Atlas Network

Background and founding

Atlas Network was founded in 1981 in San Francisco as the Atlas Economic Research Foundation by Antony Fisher, a British entrepreneur who was influenced by Austrian School economist F.A. Hayek and his 1944 book The Road to Serfdom.^[10][11][12] After founding the Institute of Economic Affairs in London in 1955, Fisher had helped establish the Fraser Institute, the International Center for Economic Policy Studies (later renamed the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research), and the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy in the 1970s.^[13] The late Linda Whetstone, Fisher's daughter, served as chairman of Atlas Network.^[14][15]

F.A. Hayek, Margaret Thatcher, and Milton Friedman, all friends of Fisher, formally endorsed the organization.^[11][5] Atlas Network connected various think tanks via a global network,^[16] and was part of a transatlantic network including academics, journalists, and businesspeople who supported and promoted like minded ideology.^[17] In the words of Richard Meagher, it was founded as a "think tank that creates think tanks".^[4][18] Timothy Mitchell writes that by 1979, when Thatcher won the election, "what had begun as a fringe right-wing intellectual current" had just become "the most powerful political orthodoxy in the West".^[3]

Early years, expansion, and entrepreneurship

Fisher conceived 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".^[19] Initially comprising only Fisher's think tanks, Atlas Network grew to include many others, including those affiliated with the Koch family.^[7] Major American think tanks in Atlas Network have included the American Legislative Exchange Council, Cato Institute, The Heritage Foundation (until 2020),^[9] and the Heartland Institute, which are active in conservative politics.^[7]

Although it is thought that the organization is named after Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged,^[20] Atlas Network has denied this.^[21] Atlas Network states on its website that it is nonpartisan.^[22] Atlas Network has received funding from American and European businesses and think tanks to coordinate and organize libertarian organizations in the developing world.^[3][1] In 1981, Atlas Network helped economist Hernando de Soto found the Institute for Liberty and Democracy (ILD) in Peru,^[5] and also invested in the Institut Economique de Paris (IEP) in France.^[23] In 1983, Fisher helped launch the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) in Dallas, Texas,^[5] and the Jon Thorlaksson Institute in Iceland (now replaced by the Icelandic Research Centre for Innovation and Economic Growth).^[23] Atlas Network helped establish the Hong Kong Centre for Economic Research in 1987 and the Liberty Institute in New Delhi in 1996.^[5] Atlas Network grew from 15 think tanks in nine countries in the mid-1980s to 457 think tanks in 96 countries as of 2020.^[5]

Atlas Network has been described as "self-replicating, a think tank that creates think tanks".^[4] The 2019 and 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report, which is "one measure of a think tank's performance and impact ... designed for use in conjunction with other metrics to help identify and evaluate public policy research organizations around the world", ranked Atlas Network as 54th among the "Top Think Tanks in the United States".^[24][25] Atlas Network's think tank partners "produce white papers, meet with politicos, liaise with the media, write legislation, and much more", as described by WNYC.^[26][27] In 2018, academic Karin Fischer described Atlas Network campaigns for deregulation and property rights as having so much influence that the World Bank's Doing Business Index "follows exactly Atlas' policy recommendations".^[28]

Atlas Network has promoted entrepreneurship in Africa and other parts of the world, including what it calls "freedom-oriented idea entrepreneurs."^[29][30][31]

Tobacco and oil industry links

According to The Guardian, more than a fifth of Atlas Network affiliates worldwide had either opposed tobacco controls or taken tobacco donations.^[32][33] A 2017 paper in the International Journal of Health Planning and Management said that Atlas Network "channeled funding from tobacco corporations to think tank actors to produce publications supportive of industry positions."^[34] The University of Bath's Tobacco Control Research Group said Atlas Network "appears to have played a particular role in helping the tobacco industry oppose tobacco control measures in Latin America" during the 1990s.^[35] In 2021, Le Monde and The Investigative Desk identified 17 Atlas Network partners engaged in lobbying and advocacy for "tobacco harm reduction", which supports vaping as a substitute for smoking.^[6]

