Brookings Press Blog

Brookings Named Number One Think Tank

In the recently released 2009 Global Go-To Think Tank Rankings, the Brookings Institution was again rated as the number one think tank in both the United States and the world. Brookings also received the highest ranking in the categories of “Most Innovative Policy/Idea Proposal,” “Outstanding Policy Oriented–Public Policy Research Program,” “International Development,” and “Domestic Economic Policy” and finished near the top in almost every category. The think tank index is compiled by James G. McGann, director of the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Brookings Press is proud to disseminate the research of the top think tank through books and journals. The Press also distributes the books of a number of other top-rated think tanks including Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Center for Global Development, Centre for European Policy Studies, Chatham House, and Council on Foreign Relations.

- Check out the 2009 Global Go-To Think Tank Rankings.

- Read about the event where the rankings were released.

- Learn about the forthcoming books from the Brookings Press in our Spring 2010 catalog.

"Limits of Influence" Receives Award

The American Academy of Diplomacy has awarded the 2009 Douglas Dillon Award for Distinguished Writing on American Diplomacy to Ambassador Howard B. Schaffer for his book, The Limits of Influence: America’s Role in Kashmir. The Limits of Influence represents the first systematic history of U.S. efforts to help forge a settlement between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. Drawing on interviews with senior American officials, historical research, and his decades of experience in South Asia, Schaffer explains and evaluates three generations of U.S. activities and policies toward the volatile region. The award will be presented at the Academy’s annual awards luncheon at the U.S. Department of State in December 2009.

Previous Dillon Book Award winners from Brookings include Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis, by Joel Wit, Daniel Poneman, and Robert Gallucci (2005) and Massive Entanglement, Marginal Influence: Carter and Korea in Crisis by William J. Gleysteen, Jr. (2000).

BI Press Authors Earn Awards and Recognition

Gareth Evans and James Pfiffner

Congratulations to Gareth Evans, author of The Responsibility to Protect: Ending Mass Atrocity Crimes Once and For All, who received an Honorable Mention in this year’s Arthur Ross Book Award. The Award, sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, “recognizes books that make an outstanding contribution to the understanding of foreign policy or international relations” and is held in high regard throughout the field. The Responsibility to Protect has been a consistent best-seller since its release in September 2008.

Further, BI Press would like to recognize James Pfiffner, author of Power Play: The Bush Presidency and the Constitution, who earned the silver medal in the political science category of ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Awards. ForeWord reaches an audience of 20,000, including booksellers and librarians who use the magazine as a resource to determine which books to put on their shelves.

Both titles have new paperback editions forthcoming.

- Learn more about The Responsibility to Protect

- And about Power Play

Brookings is #1!

Brookings leads the pack in Foreign Policy's "Think Tank Index"

Foreign Policy has just released their "Think Tank Index" and the Brookings Institution ranks number one! We are also grouped in with "The Scholars," which FP describes as "the stars of the think tank world, these powerhouses of policy are regularly relied upon to set agendas and craft new initiatives." We are happy to be surrounded by such good company; in fact, the Press distributes the publications of a number of the think tanks included in the ranking.

- Read the Foreign Policy article by James McGann, "The Think Tank Index".

The Geography of Opportunity Wins ACSP’s 2007 Paul Davidoff Award

Biennial award one of the most prestigious in planning scholarship

The Geography of Opportunity: Race and Housing Choice in Metropolitan America, edited by Xavier de Souza Briggs, has won the 2007 Paul Davidoff Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP). Given every two years to the publication which most reflects Davidoff’s commitments and values, including social and racial justice, this is one of the most prestigious awards in planning and planning scholarship. Notably, this is the first time the award has gone to an edited volume, illuminating the importance of this still-relevant book.

- Learn more about The Geography of Opportunity.

- Learn more about the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning / ACSP.

Benjamin E. Lippincott Award

Brookings scholar Anthony Downs to be honored by APSA

Brookings scholar Anthony Downs will be awarded the Benjamin E. Lippincott Award at the American Political Science Association (APSA) annual meeting in Chicago next week. Downs will receive this award for his book, An Economic Theory of Democracy, which was published by Harper and Brothers in 1957. According to APSA, the award recognizes “a work of exceptional quality by a living political theorist that is still considered significant after a time span of at least 15 years since the original date of publication.”

Downs is the author or editor of several popular Brookings books, including the landmark Stuck in Traffic (1992), and the updated Still Stuck in Traffic (2004), as well as Growth Management and Affordable Housing (2004).

The Brookings Press will be exhibiting at APSA from August 30 to September 2. Visit us at booths 306, 308, and 310, where we’ll feature over 200 titles.

- Read APSA’s 2007 awards announcement.

- Learn more about Still Stuck in Traffic.

- Learn more about Growth Management and Affordable Housing.

- Learn more about APSA.

Book Makes "Top 10" List

Planetizen Recognizes Green Cities for its Contribution to the Planning Field

Matthew Kahn's Green Cities was recognized by Planetizen as one of the top ten books published in the planning field during 2006.  According to Planetizen, "Kahn provides a new definition of a green city that will give planners a lot to think about as they face increasing population growth and urbanization."

All ten books were chosen based on a variety of criteria, including "editorial reviews, sales rankings, popularity, Planetizen reader nominations, number of references, recommendations from experts and the book's potential impact on the urban planning, development and design professions."

Planetizen describes itself as a public-interest information exchange provided by Urban Insight for the urban planning, design, and development community.

- See the entire Planetizen Top Ten, 2007 list.

- Learn more about Green Cities.