in return for helping those countries get favors and support from the U.S. government.
That’s the subject of a piece in Sunday’s New York Times, which names the Brookings Institution, the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a handful of others as being among the recipients.
The revelations raise questions about the independence of the research done by the think tanks. It also raises the issue of whether the relationships could violate federal law requiring “foreign agents” to register with the U.S. government.
The Times says the Center for Global Development inked that deal last year: “For $5 million, Norway’s partner in Washington would push top officials at the White House, at the Treasury Department and in Congress to double spending on a United States foreign aid program.”
The piece also looks at Brookings’ relationship with the government of Qatar, which has pledged nearly $15 million to the think tank over four years.
