Atlas Network

{{Short description|Free market American think tank support group}} {{about|the United States-based organization that supports think tanks|the European police organization|ATLAS Network|other networks|Atlas (disambiguation)}} {{Distinguish|Atlas Society}} {{use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox institute | name = Atlas Network | image = Atlas Network logo 2021.svg{{!}}class=skin-invert | image_alt = | caption = | motto = | founder = Antony Fisher | established = {{start date and age|1981}} | focus = | chairman = Montgomery Brown | head_label = Chief executive officer | head = Brad Lips | faculty = | adjunct_faculty = | staff = | key_people = | budget = Revenue: $24.3 million<br />Expenses: $25 million<br />(2024)<ref>{{cite web |title=Atlas Economic Research Foundation |type=Webpage |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/942763845 |website=ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer |date=9 May 2013 |access-date=12 June 2025 |language=en}}</ref> | endowment = | debt = | num_members = 581 (2024) | subsidiaries = | owner = | non-profit_slogan = | former_name = Atlas Economic Research Foundation | city = Arlington County, Virginia | country = U.S. | coor = | address = | website = {{URL|https://www.atlasnetwork.org/}} }}

'''Atlas Network''', formerly known as '''Atlas Economic Research Foundation''', is a non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States that provides training, networking, and grants for libertarian, free-market, and conservative groups around the world.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |last=Subramanian |first=Samanth |date=March 24, 2021 |title=Why have two long-dead Austrian economists become cult figures in Brazil? |url=https://qz.com/1987280/the-austrians-behind-brazils-love-for-free-market-economics/ |access-date=2021-09-27 |website=Quartz}}</ref> Atlas Network was founded in 1981 by Antony Fisher, a British entrepreneur, who wanted to connect various think tanks via a global network. Described as "a think tank that creates think tanks", the organization partners with nearly 600 organizations in over 100 countries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Plehwe |first=Dieter |url=https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/215796/1/Full-text-book-Plehwe-et-al-Nine-lives-of-neoliberalism.pdf |title=Nine Lives of Neoliberalism |publisher=Verso |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-78873-253-6 |location=London |pages=16, 259–261}} {{failed verification|date=October 2025}}</ref> == History == === Background and founding === Atlas Network was founded in 1981 in San Francisco as the Atlas Economic Research Foundation by Antony Fisher, a British entrepreneur who was influenced by Austrian School economist F.A. Hayek and his 1944 book ''The Road to Serfdom''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Merrill |first=Jacqueline Pfeffer |date=2013-04-10 |title=Margaret Thatcher and Antony Fisher: Free markets and philanthropy |url=https://www.philanthropydaily.com/margaret-thatcher-and-antony-fisher-free-markets-and-philanthropy/ |access-date=2021-07-31 |website=Philanthropy Daily |publication-place=Hockessin, Delaware |publisher=Center for Civil Society}}</ref><ref name="Castro Rea 2018">{{Cite journal |last=Castro Rea |first=Julián |date=2018-02-13 |title=Right-Wing Think Tank Networks in Latin America: The Mexican Connection |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/pgdt/17/1-2/article-p89_89.xml |journal=Perspectives on Global Development and Technology |volume=17 |issue=1–2 |pages=89–102 |doi=10.1163/15691497-12341468 |issn=1569-1500 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Fischer |first=Karin |date=9 July 2018 |title=The Atlas Network: Littering the World with Free-Market Think Tanks |url=https://globaldialogue.isa-sociology.org//articles/the-atlas-network-littering-the-world-with-free-market-think-tanks |access-date=2024-03-14 |magazine=Global Dialogue |publisher=International Sociological Association}}</ref> After founding the Institute of Economic Affairs in London in 1955, Fisher had helped establish the Fraser Institute, the International Center for Economic Policy Studies (later renamed the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research), and the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy in the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1984-01-19 |title=A quiet Briton whose think tanks back a free market |work=Christian Science Monitor |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1984/0119/011934.html |access-date=2021-07-31 |issn=0882-7729}}</ref> The late Linda Whetstone, Fisher's daughter, served as chairman of Atlas Network.<ref>{{Cite news |author= |date=2021-12-20 |title=Linda Whetstone, evangelist for the free market who also helped to raise standards in British dressage – obituary |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2021/12/20/linda-whetstone-evangelist-free-market-also-helped-raise-standards/ |access-date=2022-01-07 |issn=0307-1235}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-22 |title=Global Freedom Fighters Remember Their Humble Leader, Linda Whetstone |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/12/global-freedom-fighters-remember-their-humble-leader-linda-whetstone/ |access-date=2022-01-07 |website=National Review}}</ref>

