World Policy Institute

The World Policy Institute

"Founded in New York City in 1961 as the Fund for Education Concerning World Peace through World Law, the World Policy Institute has its origins in the post-World War II movement of moderate internationalists. Its founders --the banker Harry B. Hollins and the banker and public servant C. Douglas Dillon, inspired by Grenville Clark -- sought to develop international policies to prevent future carnage and devastation. In 1963, the Institute’s name was shortened to World Law Fund. In 1972, it merged with the Institute for International Order, founded in 1948 and run by Earl D. Osborn."

They describe themselves as a non-partisan source of informed policy leadership for more than four decades, develops and champions innovative policies that require a progressive and global point of view. 

In an increasingly interdependent world, WPI focuses on complex challenges that demand cooperative policy solutions to achieve: an inclusive and sustainable global market economy, engaged global civic participation and effective governance, and collaborative approaches to national and global security.

WPI’s Fellows program, regular public and private events, collaborative policy development, media activities, and flagship World Policy Journal provide a forum for solution-focused policy analysis and public debate. Its programs seek to introduce fresh ideas and new voices from around the world on critical shared global issues including migration, climate change, technology, economic development, human rights, and counter-terrorism.

More than 30 senior fellows and program staff—a group of accomplished policy analysts, journalists and writers—give the institute a distinctive voice in national and international affairs. 

History
Archibald L. Gillies writes:


 * "In the spring of 1982 the board of directors of the Institute for World Order asked me to become its President and to expand the organization’s activities into the contemporary public policy arena." David Romeyn Hunter, "the progressive Director of the Stern Fund, Earl Osborn, a board member, and Harry Hollins, a founder of the Institute, were particularly eager to add a U.S. political focus to the Institute’s international and academic work. Hollins was strongly influenced to consider this new direction by U.S. Senator Charles “Mac” Mathias, a thoughtful “Eisenhower Republican” from Maryland.


 * "The staff of the Institute welcomed this change as a way to invigorate its activities and, potentially, to add substantive and financial resources. Robert Johansen, then President, graciously stepped aside to become Senior Fellow and Saul Mendlovitz, the Institute’s principal academic advisor, introduced me and the new initiative to important contributors.


 * "During the summer and fall of 1982, we developed a plan for the Institute, including a name change “to reflect a new pragmatic approach to building a humane and just world order,” in the words of an announcement made on January 1, 1983. The new name was to be the “World Policy Institute.” During this time I saw that Sherle Schwenninger, the Institute’s Director of Studies, had a keen grasp of the making of U.S. foreign and domestic policy, and, importantly, saw the two arenas as closely connected. In our very first serious conversation, Sherle proposed that we start a quarterly magazine to compete with the Council of Foreign Relation’s “Foreign Affairs” and the Carnegie Endowment’s “Foreign Policy.” This was an audacious idea. I asked Earl Osborn to underwrite the launch of the magazine, which he did with $200,000. The World Policy Journal was founded in 1983 with Sherle as its first Editor. It was an immediate success and continues today as an enduring contributor to the formation of public policy..."

Large Gifts and Grants 2004/05
$100,000+
 * Anonymous

$25,000+ 2004/05 Annual Report (Pdf)
 * Walter Eberstadt
 * Henry Arnhold
 * Jean Cluett
 * Rockefeller Brothers Fund
 * Arsenault Family Foundation
 * Christopher Reynolds Foundation
 * Town Creek Foundation
 * Proteus Fund
 * David Brown
 * Colombe Foundation
 * Ploughshares Foundation
 * John Watts

Advisory Board
2004/05 Annual Report (Pdf)
 * Walter Eberstadt, Chairman, WPI Advisory Board, Limited Managing Director, Lazard Freres and Company
 * James L. Abernathy, Managing Partner, The Abernathy MacGregor Group, Inc.
 * Robert C. Alexander, President, Alexander & Associates
 * Henry H. Arnhold, Co-chairman, Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder, Inc.
 * Oscar Arias Sanchez, Nobel Peace Prize winner, former President of Costa Rica
 * Carroll Brown, US Diplomat (retired)
 * David Brown, President, Penobscot
 * Benjamin Cohen, Chairman, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream
 * Milton Cooper, Kimco Realty
 * Pierre J. de Vegh, Managing Director, Carret Asset Management
 * David L. Golub, Golub Capital
 * Nadine Hack, President, beCause Global Consulting
 * Jan Inscho, Capital Guardian Trust
 * Jonathan Kagan, Lazard Freres and Company
 * Robert Levinson, Chairman, Levcor International
 * John Madden, Shearman & Sterling LLP
 * Peter Marber, President, The Atlantic Funds LLC
 * Stanley Nabi, Vice Chairman, Silvercrest Asset Management Group
 * Bruce Paisner, President, Hearst Entertainment Syndication
 * Ann Phillips, philanthropist
 * Frederick Schwarz, Cravath, Swaine & Moore
 * Thomas Valenzuela, President, Valenzuela Capital Management, Inc.
 * Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editor, The Nation
 * Mary Van Evera, ex-officio
 * John Watts, Fischer, Francis, Trees & Watts
 * Daniel Yergin, Cambridge Energy Research Associates
 * William Zabel, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
 * Dieter Zander, Natexis Bleichroeder, Inc.

Senior Fellows and Project Leaders
Accessed March 2009:


 * Eric Alterman
 * Alon Ben-Meir
 * Ian Bremmer
 * Belinda Cooper
 * Ian Cuthbertson
 * Patricia DeGennaro
 * Siddharth Dube
 * Claudia Dreifus
 * Edward Gonzalez-Acosta
 * Stephanie Elizondo Griest
 * Mira Kamdar
 * Peter Kaufman
 * Nina Khrushcheva
 * Todd Lester
 * Jeffrey Madrick
 * James N. Nolt
 * Silvana Paternostro
 * William Powers
 * Kavitha Rajagopalan
 * Shaun Randol
 * Swadesh Rana
 * Andrew Reding
 * David Rieff
 * Sherle R. Schwenninger
 * Kim Taipale
 * Masaru Tamamoto
 * Martin Walker
 * Lissa Ree Weinmann
 * Alan Wolfe
 * Michele Wucker

Contact information
World Policy Institute 220 Fifth Avenue, 9th fl. New York, NY 10001 Telephone: 212.481.5005 Fax: 212.481.5009 Web:http://www.worldpolicy.org

Related Sourcewatch

 * Michele Wucker - Executive Director 2007-present