Atlas Network and its affiliates, such as the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Cato Institute, the Fraser Institute, the Heartland Institute, the Macdonald–Laurier Institute, the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, the Montreal Economic Institute, and Second Street,^[36] have been linked to oil and gas producers, efforts opposing governments' and activists' efforts against climate change,^[37][38] and the spreading of climate change denial.^[39][40] According to documents described in The Guardian, Atlas Network collaborated with Canada's Macdonald–Laurier Institute in a push for oil and gas development on Indigenous land.^[41][42] After The New Republic blamed Atlas Network for its partners' efforts in some countries to criminalize climate protests, particularly in Germany,^[7] Atlas Network said it supports free speech for climate protesters.^[43] Some academics have described Atlas Network as an "oil-industry-funded transnational network",^[36] as well as "the predominant vehicle for fossil capital's global mobilization against climate science and policy",^[44] and its affiliates as being "partly funded by Koch and allied capitalists, with heavy support from fossil fuel-based fortunes".^[38] Atlas Network told The New Republic that it has "no partnerships with extractive industries such as oil and gas companies, we receive no funding from oil and gas companies and have not received funding from oil and gas companies for nearly 15 years."^[7]

Political ties, anti-authoritarianism

The Intercept, The Guardian, and The New Republic have described Atlas Network as having ties to right-wing and conservative movements, including the administration of Donald Trump in the United States, Brexit in the United Kingdom,^[45] and anti-government protests in Latin America.^[46][7] A 2024 study analyzing 52 Atlas Network partners found that "while some Atlas-affiliated partners show readiness to confront the threat of nationalist and authoritarian societal mobilization, others conceive it as a tactical or strategic opportunity to advance free market causes."^[47] According to The Guardian, "Atlas took no position on Brexit itself, and many of its European partners were opposed, but directors of UK groups in the network were prominent in the official campaign to take Britain out of the EU."^[45] In Brazil, Atlas Network had a role in the Free Brazil Movement, which led to the rise of Jair Bolsonaro,^[2] and it sponsors the Liberty Forum where policies of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva were opposed.^[7][48]

According to disinformation expert Julián Macías Tovar, Atlas Network was linked to an online campaign that used fake accounts against the Cuban government during the 2021 Cuban protests. Tovar also said that Atlas Network partners' Twitter accounts had been involved in bot or troll center campaigns during the 2019 Bolivian political crisis, the 2021 Ecuadorian general election, and the 2021 Peruvian general election.^[49]

Atlas Network partners opposed the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[47] Atlas Network worked with its partners to create the Ukraine Freedom Fund, acquiring, transporting, and providing goods to Ukrainians,^[50][51] and supporting Atlas Network partner groups in the country.^[47] The Washington Examiner reported that the humanitarian aid totaled $3.5 million by December 2022.^[51] According to Reason, Atlas Network supports nonprofit organizations that fight against authoritarianism and support free markets, self-determination, and rule of law.^[52]

Training and networking

Atlas Network has been described as a "connector", putting "freedom intellectuals" and local think tanks in contact and financing their trips.^[73] The organization offers training, consulting, and professional certification related to fundraising, marketing, organizational leadership, and think tank management through its Atlas Network Academy program.^[65][74] In 2020, Atlas Network trained nearly 4,000 people in promoting free-market voices,^[75] preparing nearly 900 people to work at global think tanks.^[6]Philadelphia described Atlas Network as "supporting free-market approaches to eliminating poverty and noted for its refutation of climate change and defense of the tobacco industry."^[33]

