AI, the famous global human rights organization, maintains an invaluable online archive of human rights reports, searchable by country, region or issue. Key issues include: crimes against humanity, death penalty, detention and arrest, disappearances, economic globalization, freedom of expression, prison conditions, racism, refugees, sexual orientation, women’s rights, and much more. Read the latest news about human rights issues around the world, check out AI’s latest human rights campaigns and use AI’s web-based tools for activists, enabling you to act now in support of basic human rights around the world. Make a donation to support AI’s work.

The Brookings Institution

Under President Strobe Talbott, former Deputy Secretary of State under Bill Clinton, The Brookings Institution maintains its reputation as a centrist public policy research organization. The many Brookings research fellows pour out a cornucopia of policy research and opinion papers, articles, and books on issues ranging from the global economy to terrorism to education, the environment and energy policy.

The easiest way to keep track of this outpouring is to subscribe to The Brookings Alert, a weekly email update on the happenings in the Brookings universe.The well-designed website makes it easy to find whatever you want if you’d rather browse around.

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, founded by a group of World War II-era Manhattan Project scientists, has warned the world of nuclear dangers since 1945. Appearing in each issue of the Bulletin, The Nuclear Notebook is widely regarded as the most accurate source of information on nuclear weapons and weapons facilities available to the public. Back issues of the Bulletin provide invaluable information about nuclear issues.

The Bulletin is also home to the doomsday clock.

The World Doomsday Clock

Current Time: Seven Minutes to Twelve

Chicago, February 27, 2002: Today, the Board of Directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moves the minute hand of the “Doomsday Clock,” the symbol of nuclear danger, from nine to seven minutes to midnight, the same setting at which the clock debuted 55 years ago. Since the end of the Cold War in 1991, this is the third time the hand has moved forward. Moving the clock’s hands reflects our growing concern that the international community has hit the “snooze” button rather than respond to the alarm.

We move the hands taking into account both negative and positive developments. The negative developments include too little progress on global nuclear disarmament; growing concerns about the security of nuclear weapons materials worldwide; the continuing U.S. preference for unilateral action rather than cooperative international diplomacy; U.S. abandonment of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and U.S. efforts to thwart the enactment of international agreements designed to constrain proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons; the crisis between India and Pakistan; terrorist efforts to acquire and use nuclear and biological weapons; and the growing inequality between rich and poor around the world that increases the potential for violence and war. If it were not for the positive changes highlighted later in this statement, the hands of the clock might have moved closer still.

Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) 

CSIS is led by John J. Hamre, formerly deputy secretary of defense, who has been president and CEO since April 2000. It is guided by a board of trustees chaired by former senator Sam Nunn. This bi-partisan policy studies organization reflects Nunn’s hawkish multilateralism, and is a good place to tune in to the conventional wisdom of the “moderates” among Washington’s warring elites. Publishes on every area of the world and major global issues from terrorism to arms control to AIDS, global organized crime to homeland security to energy policy.

Centre for Defense and International Security Studies 

This site is currently under reconstruction and will be re-launched on the 1st November 2004.

CDISS, the Centre for Defence and International Security Studies, is an inter-disciplinary  research centre based in the Department of  Politics and International Relations at Lancaster  University in the UK .

Research Areas:

Civil-Military Relations

Defence Technology

The United Nations & Arms Control

Regional Security

Missile Threats and Responses

Airpower

European Security & Defence Manufacturing

Terrorism

The CDISS Terrorism Programme maintains a database of major terrorist incidents around the world. The database lists selected incidents from 1945 (after the end of World War 2) through 1998. These collected incidents provide a snapshot of the wide-range of terrorist attacks and political violence experienced worldwide since World War II.

Center for Democracy and Technology

The Center for Democracy and Technology works to promote democratic values and constitutional liberties in the digital age. With expertise in law, technology, and policy, CDT seeks practical solutions to enhance free expression and privacy in global communications technologies. CDT is dedicated to building consensus among all parties interested in the future of the Internet and other new communications media.

Research Areas:

Free Speech Online

Privacy

Government Surveillance

Copyright

Internet Global Domain Names

Online Resources for Internet Activists

Find out about pending legislation in the US Congress that impacts all Netizens, find out about your privacy rights, and communicate with Congress on key issues.