F.A. Hayek, Margaret Thatcher, and Milton Friedman, all friends of Fisher, formally endorsed the organization.<ref name="Castro Rea 2018" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Djelic |first1=Marie-Laure |last2=Mousavi |first2=Reza |date=2020-05-12 |chapter=How the neoliberal think tank went global: The Atlas Network, 1981 to the present |editor-last1=Plehwe |editor-first1=Dieter |editor-last2=Slobodian |editor-first2=Quinn |editor-last3=Mirowski |editor-first3=Philip |title=Nine lives of neoliberalism |publisher=Verso Books |publication-place=London |isbn=978-1-78873-253-6 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10419/215796 |hdl=1871.1/b253496c-1e94-468f-a61d-7d2bfb8649d4 |hdl-access=free |id={{DNB-IDN|1267842180/34}} |chapter-url=https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/215796/1/Full-text-book-Plehwe-et-al-Nine-lives-of-neoliberalism.pdf#page=270 |pages=257-282, at pp. 259, 266}}</ref> Atlas Network connected various think tanks via a global network,<ref>{{cite book |last=Salles-Djelic |first=Marie-Laure |chapter=Building an Architecture for Political Influence: Atlas and the Transnational Institutionalization of the Neoliberal Think Tank |date= 2017 |title=Power, Policy and Profit |location=Chelthenham |pages=25–44 |chapter-url=https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/edcoll/9781784711207/9781784711207.00007.xml |access-date=31 December 2024 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |isbn=978-1-78471-120-7}}</ref> and was part of a transatlantic network including academics, journalists, and businesspeople who supported and promoted like-minded ideologies.<ref name="Geoghegan 2024">{{cite news |last=Geoghegan |first=Peter |date=29 May 2024 |title=The Invisible Doctrine by George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison review – neoliberalism's ascent |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/may/29/the-invisible-doctrine-by-george-monbiot-and-peter-hutchison-review-neoliberalisms-ascent |access-date=January 1, 2025 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In the words of Richard Meagher,{{who|reason=Richard Meagher is not mentioned elsewhere on this page.|date=November 2025}} it was founded as a "think tank that creates think tanks".<ref name="Meagher 2008, p. 94">{{cite book |last=Meagher |first=Richard |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/61c67fed68ededd7bb2c49dd0bfbc704 |title=Right Ideas: Discourse, Framing, and the Conservative Coalition |publisher=City University of New York |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-549-80710-0 |page=94 |access-date=1 January 2025 |via=ProQuest}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Innset |first=Ola |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NCLNDwAAQBAJ |title=Reinventing Liberalism: The Politics, Philosophy and Economics of Early Neoliberalism (1920–1947) |date= 2020 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-030-38885-0 |location=Berlin |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NCLNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA187 187] |access-date=1 January 2025 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

=== Early years, expansion, and influence === Fisher conceived Atlas Network as a means to connect various think tanks via a global network through which the organizations could learn best practices from one another and "pass the best research and policy ideas from one to the other".<ref>{{cite book |last=Steinmo |first=Sven |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mfy3k0BWBNAC |title=Growing Apart?: America and Europe in the 21st Century |date=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-46861-9 |pages=145–149 |access-date=1 January 2025}}</ref> Initially comprising only Fisher's think tanks, Atlas Network grew to include many others, including those affiliated with the Koch family.<ref name="Westervelt & Dembicki 2023">{{Cite magazine |last1=Westervelt |first1=Amy |author-link=Amy Westervelt |last2=Dembicki |first2=Geoff |author2-link=Geoff Dembicki |date=2023-09-12 |title=Meet the Shadowy Global Network Vilifying Climate Protesters |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/175488/meet-shadowy-global-network-vilifying-climate-protesters |access-date=2023-09-14 |magazine=The New Republic |issn=0028-6583}}</ref>

