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The East Asia Institute (EAI) was once again the only Korean private think tank to be ranked among the top think tanks worldwide according to the “Global Go To Think Tank Index” which is compiled by the “Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program” (TTCSP) at the University of Pennsylvania. According to the most recent index released in January 2016, EAI was ranked 62nd among the over 6,800 think tanks around the globe (see Figure 1 below). The number one think tank was the Brookings Institute in the U.S. Following were many of the world’s other prestigious institutions such as Chatham House (UK), the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (U.S.) and the Center for Strategic & International Studies (U.S.).

  

 

EAI Ranked in 10 Different Areas

 

The “Global Go To Think Tank Index” ranks think tanks in a variety of different categories, and EAI was included in ten of these different areas. In the world wide rankings which exclude American think tanks EAI came in at 95th and was ranked 16th among think tanks in China, India, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. EAI ranked 78th among the top foreign policy and international affairs think tanks, 50th in best think tank conference, 56th in best transdisciplenary research think tanks, 57th in best use of social networks, 55th in think tanks with outstanding policy-oriented research programs, and 35th among the top think tanks with annual operating budgets less than five million U.S. dollars. EAI may be small in size, but it is garnering significant international attention.

 

 

Candidate for Best Independent Think Tanks

 

EAI was also nominated in the unranked category of best independent think tanks. So while many Korean think tanks were included among the world’s top think tanks including the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (33rd), the Korea Development Institute (48th), the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (68th), and the Center for Free Enterprise (107th), all of these institutions are funded by either the government or the Federation of Korean Industries. Therefore, EAI remains the only independent, private think tank which is free of the influence of government and big business in Korea to be recognized by the international society.

 

 

Ranked 6th Domestically, But “1st” Internationally

 

The results of the “Global Go To Think Tank Index” also shines light on a difference between domestic and international rankings of the capacity of Korean think tanks. There is large gap between the rankings of foreign policy think tanks compiled and published by Hankyung Business in December 2015 and those of TTCSP (see Figure 3 below). EAI was ranked 6th by the domestic poll but ranked 62nd internationally, the highest among those in the domestic poll. The Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security was ranked 68th internationally and the remainder of the top ten in the domestic poll did not crack the international rankings. EAI was also ranked in 10 different areas in the international poll while the other domestically ranked think tanks were ranked in significantly fewer areas.

 

[Figure 1] The Rankings of Korean Think Tanks in the Major Areas of the “Global Go To Think Tank Index”

*Full names of the think tanks listed in this column are provided here: Asan Institute for Policy Studies (AIPS), Center for Free Enterpise (CFE), Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS), Korea Development Institute (KDI), Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA), Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI). 

 
**This was a new category in 2015 and EAI and the Korea Development Institute were the only two think tanks from Korea chosen as candidates for the “Best Independent Think Tanks” category. (There were 144 think tanks included in this category and they were only listed as “candidates” without any rankings assigned.)

 

 

[Figure 2] The Number of Categories in Which Korean Think Tanks Were Ranked

*Full names of the think tanks listed in this column are provided here: Asan Institute for Policy Studies (AIPS), Center for Free Enterpise (CFE), Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Institute for Industrial Policy Studies (IPS), Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS), Korea Development Institute (KDI), Korea Economics Institute (KEI), Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI), Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA), Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs  

 

**This category was unranked and think tanks were only selected as candidates. 

 

 

[Figure 3] Korean Think Tanks Domestic and Global Rankings

*Full names of the think tanks listed in this column are provided here: Asan Institute for Policy Studies (AIPS), Asiatic Research Institute, Korea University (ARI), Ilmin International Relations Institute, Korea University (IIRI), Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Kyungnam University (IFES), Institute for Peace and Unification Studies, Seoul National University (IPUS), Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS), Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA), Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU).