International Policy Network

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The International Policy Network (IPN) is a global think tank headquartered in the City of London. It defines itself as a non-partisan, non-profit organization, but has also been described as a "corporate-funded campaigning group". IPN runs public education campaigns on international issues ranging from trade and development to healthcare and the environment.

In the context of global policy issues, IPN’s campaigns highlight the role of markets and market institutions as a means of empowering individuals so that they are able to improve their own lives and the lives of others. IPN hopes that as a result of its programs, individuals will be better able to achieve their aspirations, regardless of race, color, creed, nationality or human condition.

IPN works in partnership with over 75 think tanks around the world.

Vision

According to its website, "IPN aims to empower individuals and promote respect for people and property in order to eliminate poverty, improve human health and protect the environment. IPN promotes public awareness of the importance of this vision for all people, both rich and poor.

"IPN seeks to achieve its vision by promoting the role of market institutions in certain key international policy debates: sustainable development, health, and globalisation and trade. IPN works with academics, think tanks, journalists and policymakers on every continent."

History

IPN was founded as a UK Charity by Sir Antony Fisher in 1971. The mission of this body is to “Promote the advancement of learning by research into economic and political science and the publication of such research”. The charity’s original name was The International Institute for Economic Research, and now is The Atlas Economic Research Foundation (UK), but operates under the name International Policy Network.

IPN’s sister organization, International Policy Network US Inc., is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization incorporated in 2001. The two organizations are separate legal and financial entities with independent boards, working together with a common vision.

Funding

IPN is funded entirely by voluntary, charitable gifts from foundations, individuals and businesses. IPN does not receive any funding from governments or political parties, and it does no contract work. IPN develops and implements a research and advocacy agenda that encompasses not one or a few, but many public policy issues.

IPN has received grants totaling hundreds of thousands of pounds from the multinational energy company ExxonMobil., although has not received money from the energy sector for some years.

Programs

IPN undertakes ongoing work on public policy in the areas of health, environment, economic development, trade, creativity and innovation.

The Freedom to Trade Campaign is run in collaboration with the Atlas Global Initiative. The campaign joins 73 think tanks in 48 countries to support free trade and oppose protectionism.

IPN’s Bastiat Prize for Journalism was founded in 2002. The Prize recognises and rewards journalists and commentators who support the free society. This year, IPN will award the first Bastiat Prize for Online Journalism.

Links to other organisations

• The Institute of Economic Affairs
• Atlas Economic Research Foundation
• CriticalOpinion.org
• Electronic Journal of Sustainable Development

IPN was founded by Antony Fisher in the UK as the International Institute for Economic Research (IIER) in 1971. Fisher went on to found the Atlas Economic Research Foundation in the USA in 1981, and from this point the IIER traded as Atlas Foundation UK. The organisation underwent a further rebranding in 2001, when it changed its name to IPN. In the USA, the Atlas Foundation also provides training and funding to start libertarian think-tanks. Fisher founded the influential Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a classical liberal think tank based in London. The founding Director of IPN, Julian Morris was previously Director of the IEA's Environment and Technology Programme.

Staff

• Julian Morris, Executive Director

Morris founded International Policy Network in 2001. He has been the Director of the IEA’s Environment and Technology Programme. Morris graduated from Edinburgh University in 1992 with a degree in economics. He has two Masters Degrees in economics and a Graduate Diploma in Law from the University of Westminster. He is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Buckingham.

• Mark Baillie, Editor

Baillie has worked in more than 14 countries in the fields of security, finance, economics, business and politics as a soldier, foreign correspondent, diplomat and business consultant. He works in English, French, Spanish and Italian and works to spread the message of IPN and its associates in international news media.

• Kendra Okonski, Environment Programme Director

Okonski has worked in environmental policy since 1997. She has edited several IPN publications, including two books, Adapt or Die (2003) and Environment and Health (2004). She writes frequently in the international media and appears on television and radio. She has a BA in Economics from Hillsdale College (Michigan, USA) and grew up in Montana and Chile.

• Philip Stevens, Health Programme Director

Stevens is the author of numerous health policy publications, including Free Trade for Better Health (2005) [1], The real determinants of health (2005)[2] and The 10/90 Gap and the diseases of poverty (2004).[3] His writings on health policy have appeared in a wide range of international newspapers. Stevens has also held research positions at the Adam Smith Institute and Reform in London, and spent several years as a management consultant. He holds degrees from the London School of Economics and Durham University.

• Alec van Gelder, Research Fellow

van Gelder has a B.S. in finance from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania in the U.S and a Master’s degree in International Economics and Development from Université Catholique de Louvain La Neuve (UCL) in Belgium. van Gelder has worked for the Regional United Nations Information Centre in Brussels.

Trustees/Directors

• Linda Whetstone (Chairman)
• Robert Boyd
• John Blundell
• Mike Fisher
• George F. Ohrstrom
• Daniel Oliver
• Bridgett Wagner

Previous staff

• Kristen Veblen, (left in 2007)
• Stephanie Drnasin, Events (left in 2006)
• Ellen Bisnath, Communications (left in 2007)
• Nicole Grey, Development and Events (left in 2005)
• Roger Bate, Director (left in 2003)
• Margalit Edelman, Media Director (left in 2002)
• Philippa Jeffery, Coordinator (left in 2002)
• Marcia Leighton, Coordinator (left in 2002)

Some of IPN's Partners

• Institute of Public Policy Analysis, Nigeria
• Inter Region Economic Network, Kenya
• Free Market Foundation, South Africa
• Africa Resource Bank
• Action Research Community Health, India
• Institute of Public Affairs, Australia
• Making Our Economy Right, Bangladesh
• Association for Liberal Thinking (Liberal Düşünce Topluluğu), Turkey
• Timbro, Sweden
• Liberty Institute, India
• Centre for Civil Society, India
• Institute of Economic Affairs
• Montreal Economic Institute
• Centro de Divulgacion del Conocimiento Economico, Venezuela
• Libertad y Desarrollo, Chile
• Fundacion Libertad Democracia y Desarrollo, Bolivia
• Instituto de Libre Empresa, Peru
• The Lion Rock Institute, Hong Kong
• Instituto Liberdade, Brazil

External links

• IPN web site
• The Atlas Economic Research Foundation (UK), Registered Charity no. 262982 at the Charity Commission
• Entry for IPN on the SourceWatch web site.
• George Monbiot, Smoke in our eyes, The Guardian, 27 September 2006
• George Monbiot, Pundits who contest climate change should tell us who is paying them, The Guardian, 26 September 2006