Atlas Network says that the organization is not named after Ayn Rand's novel ''Atlas Shrugged''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Was Atlas Network named after the book Atlas Shrugged? |url=https://www.atlasnetwork.org/faq/category/general-questions |website=Atlas Network |quote=Was Atlas Network named after the book Atlas Shrugged? The name was not derived from the book.}}</ref> Atlas Network has received funding from American and European businesses and think tanks to coordinate and organize libertarian organizations in the developing world.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Fang |first=Lee |date=2017-08-09 |title=Sphere of Influence: How American Libertarians Are Remaking Latin American Politics |url=https://theintercept.com/2017/08/09/atlas-network-alejandro-chafuen-libertarian-think-tank-latin-america-brazil/ |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=The Intercept}}</ref> In 1981, Atlas Network helped economist Hernando de Soto found the Institute for Liberty and Democracy (ILD) in Peru,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Djelic |first1=Marie-Laure |last2=Mousavi |first2=Reza |date=2020-05-12 |chapter=How the neoliberal think tank went global: The Atlas Network, 1981 to the present |editor-last1=Plehwe |editor-first1=Dieter |editor-last2=Slobodian |editor-first2=Quinn |editor-last3=Mirowski |editor-first3=Philip |title=Nine lives of neoliberalism |publisher=Verso Books |publication-place=London |isbn=978-1-78873-253-6 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10419/215796 |hdl=1871.1/b253496c-1e94-468f-a61d-7d2bfb8649d4 |hdl-access=free |id={{DNB-IDN|1267842180/34}} |chapter-url=https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/215796/1/Full-text-book-Plehwe-et-al-Nine-lives-of-neoliberalism.pdf#page=277 |pages=257-282, at p. 266}}</ref> and also invested in the Institut Economique de Paris (IEP) in France.<ref name="Salles-Djelic 2017">{{Cite journal |last=Salles-Djelic |first=Marie-Laure |date=2017-10-27 |title=Building an architecture for political influence: Atlas and the transnational institutionalization of the neoliberal think tank |url=https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781784711207/9781784711207.00007.xml |journal=Power, Policy and Profit |pages=25–44 |doi=10.4337/9781784711214.00007 |isbn=978-1-78471-121-4 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In 1983, Fisher helped launch the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) in Dallas, Texas,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Djelic |first1=Marie-Laure |last2=Mousavi |first2=Reza |date=2020-05-12 |chapter=How the neoliberal think tank went global: The Atlas Network, 1981 to the present |editor-last1=Plehwe |editor-first1=Dieter |editor-last2=Slobodian |editor-first2=Quinn |editor-last3=Mirowski |editor-first3=Philip |title=Nine lives of neoliberalism |publisher=Verso Books |publication-place=London |isbn=978-1-78873-253-6 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10419/215796 |hdl=1871.1/b253496c-1e94-468f-a61d-7d2bfb8649d4 |hdl-access=free |id={{DNB-IDN|1267842180/34}} |chapter-url=https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/215796/1/Full-text-book-Plehwe-et-al-Nine-lives-of-neoliberalism.pdf#page=282 |pages=257-282, at p. 271}}</ref> and the Jon Thorlaksson Institute in Iceland (now replaced by the Icelandic Research Centre for Innovation and Economic Growth).<ref name="Salles-Djelic 2017" /> Atlas Network helped establish the Hong Kong Centre for Economic Research in 1987<ref>{{cite book |last1=Djelic |first1=Marie-Laure |last2=Mousavi |first2=Reza |date=2020-05-12 |chapter=How the neoliberal think tank went global: The Atlas Network, 1981 to the present |editor-last1=Plehwe |editor-first1=Dieter |editor-last2=Slobodian |editor-first2=Quinn |editor-last3=Mirowski |editor-first3=Philip |title=Nine lives of neoliberalism |publisher=Verso Books |publication-place=London |isbn=978-1-78873-253-6 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10419/215796 |hdl=1871.1/b253496c-1e94-468f-a61d-7d2bfb8649d4 |hdl-access=free |id={{DNB-IDN|1267842180/34}} |chapter-url=https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/215796/1/Full-text-book-Plehwe-et-al-Nine-lives-of-neoliberalism.pdf#page=274 |pages=257-282, at p. 263}}</ref> and the Liberty Institute in New Delhi in 1996.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Djelic |first1=Marie-Laure |last2=Mousavi |first2=Reza |date=2020-05-12 |chapter=How the neoliberal think tank went global: The Atlas Network, 1981 to the present |editor-last1=Plehwe |editor-first1=Dieter |editor-last2=Slobodian |editor-first2=Quinn |editor-last3=Mirowski |editor-first3=Philip |title=Nine lives of neoliberalism |publisher=Verso Books |publication-place=London |isbn=978-1-78873-253-6 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10419/215796 |hdl=1871.1/b253496c-1e94-468f-a61d-7d2bfb8649d4 |hdl-access=free |id={{DNB-IDN|1267842180/34}} |chapter-url=https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/215796/1/Full-text-book-Plehwe-et-al-Nine-lives-of-neoliberalism.pdf#page=275 |pages=257-282, at p. 264}} {{failed verification|date=October 2025}}</ref> Atlas Network grew from 15 think tanks in nine countries in the mid-1980s to 457 think tanks in 96 countries as of 2020.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Slobodian |first1=Quinn |last2=Plehwe |first2=Dieter |date=2020-05-12 |chapter=Introduction |editor-last1=Plehwe |editor-first1=Dieter |editor-last2=Slobodian |editor-first2=Quinn |editor-last3=Mirowski |editor-first3=Philip |title=Nine lives of neoliberalism |publisher=Verso Books |publication-place=London |isbn=978-1-78873-253-6 |hdl=10419/215796 |hdl-access=free |id={{DNB-IDN|1267842180/34}} |chapter-url=https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/215796/1/Full-text-book-Plehwe-et-al-Nine-lives-of-neoliberalism.pdf#page=27 |pages=1-17 at p. 16}}</ref>

The 2019 and 2020 ''Global Go To Think Tank Index Report'' ranked Atlas Network as 54th among the "Top Think Tanks in the United States".<ref>{{cite web |last=McGann |first=James G. |author-link=James McGann |date=January 27, 2020 |title=2019 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report |issue=17 |publication-place=Philadelphia |publisher=Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program |hdl=20.500.14332/48576 |hdl-access=free |url=https://repository.upenn.edu/bitstreams/01d64c08-bba1-4632-800b-a6db531755c6/download}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=McGann |first=James G. |date=January 28, 2021 |title=2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report |issue=18 |publication-place=Philadelphia |publisher=Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program |hdl=20.500.14332/48577 |hdl-access=free |url=https://repository.upenn.edu/bitstreams/8fa7709a-310d-43b2-bee6-94c49db23e41/download}}</ref> Atlas Network's think tank partners "produce white papers, meet with politicos, liaise with the media, write legislation, and much more", as described by WNYC.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Powerful Think Tanks Portraying Climate Protest as Dangerous {{!}} On the Media |type=Webpage |url=https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/powerful-think-tanks-portraying-climate-protest-dangerous-on-the-media |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=wnycstudios.org |publisher=WNYC Studios}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Plehwe |editor-first1=Dieter |editor-last2=Slobodian |editor-first2=Quinn |editor-last3=Mirowski |editor-first3=Philip |title=Nine lives of neoliberalism |date=12 May 2020 |publisher=Verso Books |publication-place=London |isbn=978-1-78873-253-6 |hdl=10419/215796 |hdl-access=free |id={{DNB-IDN|1267842180/34}} |url=https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/215796/1/Full-text-book-Plehwe-et-al-Nine-lives-of-neoliberalism.pdf}} {{failed verification|date=October 2025}}</ref> In 2018, academic Karin Fischer described Atlas Network campaigns for deregulation and property rights as having so much influence that the World Bank's ''Doing Business Index'' "follows exactly Atlas' policy recommendations".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fischer |first=Karin |date=July 9, 2018 |title=The Atlas Network: Littering the World with Free-Market Think Tanks |url=https://globaldialogue.isa-sociology.org/articles/the-atlas-network-littering-the-world-with-free-market-think-tanks |website=Global Dialogue, magazine of the International Sociological Association}}</ref>

Atlas Network has promoted entrepreneurship in Africa and other parts of the world, including what it calls "freedom-oriented idea entrepreneurs."<ref>{{Cite AV media |people=Gillespie, Nick (host); Wade, Magatte (guest) |date=2024-03-10 |title=Magatte Wade on Africa, foreign aid, and free markets |type=Podcast episode |url=https://reason.com/2024/03/10/magatte-wade-on-african-entrepreneurship/ |access-date=2025-01-13 |series=The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie |publication-place=Los Angeles |publisher=Reason Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Atlas Network Names Three Finalists for 2024 Africa Liberty Award |url=https://africabusiness.com/2024/06/27/atlas-network-names-three-finalists-for-2024-africa-liberty-award/ |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=AfricaBusiness.com}}</ref><ref name="Pannett 2024" /> Atlas Network also promotes "classically liberal policies and ideas."<ref name="Clark 2025">{{Cite news |last=Clark |first=Emily |date=2025-04-23 |title=How Atlas Network amassed a global network of free market think tanks and reached into Australia and New Zealand |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-24/atlas-network-think-tanks-active-in-australia-and-new-zealand/104788732 |access-date=2025-06-10 |website=abc.net.au |publication-place=Ultimo, New South Wales, Australia |publisher=ABC News |language=en-AU}}</ref>