The Century Foundation

This venerable public policy organization has operated throughout the twentieth century, and continues to shed light on important matters of public interest. Current issues include: economics and inequality, retirement security, education, health care, homeland security, election reform, media and politics, international affairs, and a progressive agenda that works. Read news and commentary about key public policy issues, and check out TCF analysis of key issues.


Council on Foreign Relations

The home of America’s foreign policy establishment, the CFR is a perpetual whipping boy for the rightwing conspiracy theorists of the John Birch Society and others of like mind who locate the epicenter of world evil at the intersection of the international Zionist conspiracy of communist bankers and the Rockefeller wing of the USelite.

For those with an interest in tracking the debate between the various wings of the American foreign policy establishment, the CFR website contains invaluable publications detailing the minutiae of the policies that separate Democratic centrists from Republican moderates from neo-conservatives from credentialed dissidents operating within the elite consensus.

CFR special projects include:

Economics Finance and Trade

Energy, Resources and the Environment

Globalization

Homeland Security

National Security and Defense

Peace and Conflict

Social and Cultural Issues

Terrorism

Council on Hemispheric Affairs

Founded in 1975 the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) is an independent research and information organization, established to promote the common interests of the hemisphere, raise the visibility of regional affairs and increase the importance of the inter-American relationship, as well as encourage the formulation of rational and constructive U.S. policies towards Latin America, Canada and the Caribbean. COHA has directed a good deal of its research energies to such issues as unproductive U.S. pressure on President Aristide while the Haitian leader was in exile as well as upon his return to his nation, Washington's unexamined and reflexive policy towards Cuba, and the negative impact of neo-liberal reforms on the average Latin American. COHA was opposed to the adherence of the U.S. to NAFTA under the thesis that it shouldn't have been initiated until basic Mexican institutions were truly democratic, its trade unions free enough to negotiate as equals, and the government purged of endemic corruption. COHA also is a critic of the indiscriminate application of structural adjustment formulas that end up negatively affecting the poorest stratum of Latin America's population.

Center for International Policy (CIP)

The Center for International Policy was founded in 1975, in the wake of the Vietnam War, by former diplomats and peace activists, to promote a U.S. foreign policy based on international cooperation, demilitarization and respect for basic human rights. Special projects include national security, tensions in Asia, Colombia, Cuba and global financial flows.

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Based in San Francisco, EFF is a donor-supported membership organization working to protect our fundamental rights regardless of technology; to educate the press, policymakers and the general public about civil liberties issues related to technology; and to act as a defender of those liberties. Protect you rights in cyberspace! Read breaking news about civil liberties online; research the issues, including: anonymity, anti-terrorism, censorship, copyright law, digital rights, E-voting, file sharing, filtering, intellectual property, spam, surveillance, and the USA Patriot Act; check out pending legislation, and use the action center to access EFF alerts and tools you that help you make your voice heard by your elected representatives.

Federation of American Scientists

The FAS Board of Sponsors includes 55 American Nobel laureates and many other distinguished scientists. Areas of expertise include international arms control agreements, space-based weapons, US arms sales, weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, nuclear terrorism, and energy efficiency.

Foreign Affairs

The voice of the American political establishment is published by the Council on Foreign Relations, the bête noire of the radical rightwing in America.

Foreign Policy in Focus 

Foreign Policy In Focus (FPIF), established in 1996, seeks to make the U.S. a more responsible global leader and global partner. It is a "think tank without walls" that functions as an international network of more than 650 policy analysts and advocates. Unlike traditional think tanks, FPIF is committed to advancing a citizen-based foreign policy agenda--one that is fundamentally rooted in citizen initiatives and movements.

FPIF is a collaborative project of the Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC) and the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS).

FPIF’s invaluable email newsletter sends you summaries of policy briefs on global issues as they are published, along with links to the unabridged versions of the summaries.


GlobalSecurity.org

A researcher’s dream, GlobalSecurity.org provides complete texts of key documents, such as national security speeches and testimony in the US Congress, GAO reports, reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency, statements from Al-Qaeda, and a rich news archive of national security-related stories organized by topic.

GlobalSecurity.org is focused on innovative approaches to the emerging security challenges of the new millennium. The organization seeks to reduce reliance on nuclear weapons and the risk of their use -- both by existing nuclear weapons states and those states seeking to acquire such capabilities. GlobalSecurity.org aims to shift American conventional military forces towards new capabilities aligned with the post-Cold War security environment, and to reduce the worldwide incidence of deadly conflict.

Human Rights Watch

HRW investigates and exposes human rights violations and holds abusers accountable.
”We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law.We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide. It accepts no government funds, directly or indirectly." Click here if you would like to make a contribution.

HRW’s publications archive contains a wealth of reporting on human rights issues around the world. You can search region by region, country-by-country, year by year, or look for all reports on particular issues such as the international arms trade, children’s rights, HIV/AIDS policy, international justice, prisons, refugees and women’s rights. Check out the photo gallery for astounding video and pictures from the world’s troublespots.   

Institute for Policy Studies 

The Institute for Policy Studies is the nation’s oldest multi-issue progressive think tank. Since 1963, the Institute has worked with social movements to forge viable and sustainable policies to promote democracy, justice, human rights, and diversity. IPS played key roles in the Civil Rights and anti-war movements in the 1960s, the women’s and environmental movements in the 1970s, the anti-apartheid and anti-intervention movements in the 1980s, and the fair trade and environmental justice movements today. 

Current Projects Include:

The Global Economy

For a quarter century, IPS has been a leader in strengthening citizen responses to the global economy through research, writing, film, education, and coalition building.  The project has produced dozens of books, articles, films, and educational materials.

The New Internationalism: Middle East Affairs and US Interventions

The project's work is in three major areas: the fight for peace with justice in the Middle East, defense of the United Nations against U.S.domination, and the challenge to U.S.unilateralism and military interventionism, especially in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks.

Nuclear Policy

The Institute’s new Nuclear Policy Project’s  work focuses on three broad issues: strategic integration of  nuclear material management into nuclear arsenal reductions and  ending production of nuclear explosives, accountability of the nuclear weapons states to their citizens relative to social,  environmental, safety, and health impacts, and structural  collapse of Cold War nuclear institutions.

Sustainable Energy and Economy Network

SEEN works in partnership with citizens groups nationally and globally on environment, human rights and development issues with a particular focus on energy, climate change, environmental justice, gender equity, and economic issues, particularly as these play out in North/South relations.

Interhemispheric Resource Center 

Through two key programs, Global Affairs and Americas Program, the IRC provides independent, well-researched analysis of U.S.foreign policy, rooted in progressive values, with an emphasis on fostering strategic dialogue among academics, grassroots advocacy organizations, and policymakers.

Foreign Policy in Focus

The work of FPIF reflects the conviction that meeting the main global challenges-protecting the environment, preventing and resolving deadly conflicts, promoting equitable development, instituting effective economic governance, upholding human rights, and fostering international cooperation-require a dynamic balance of policy advocacy, citizen activism, and intellectual engagement.

RightWeb

Right Web, launched in mid-2002, monitors current efforts to base U.S. engagement in international affairs in right-wing philosophies. The project provides regularly updated profiles of the main right-wing influences and forces in U.S.foreign policy and produces news commentary, essays, and policy reports related to new right-wing policy initiatives.

The Project Against the Present Danger

The goals of this new initiative include: to chronicle the newly aggressive unilateralist trends in U.S. foreign policy; to stand in defense of the post-WWII framework of multilateralism; to provide background analysis on the key figures in and out of government responsible for this present danger; to help stimulate a broadly based public and policy response in support of a new, invigorated framework of international cooperation and multilateral system of global governance; and to work collaboratively with other projects, campaigns, think tanks, and organizations that stand in defense of international cooperation, international rule of law, and multilateralism.

Americas Program Projects:

Citizen Action in the Americas

Profiles and case studies of organizations and communities rising to meet the challenges of globalization in the Americas. Articles, analysis and commentary on the key issues. Networking tools for activists in the Americas.

US Policy in Latin America and Inter-Hemispheric Relations

Articles, analysis and commentary on the key issues.

US – Mexican Relations

Articles, analysis and commentary on the key issues.

Trade, the Environment, Economic Integration & Development

Articles, analysis and commentary on the key issues.

I.S.P.O. The Simultaneous Policy

The Simultaneous Policy is a peaceful political strategy to democratically drive all the world's nations to apply global solutions to global problems, including combating global warming and environmental destruction, regulating economic globalization for the good of all, and delivering social justice, peace and security, and sustainable prosperity.

There is no shortage of sensible solutions to our global problems, such as those in the column at the left. What the world lacks is an effective means to cooperatively implement them everywhere, simultaneously. Individual nations cannot tackle the challenge of global problems alone or even in limited alliances or unions. Other nations, alliances or unions would still be free to ignore or exploit problems like global warming, cheap labor, and corporate tax shelters to gain a competitive advantage in the global marketplace.

Enter the Simultaneous Policy (SP) – a peaceful, yet revolutionary political tool that empowers voters everywhere to compel our politicians – at the point of a ballot box! – to commit our nations to implement global solutions simultaneously. With SP, no nation, alliance, or corporation need go it alone; no one loses out, and everyone wins. Global warming, the chronic threat of  weapons of mass destruction, socially and environmentally irresponsible corporate and economic globalization, unfair trade – SP is the lever that we the people of Planet Earth can use to make our elected representatives tackle these problems as we, in our collective wisdom and goodwill, see fit.

Loyola Homepage on Strategic Intelligence

An amazing array of links to intelligence agencies, US government agencies, international intelligence agencies, organizations of intelligence officers and intelligence professionals from around the world, documents, Congressional testimony, legislative laws, bills and reports relating to strategic intelligence issues, terrorism and counter-terrorism links, journals, papers and articles related to strategic intelligence, declassified documents of historical importance, satellite imaging, and the ECHELON surveillance system.

Middle East Studies Internet Resources at Columbia University

Middle East Studies Internet Resources is an on-going compilation of electronic bibliographic resources and research materials on the Middle East and North Africa (in the broadest sense) available on the global Internet, created under the purview of the Middle East Studies Department of ColumbiaUniversity Libraries. Electronic resources from the Middle East are organized by region, country and subject. All materials are arranged to encourage an awareness of authorship, type of information, and subject. The scope of the collection is research-oriented, but it also provides access to other gopher and web sites with different or broader missions. 

Among the many selected resources on these pages are:

•On-line catalogs of the world's top libraries with large Middle East collections.

•Bibliographies from Columbia University Libraries and other research institutions around the world.

•Electronic journals and news archives that specialize in the Middle East.

•Reports on the region from US, Middle East, and international organizations.

•Electronic Middle Eastern art exhibits.

•Other electronic texts, images, and sound files reflecting upon Middle Easthistory and contemporary cultures.

•Maps, flags, and geographical data.

•Information on scholarly organizations and activities.

•Links to directories (such as the International Directory of Middle East Scholars).

•Links to other Middle East-related gophers and web servers.

Nuclear Policy Research Institute

NPRI is led by Dr. Helen Caldicott, co-winner of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize, author of numerous books exploring nuclear and environmental issues, the most recent of which is entitled The New Nuclear Danger: George W. Bush's Military-Industrial Complex.

NPRI's publications page offers downloadable pdf files of the institute's quarterly newsletters and major white papers, publications, radio interviews and other items of interest. Discussion boards offer news posted by knowledgeable, interested parties and opportunities to network with anti-nuclear activists, veterans for nuclear disarmament, and others working for a peaceful world.

Track legislation pertaining to use of nuclear materials for peace and war, and track news articles on the militarization of space, nuclear plant security and much, much more.

Open Society Institute and Soros Foundation Network 

The Open Society Institute (OSI) is a private operating and grantmaking foundation based in New York City that serves as the hub of the Soros foundations network, a group of autonomous foundations and organizations in more than 50 countries. OSI and the network implement a range of initiatives that aim to promote open societies by shaping government policy and supporting education, media, public health, and human and women's rights, as well as social, legal, and economic reform. To diminish and prevent the negative consequences of globalization, OSI seeks to foster global open society by increasing collaboration with other nongovernmental organizations, governments, and international institutions.

OSI was founded in 1993 by investor and philanthropist George Soros to support his foundations in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Those foundations were established, starting in 1984, to help former communist countries in their transition to democracy. The Soros foundations network has expanded its geographic reach to include foundations and initiatives in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Mongolia, Southeast Asia, Turkey, and the United States. OSI also supports selective projects in other parts of the world, including human rights, economic development, global governance, health, and women's issues.

Pacific Life Research Center

Bob Aldridge, one of the designers of the Trident missile system, resigned and began to write about how this system was an aggressive, first-strike missile system which could destabilize the arms race during the Cold War. The PLRC was founded to further Bob’s research into all types of aggressive, first-strike nuclear weapons systems, and to inform those who wish to resist the push towards first-strike nuclear war initiated by the United States.