Atlas Network holds four regional Liberty Forums (in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe) and an international conference in the United States.^[59] At its December 2021 "Liberty Forum and Freedom Dinner" in Miami, Florida, for think tank partners from around the world, Mario Vargas Llosa and Yeonmi Park were among the 800 attendees, and Yotuel Romero performed.^{[4][76][77][78]} Llosa, a Nobel Prize winner and classical liberal, is considered a friend of the organization.^[79][80] Adam Weinberg, an Atlas Network executive, wrote in the New York Post that its Liberty Forums are "like an Anti-Davos", offering trade-show-type environments for think tanks to exchange ideas.^[81]

In Canada, Atlas Network partners with about a dozen think tanks.^[41] Atlas Network has also 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.^[59] The organization also partners with Chile's Fundación Piensa and Argentina's Libertad y Progreso.^[80]

In 2021, Atlas Network partnered with Cuban anti-communism activist Ruhama Fernandez to share her story after Fernandez was arrested for criticizing the Cuban government.^[82] The Ukraine-based Bendukidze Free Market Center is also an Atlas Network partner.^[83] Commentator Deroy Murdock, an Atlas Network senior fellow as of 2017, wrote that the organization "encourages institutions to use local knowledge to reduce government obstacles to upward mobility", featuring local entrepreneurs who overcome such obstacles.^[84]

In Australia, Atlas Network has partnered with several free-market think tanks, including the Centre for Independent Studies, Institute of Public Affairs, and LibertyWorks.^[85][86] In New Zealand, Atlas Network has partnered with the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union.^[8] ACT New Zealand leader David Seymour once worked for the Atlas Network-affiliated Frontier Centre for Public Policy in Canada.^[31] Atlas Network chair Debbi Gibbs' father helped found the ACT party.^[31] In May 2024, Atlas Network co-hosted its Europe Liberty Forum in Madrid with its Spanish partner Fundalib (Foundation for the Advancement of Liberty).^{[87][better source needed]}

Grants

In the early 2000s, Atlas Network moved to distribute general purpose funds through grant competitions.^[88] The organization 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.^[89] In 2020, Atlas Network provided more than $5 million in the form of grants to support its network of more than 500 partners worldwide.^[90][91] According to Atlas Network, its grants fund coaching, networking, pitch competitions, award programs, and other "ambitious projects for policy change".^[81] By the end of 2024, Atlas Network claimed 581 partners in more 100 countries worldwide;^[92] The Guardian reported it had "more than 450 thinktanks" in May 2024.^[17]

The organization funds Costa Rica's IDEAS Labs, which helped reform the country's pension laws in 2020.^[76] Atlas Network also supports the Philippines-based Foundation for Economic Freedom, which works on property rights.^[76] Atlas Network supports the Burundian think tank CDE Great Lakes, which has helped reduce the paperwork and fees required to start a business in the country. The think tank works with local entrepreneurs, such as "Papa Coriandre", who formalized his small business and has since grown it from two to 139 employees.^[93]

Awards

Atlas Network's Templeton Freedom Award, supported by Templeton Religion Trust and named after Sir John Templeton, was established in 2004.^[94] In 2015, the Acton Institute was awarded $100,000 for its documentary film Poverty, Inc.^[95] In 2020, the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies won the award for its Affordable Food for the Poor Initiative.^{[96][better source needed]} In 2021, India's Centre for Civil Society was the winner.^[97] In 2022, the Sri Lanka–based Advocata Institute, an Atlas Network partner, won its Asia Liberty Award and the Templeton Freedom Award.^[98][99]

The organization's Think Tank Shark Tank competition allows professionals to pitch their projects to judges.^[100] In 2018, Dhananath Fernando won the Asia Think Tank Shark Tank championship for his research on the high cost of construction in Sri Lanka and his proposal to lower the taxes on construction materials.^[101] In 2019, Students for Liberty and Entrepreneurship (South Sudan) led by John Mustapha Kutiyote won the award for promoting home ownership by women.^{[102][103][third-party source needed]} Students for Liberty Brasil won the 2021 Latin America competition for their project on educating Brazilian favela residents about property rights.^[104]