=== Tobacco and oil industry links === Atlas Network has been linked to the tobacco industry; ''The Guardian'' calculated that more than one-fifth of Atlas Network partners worldwide had either opposed tobacco controls or taken tobacco donations.<ref>{{cite web |last=Glenza |first=Jessica |date=January 23, 2019 |title=Revealed: the free-market groups helping the tobacco industry |url=http://www.theguardian.com/business/ng-interactive/2019/jan/23/free-market-thinktanks-tobacco-industry |access-date=2022-07-30 |website=The Guardian}}</ref><ref name="Hingston 2020" /> A 2017 paper in the ''International Journal of Health Planning and Management'' said that Atlas Network "channeled funding from tobacco corporations to think tank actors to produce publications supportive of industry positions."<ref name="Smith, Thompson & Lee 2016">{{Cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Julia |last2=Thompson |first2=Sheryl |last3=Lee |first3=Kelley |date=2016-01-01 |title=The Atlas Network: a 'strategic ally' of the tobacco industry |journal=The International Journal of Health Planning and Management |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=433–448 |doi=10.1002/hpm.2351 |issn=1099-1751 |pmc=5716244 |pmid=27125556}}</ref> The University of Bath's Tobacco Control Research Group said Atlas Network "appears to have played a particular role in helping the tobacco industry oppose tobacco control measures in Latin America" during the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Atlas Network |url=https://tobaccotactics.org/wiki/atlas-network/ |access-date=2022-07-30 |website=Tobacco Tactics |publisher=Tobacco Control Research Group, Department of Health, University of Bath}}</ref>

Atlas Network and its partners, such as the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Cato Institute, and Fraser Institute,<ref name="Neubauer & Graham 2021">{{cite journal |last1=Neubauer |first1=Robert |last2=Graham |first2=Nicolas |date=2021-11-30 |title=Fuelling the Subsidized Public: Mapping the Flow of Extractivist Content on Facebook |url=https://cjc.utpjournals.press/doi/10.22230/cjc.2021v46n4a4019 |journal=Canadian Journal of Communication |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=911, 928–929 |doi=10.22230/cjc.2021v46n4a4019 |issn=0705-3657 |quote=Meanwhile, the Fraser Institute, the MLI, Second Street, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, the Montreal Economics Institute, the Manhattan Institute, and the Cato Institute—whose materials are all repurposed as information subsidies or shared directly—are all members of the Atlas Network, the oil-industry-funded transnational network that supports market fundamentalist think tanks and whose members include a rogue's gallery of climate denying organizations (including America's Heartland Institute alongside the Fraser Institute). Atlas Network groups often interlock, with members moving from group to group throughout their careers. |url-access=subscription}}</ref> have been linked to oil and gas producers, as well as efforts opposing governments' and activists' efforts against climate change.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brulle |first1=Robert J. |last2=Hall |first2=Galen |last3=Loy |first3=Loredana |last4=Schell-Smith |first4=Kennedy |date=May 2021 |title=Obstructing action: foundation funding and US climate change counter-movement organizations |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10584-021-03117-w |journal=Climatic Change |volume=166 |issue=1–2 |pages=2, 3 |doi=10.1007/s10584-021-03117-w |bibcode=2021ClCh..166...17B |issn=0165-0009 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="Mackert, Wolf & Turner 2021">{{cite book |editor-last1=Mackert |editor-first1=Jürgen |editor-last2=Wolf |editor-first2=Hannah |editor-last3=Turner |editor-first3=Bryan S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m0QvEAAAQBAJ |title=The Condition of Democracy: Volume 1: Neoliberal Politics and Sociological Perspectives |date=2021 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-00-040191-2 |location=Abingdon |chapter=Introduction: Waves of Democracy |oclc=1252704834 |access-date=1 January 2025 |via=Google Books |quote=Their vehicle is something called the Atlas Network, which at this writing claims over 400 affiliates in 95 countries, their operations partly funded by Koch and allied capitalists, with heavy support from fossil fuel-based fortunes ... The timing suggests one critical prompt. While the Atlas Network had been created a decade and a half earlier, its work notably escalated at this particular moment in the late 1990s. That was just as global recognition of climate change spread and parties across the spectrum began coordinating policies to address it, with the Kyoto Protocol adopted in 1997 being the prime example.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Harkinson |first=Josh |date=December 22, 2009 |title=Climate Change Deniers Without Borders |url=https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2009/12/climate-deniers-atlas-foundation/ |access-date=2024-03-22 |website=Mother Jones}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brulle |first1=Robert J. |title=Climate Obstruction Across Europe |last2=Roberts |first2=J. Timmons |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2024 |isbn=978-0-19-776208-0 |editor-last1=Brulle |editor-first1=Robert J. |location=New York |pages=14 |chapter=Introduction |quote=Global networks of think tanks—especially the Atlas Network—have also played a key role in diffusing denial internationally. |editor-last2=Roberts |editor-first2=J. Timmons |editor-last3=Spencer |editor-first3=Miranda C.}}</ref> According to documents described in ''The Guardian'', Atlas Network collaborated with Canada's Macdonald–Laurier Institute in a push for oil and gas development on Indigenous land.<ref name="Dembicki 2022">{{cite web |last=Dembicki |first=Geoff |date=2022-07-18 |title=How a conservative US network undermined Indigenous energy rights in Canada |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/18/conservative-us-network-undermined-indigenous-energy-rights-in-canada |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=The Guardian |quote=A US-based libertarian coalition has spent years pressuring the Canadian government to limit how much Indigenous communities can push back on energy development on their own land, newly reviewed strategy documents reveal. Atlas Network partnered with an Ottawa-based thinktank – the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) ... .}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Graham |first=Nicolas |date=2024-03-27 |title=Think tanks and climate obstruction: Atlas affiliates in Canada |journal=Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue Canadienne de Sociologie |volume=61 |issue=2 |pages=110–130 |doi=10.1111/cars.12467 |issn=1755-6171 |pmid=38535618 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Atlas Network told ''The New Republic'' that it has "no partnerships with extractive industries such as oil and gas companies, we receive no funding from oil and gas companies and have not received funding from oil and gas companies for nearly 15 years."<ref name="Westervelt & Dembicki 2023" /> In April 2025, Atlas Network again denied receiving any funding from "extractive industries."<ref name="Clark 2025" />