Anyone with an interest in the intersection between oil and gas exploration and exploitation and the war on terror will find PLRC papers on The Oil & Gas Interests to be invaluable background material. For an introduction to US military and nuclear war-fighting strategy, PLRC offers papers on US Military Strategy and Capabilities. PLRC also offers papers on missile defense and space warfare, military contractors, nuclear inventories and proliferation, and more.

Transnational Institute

With headquarters in Amsterdam, the Transnational Institute, founded in 1974, TNI is an international network of activist-scholars committed to critical analyses of the global problems of today and tomorrow, with a view to providing intellectual support to those movements concerned to steer the world in a democratic, equitable and environmentally sustainable direction. 

Special Projects Include:

The Middle East Peace Process, India, Pakistan and Kashmir, and Alternatives to Water Privatization.

The current focus of the water privatization project is cross regional mapping and projecting of Alternatives to Water Privatization from Latin America, Asia, Africaand Europe. Particular attention is being given to the role of Europebased TNCs in water privatization globally - a role which is expected to accelerate in the current negotiations on service sector liberalization within WTO (GATS). The project aims at participating in and strengthening the local and international networks involved in the struggle for water justice. 

Transparency International

Transparency International, the only international non-governmental organization devoted to combating corruption, brings civil society, business, and governments together in a powerful global coalition.

TI, through its International Secretariat and more than 85 independent national chapters around the world, works at both the national and international level to curb both the supply and demand of corruption. In the international arena, TI raises awareness about the damaging effects of corruption, advocates policy reform, works towards the implementation of multilateral conventions and subsequently monitors compliance by governments, corporations and banks. At the national level, chapters work to increase levels of accountability and transparency, monitoring the performance of key institutions and pressing for necessary reforms in a non-party political manner.

Issue and Country Papers give an account of corruption issues in particular countries and take a look at more general questions, such as the crucial role of the media in integrity systems or the vital link between human rights and corruption.

The Global Corruption Report 2003 includes:

•expert reports and features on access to information

•an assessment of the state of corruption around the world in 16 regional reports

•detailed explorations of national corruption topics from a local perspective

•a diverse selection of the latest corruption-related data and research

•special contributions by renowned prosecutor Eva Joly and Interpol Secretary General Ron Noble

Corruption Online Research and Information System

CORISweb currently holds over 12,000 resources including:

• A comprehensive index of reports, books and periodicals published by NGOs, multilateral and bilateral organizations, national governments, academic departments and intergovernmental organizations in the area of corruption and governance

• Legal texts including anti-corruption conventions and treaties, constitutions, statutes, acts, decrees and national directives, EU directives, regulations, by-laws, statutory codes of conduct, and judicial decisions such as judgements, case law, and contracts

• Research studies and papers published by both organizations and individuals

• Conference documents and proceedings presented at conferences, seminars and workshops in various languages

• Web sites a comprehensive directory of anti-corruption organizations in a number of countries

• Information about anti corruption experts, projects, courses and events world-wide

• A media archive containing news and analysis from leading    newspapers and magazines from around the globe 

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs

The WRMEA homepage has a wealth of breaking Middle East news, a global news feed, and invaluable archives of Middle East stories from 1982 to the present.

The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs is a 100-page magazine published 10 times per year in Washington, DC , that focuses on news and analysis from and about the Middle East and U.S. policy in that region.

World Policy Institute

WPI joined the New School University of New York in 1991. The institute focuses on the preservation of democratic values, the protection of civil rights, the advancement of tolerance, fairness, and the rule of law, and the support of a capitalism tempered by social justice.

WPI publishes The World Policy Journal,  a quarterly foreign  affairs journal.

Special Projects:

Arms Trade Resource Center

The Arms Trade Resource Center was established in 1993 to engage in public education and policy advocacy aimed at promoting restraint in the international arms trade. The Center performs research on the U.S. weapons trade and U.S. arms sales policy, and it publishes reports, magazine articles, and op-ed pieces on the issue.

The Cuba Project

The Cuba Project continues to be at the cutting-edge of educational outreach on the domestic and international repercussions of the unilateral U.S. embargo on Cuba.

The Russia Project

In 2001-2, Senior Fellow Nina Khrushcheva conducted a study group project funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York entitled "Lessons of Transition: The Cultural Contradictions and the Future of Russian Liberalization. "The aim of this project was to study the way cultural factors have, over the 10 years of post-Communist reforms, "misshaped "the Russian response —both official and popular —to most economic, political and social neoliberal policy initiatives, and to suggest new methods by which to evaluate the impact of these factors on policy implementation.

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