The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global economy, and economic development. Its stated mission is to "provide innovative and practical recommendations that advance three broad goals: strengthen American democracy; foster the economic and social welfare, security, and opportunity of all Americans; and secure a more open, safe, prosperous, and cooperative international system." Brookings has five research programs at its Washington campus: Economic Studies, Foreign Policy, Governance Studies, Global Economy and Development, and Metropolitan Policy. It also established and operated three international centers in Doha, Qatar (Brookings Doha Center); Beijing, China (Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy); and New Delhi, India (Brookings India). In 2020 and 2021, the institution announced it was separating entirely from its centers in Doha and New Delhi, and transitioning its center in Beijing to an informal partnership with Tsinghua University, known as Brookings-Tsinghua China. The University of Pennsylvania's Global Go To Think Tank Index Report has named Brookings "Think Tank of the Year" and "Top Think Tank in the World" every year since 2008. The Economist describes Brookings as "perhaps America’s most prestigious think-tank." Brookings states that its staff "represent diverse points of view" and describes itself as nonpartisan, and various media outlets have variously described Brookings as centrist, center-left, liberal, or right-wing. An academic analysis of congressional records from 1993 to 2002 found that Brookings was cited by conservative politicians almost as often as by liberal politicians, earning a score of 53 on a 1–100 scale, with 100 representing the most liberal score. The same study found Brookings to be the most frequently cited think tank by U.S. media and politicians. History 1916–1979 Brookings was founded in 1916 as the Institute for Government Research (IGR), with the mission of becoming "the first private organization devoted to analyzing public policy issues at the national level." The organization was founded on 13 March 1916 and began operations on 1 October 1916. The Institution's founder, philanthropist Robert S. Brookings (1850–1932), originally created three organizations: the Institute for Government Research, the Institute of Economics (with funds from the Carnegie Corporation), and the Robert Brookings Graduate School affiliated with Washington University in St. Louis. The three were merged into the Brookings Institution