=== Political ties === Atlas Network describes itself as non-partisan and does not get involved in campaigns or elections, but rather trains local think tanks on how to influence the public and policymakers.<ref name="Clark 2025" /> According to ''ABC News Australia'', Atlas Network partners are "taught how to win the battle for hearts and minds."<ref name="Clark 2025" />

''The Intercept,'' ''The Guardian'', and ''The New Republic'' have described Atlas Network as having ties to conservative movements, including the administration of Donald Trump in the United States, Brexit in the United Kingdom,<ref name="Lawrence et al. 2019" /> and anti-government protests in Latin America.<ref name="Fang 2017">{{cite news |last=Fang |first=Lee |date=August 9, 2017 |title=Sphere of Influence: How American Libertarians Are Remaking Latin American Politics |work=The Intercept |url=https://theintercept.com/2017/08/09/atlas-network-alejandro-chafuen-libertarian-think-tank-latin-america-brazil/ |access-date=27 December 2017}}</ref><ref name="Westervelt & Dembicki 2023" /> A 2024 study analyzing 52 Atlas Network partners found that "while some Atlas-affiliated partners show readiness to confront the threat of nationalist and authoritarian societal mobilization, others conceive it as a tactical or strategic opportunity to advance free market causes."<ref name="Vucetic 2024">{{cite journal |last=Vucetic |first=Srdjan |date=August 5, 2024 |title=Atlas Asunder? Neo-Liberal Think Tanks and the Radical Right |url=https://academic.oup.com/ia/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ia/iiae132/7726098 |access-date=December 31, 2024 |journal=International Affairs |volume=100 |issue=5 |pages=2173–2193 |doi=10.1093/ia/iiae132 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Atlas Network partners were linked to an online campaign that used fake accounts against the Cuban government during the 2021 Cuban protests.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Augustin |first1=Ed |last2=Montero |first2=Daniel |date=2021-08-03 |title=Why the internet in Cuba has become a US political hot potato |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/03/why-the-internet-in-cuba-has-become-a-us-political-hot-potato |access-date=2025-07-28 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Atlas Network sponsored the 2023 Latin America Liberty Forum in Brazil, where Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's policies were opposed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Araldi |first=Lucas |date=2023-08-25 |title=In Brazil, Right-Wing Think Tanks Align with Agribusiness to Seek a Path Back to Power |url=https://www.desmog.com/2023/08/25/brazil-rightwing-think-tanks-align-with-agribusiness-to-regain-power/ |access-date=2023-09-14 |website=DeSmog}}</ref>

