George Soros, Charles Koch foundations help launch pro-peace think tank

A pro-peace think tank funded by progressive donor George Soros’s and libertarian donor Charles Koch’s foundations will launch Wednesday.

The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft will focus on promoting peace and diplomatic agreement rather than war and military action in U.S. foreign policy. Soros’s Open Society Foundations and the Charles Koch Foundation, which usually are on the opposite sides of the aisle, are helping to fund the new think tank, according to a release from the institute. 

“Transpartisan funding ensures both Quincy Institute’s independence and strengthens its ability to advance its pro-peace agenda with Democratic and Republican lawmakers and administrations,” the release said. 

The institute will combat how “military intervention has become the default” within U.S. foreign policy and “peacemaking the rare exception” by turning militant-restraint theories into policy proposals. The think tank is named after former President John Quincy Adams for a speech he made as secretary of State in 1821.

“In a memorable address delivered two hundred years ago, Secretary John Quincy Adams warned that for America to go abroad ‘in search of monsters to destroy’ would put at risk everything that the nation professes to stand for,” Quincy Institute President Andrew Bacevich said in the release. 

The Quincy Institute’s release cited a Pew Research study that found 62 percent of American respondents say the Iraq War wasn’t worth it, and 59 percent say the same about the Afghanistan War.  

The institute will host an opening Capitol Hill reception Wednesday where Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), the co-chair of the War Powers Caucus, will speak.

The Quincy Institute will start with four areas of focus, beginning with Ending Endless War, which will focus on how U.S. foreign policy has remained militarized. The next subject will be Democratizing U.S. Foreign Policy, which will study how the president has more power over war and peace than regular populations impacted by U.S. action.

As early as next year, the Middle East and East Asia topics will be covered in released reports, including subjects like how to remove troops from Afghanistan and how to encourage China to participate in climate change efforts.

The institute is made up of 14 founding staff and 40 nonresident fellows, including scholars, practitioners and journalists. An online publishing forum named Responsible Statecraft will display U.S. foreign policy news, opinions and analysis.