THE THINK TANK OF THE LEFT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00845R000100120014-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 23, 2010
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: April 26, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/12/23: CIA-RDP90-00845R000100120014-9
-04 YORK TIMES MAGAZINE
26 APRIL 1981
By Joshua !uruvchi c
?
When Richard J. Barnet and
Marcus G. Raskin, co-found-
ers of the Institute for Policy
Studies and its co-directors for i
14 years, met in 1961, they dis-
covered they had two things in
common. Both men felt a.
growing sense of disillusion-
ment. "They 'wondered
whether the major institutions
of American life had not-be-
cone inimical to the- life and
safety of the Republic," re-
calls one I.P.S. brochure. But
they also shared an under-
standing of how the system
worked. "Modern nations -run
on ideas," was the way Raskin
put it. I t was an-? insight not
grasped by most other radi-
cals of the 1960's who sought to
bring about fundamental
change. Many of them became
intoxicated with the-romantic
attraction of direct action. A.
few consumed themselves in
revolutionary violence. Barnet
and Raskin established athink
tank.
regular publications include a
weekly, In These Times, and
two - quarterlies, Race and
Class, co-published with the
Institute of Race Relations in
London, and the Transnational
Information Exchange Bulle-
tin, co-published with the
-World Council of Churches. Of
the-institute's dozens of books,
many are widely reviewed and
enjoy substantial sales. I.P.S.
fellows write frequently for
The New Yorker, Harper's
and The Nation, as well as for
major newspapers. I.P.S. also
produces fi:-ns, one of which,
"Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear
Gang" - about the perils of
nuclear radiation - won an
Emmy in 1979.
LP.S.'s principal source of
financial support is the Sam-
uel Rubin Foundation. founded
by the owner of Faberge cos-
metics. When Rubin died in
1978. he was eulogized by Mar-
cus Raskin as one of those
"who- dare call themselves
revolutionary." Since 1978, his
daughter, Cora Weiss, has
been=president of the founda-
tion. Her husband, Peter, is
vice president of the founda-
tion-and chairman of the I.P.S.
board of trustees. The founda-
tion has supported education-
al, medical and cultural
projects, but its main activity
is described in the "Founda-
tion Center Source Book" as
"grants primarily for pro-
grams concerned with the pur-
suit of peace and justice, the
search for an equitable reallo-
cation of the world's re-
sources, and the fullest imple-
mentation of social, economic,
political, civil and cultural
rights, for all the world's peo-
ple.'._~,._ . ::. .
Today, the -Institute- for
Policy Studies is flourishing.
Its annual budget has- in-
creased eightfold - to- nearly
$2 million - since 1963, the
year I.P.S. was' founded. It
employs about 75 fellows (full-
time scholars), visiting fel-
lows, research and- staff as-
sociates, administrators-and
part-time associate fellows in
its Washington headquarters
and its European office, the
Transnational Institute, set up
in Amsterdam- in 1974. Its
In its most
port, I.P.S. d
"Washington'
search institu
ter for "radi
Says Robert
succeeded B
as director o
became head
tional Insti
I.P.S.'s Ame
"almost com
of a liberal,
sophical be ,
European contingtm ainnvsL
completely comes out of a
Marxist or at least a liberation
basis." Race and Class, the
journal co-published by I.P.S.
in Europe, has featured arti-
cles celebrating Communist
victories in Laos and Angola,
warning that England and
West Germany are heading to-
ward fascism, and, lauding
progress toward women's lib-
eration in China, Cuba and
within the People's Front for
the Liberation of Oman.
Like Washington's other
think tanks - the Brookings
Institution, the American En-
terprise Institute and the
Heritage Foundation - I.P.S.
seeks to influence not only the
climate of ideas but also Gov-
ernment policy. Its Washing-
ton School, founded in 1979,
draws several hundred stu-
dents each year from Capitol
Hill, the public-interest com-
munity, the Federal Govern-
ment and universities. Accord-
ing to its brochure, the school
"has assembled a learned, dis-
tinguished and committed fac-
ulty, dedicated to the central
task of education: to secure
world peace, human freedom
and social justice." Some of
the several dozen faculty give
only one or two lectures;.
-+U- ? rem.-?, a,il ~~o...
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/12/23: CIA-RDP90-00845R000100120014-9