Atlas Network partners opposed the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.<ref name="Vucetic 2024" /> Atlas Network worked with its partners to create the Ukraine Freedom Fund, acquiring, transporting, and providing goods to Ukrainians,<ref name="Francovich 2022">{{Cite web |last=Francovich |first=Eli |date=April 3, 2022 |title=In Ukraine, an informal web of Libertarians becomes a 'resistance network' |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/apr/03/in-ukraine-an-informal-web-of-libertarians-becomes/ |access-date=2022-08-19 |website=The Spokesman-Review}}</ref><ref name="Brest 2022">{{Cite web |last=Brest |first=Mike |date=2022-12-06 |title=Libertarian organization tops $3.5 million in aid to Ukraine |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/libertarian-organization-aids-ukraine |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=Washington Examiner}}</ref> and supporting Atlas Network partner groups in the country.<ref name="Vucetic 2024" /> The ''Washington Examiner'' reported that the humanitarian aid totaled $3.5 million by December 2022.<ref name="Brest 2022" /> According to ''Reason'', a libertarian magazine, Atlas Network supports nonprofit organizations that fight against authoritarianism and support free markets, self-determination, and rule of law.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gillespie |first=Nick |date=2023-03-29 |title=Deirdre McCloskey: 'What we want is a nonslave society' |type=Webpage |url=https://reason.com/podcast/2023/03/29/deirdre-mccloskey-what-we-want-is-a-nonslave-society/ |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=Reason.com |publication-place=Los Angeles |publisher=Reason Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Leadership == The chief executive officer of Atlas Network is Brad Lips. Lips joined Atlas Network, then known as the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, in 1998,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Djelic |first1=Marie-Laure |last2=Mousavi |first2=Reza |date=2020-05-12 |chapter=How the neoliberal think tank went global: The Atlas Network, 1981 to the present |editor-last1=Plehwe |editor-first1=Dieter |editor-last2=Slobodian |editor-first2=Quinn |editor-last3=Mirowski |editor-first3=Philip |title=Nine lives of neoliberalism |publisher=Verso Books |publication-place=London |isbn=978-1-78873-253-6 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10419/215796 |hdl=1871.1/b253496c-1e94-468f-a61d-7d2bfb8649d4 |hdl-access=free |id={{DNB-IDN|1267842180/34}} |chapter-url=https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/215796/1/Full-text-book-Plehwe-et-al-Nine-lives-of-neoliberalism.pdf#page=271 |pages=257-282, at p. 260}}</ref> and became CEO in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |date=2021 |title=Our People |url=https://www.atlasnetwork.org/about/people/ |access-date=1 January 2024 |website=Atlas Network |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250101073804/https://www.atlasnetwork.org/our-people |archive-date=1 January 2025}}</ref> He is the author of ''Liberalism and the Free Society in 2021.''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lips |first=Brad |date=2021-09-17 |title=As we endure COVID-19, don't underestimate our extraordinary freedom crisis |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/as-we-endure-covid-19-dont-underestimate-our-extraordinary-freedom-crisis |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=Washington Examiner}}</ref> He stated that he advocates for a "freedom philosophy",<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Mattila |first=Henri |date=2022-08-11 |title=Interview: Brad Lips, CEO of Atlas Network |url=https://merionwest.com/2022/08/11/brad-lips-atlas-network/ |access-date=2022-08-19 |magazine=Merion West |publication-place=Philadelphia}}</ref> and quoting Friedman, has summarized Atlas Network's function as "to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive until the politically impossible becomes the politically inevitable."<ref name="Lawrence et al. 2019">{{cite web |last1=Lawrence |first1=Felicity |last2=Evans |first2=Rob |last3=Pegg |first3=David |last4=Barr |first4=Caelainn |last5=Duncan |first5=Pamela |date=2019-11-29 |title=How the right's radical thinktanks reshaped the Conservative party |url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/29/rightwing-thinktank-conservative-boris-johnson-brexit-atlas-network |access-date=2022-07-30 |website=The Guardian}}</ref> In an opinion article in ''The Chronicle of Philanthropy'', Lips argued for funding market-oriented nonprofit groups instead of increasing traditional foreign aid.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lips |first=Brad |date=2023-06-06 |title=Opinion{{!}}To Fend Off Threats to Freedom, Support Local Economic Development — Not More Foreign Aid |url=https://www.philanthropy.com/article/to-fend-off-threats-to-freedom-worldwide-support-local-economic-development-nonprofits-not-more-foreign-aid |access-date=2023-06-14 |website=The Chronicle of Philanthropy}}</ref> He said that Atlas Network is nonpartisan and "willing to talk to all parties".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Coley |first=Victoria |date=2020-09-11 |title=The History and Future of the Freedom Movement |url=https://www.iwf.org/2020/09/11/the-history-and-future-of-the-freedom-movement/ |access-date=2024-02-06 |website=Independent Women's Forum}}</ref>

Tom Palmer serves as executive vice president for international programs.<ref name="ball">{{cite book |last1=Ball |first1=Stephen |title=Global Education Inc: New Policy Networks and the Neo-liberal Imaginary |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-68409-5 |pages=19–40}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first=Eli |last=Francovich |title=Spokane doctor arrives at Ukraine military hospital ready to help — but what will that entail? |url=https://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/spokane-doctor-arrives-at-ukraine-military-hospital-ready-to-help-but-what-will-that-entail/article_66d472a2-a15c-11ec-89e3-e773bd5920f1.html |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=The Wenatchee World |date=11 March 2022}}</ref> Palmer co-authored the book ''Development with Dignity: Self-Determination, Localization, and the End of Poverty''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Palmer |first1=Tom G. |title=Development with dignity: Self-determination, localization, and the end of poverty |date=31 January 2022 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781003229872 |isbn=978-1-03-213564-9 |last2=Warner |first2=Matt |doi-access=free}}</ref> Palmer, known in American libertarian circles since the 1970s, has promoted economic libertarian efforts in various countries including Communist and post-Communist Eastern Europe, as well as Iraq and Afghanistan; after the 2022 Russian invasion, he traveled inside Ukraine to help coordinate Atlas Network aid.<ref name="Francovich 2022" /> He has spoken out against far-right and far-left authoritarian populist movements in the United States and other countries.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Palmer |first=Tom |date=August 2019 |title=The terrifying rise of authoritarian populism |url=https://reason.com/2019/07/14/the-terrifying-rise-of-authoritarian-populism/ |access-date=2025-01-13 |magazine=Reason |publication-place=Los Angeles |publisher=Reason Foundation |language=en-US |issn=0048-6906 |id={{UPC|072246475157}}}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |people=Powell, Aaron; Burress, Trevor (hosts); Palmer, Tom (guest) |title=Why is populism so popular? |type=Podcast episode |series=Free Thoughts |publisher=Cato Institute |url=https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/free-thoughts/why-is-populism-so-popular |access-date=2025-01-13}}</ref>

Palmer blames "envy and resentment" for driving collectivist impulses that are authoritarian in nature.<ref>{{Cite web |editor-last=Allen |editor-first=Michael |date=2019-07-25 |title=The 'authoritarian dynamic' behind the rise of populism |type=Blog post  |url=https://www.demdigest.org/the-authoritarian-dynamic-behind-the-rise-of-populism/ |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=Democracy Digest |language=en-US |publisher=National Endowment for Democracy}}</ref> He also rejects Atlas Network’s "pro-corporate" label by some critics, saying that, "Being in favor of the market is not the same as being in favor of business."<ref name="Clark 2025" />

Only 30 people work specifically for Atlas Network, although more than 1,000 people participate in it via its partner think tanks, according to ''Global Think Tanks: Policy Networks and Governance'', published in 2020.<ref name="McGann & Whelan 2020">{{cite book |last1=McGann |first1=James G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R3rRDwAAQBAJ |title=Global Think Tanks: Policy Networks and Governance |last2=Whelan |first2=Laura |publisher=Routledge |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-367-27854-0 |location=New York}}</ref> Atlas Network is organized into centers by region.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pozzebon |first=Stefano |title=Analysis: Ecuador and Peru signal political divides that could trouble the region |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/13/americas/ecuador-peru-election-early-results-analysis-intl-latam/index.html |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=CNN |date=13 April 2021}}</ref> Entrepreneur Magatte Wade is director of the Center for African Prosperity and the historian Ibrahim B. Anoba is a fellow at the center. Wade said in ''Reason'' that the solution to Africa's economic problems lies in a "cheetah generation" of young Africans who embrace free markets, individualism, human rights, and transparency in government.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-10 |title=Magatte Wade: The Real Reasons Why Africa Is Poor and Why It Matters |type=Webpage |url=https://reason.com/podcast/2024/01/10/magatte-wade-the-real-reasons-why-africa-is-poor-and-why-it-matters/ |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=Reason.com}}</ref> In her words, "[Africa is] poor because we don't let our entrepreneurs work."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gillespie |first=Nick |date=2024-03-10 |title=Magatte Wade on Africa, foreign aid, and free markets |url=https://reason.com/?p=8265820 |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=Reason}}</ref> Antonella Marty of Argentina served as a fellow for the Center for Latin America, which publishes the annual Index of Bureaucracy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wade |first=Magatte |date=2021-11-26 |title=Opinion {{!}} The COP26 Plan to Keep Africa Poor |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-cop26-plan-to-keep-africa-poor-climate-change-clean-energy-11637964581 |access-date=2022-03-25 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Epstein |first=Jim |date=2021-12-14 |title=How Leftist 'Saviors' Ruined Latin America |url=https://reason.com/video/2021/12/14/how-leftist-saviors-ruined-latin-america/ |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=Reason.com}}</ref> Atlas Network also runs the Center for United States and Canada and the Center for Asia and Oceania.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dembicki |first=Geoff |date=2020-04-24 |title=The Emperor Kenney's New Clothes |url=https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2020/04/24/The-Emperor-Kenneys-New-Clothes/ |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=The Tyee}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=Atlas Network |url=https://www.atlasnetwork.org/partners/center-for-asia-oceania |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Atlas Network}}</ref>

== Activities == {{Conservatism US|expanded=other organizations}}

=== Training and networking === Atlas Network has been described as a "connector", putting "freedom intellectuals" and local think tanks in contact and financing their trips.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Djelic |first1=Marie-Laure |last2=Mousavi |first2=Reza |date=2020-05-12 |chapter=How the neoliberal think tank went global: The Atlas Network, 1981 to the present |editor-last1=Plehwe |editor-first1=Dieter |editor-last2=Slobodian |editor-first2=Quinn |editor-last3=Mirowski |editor-first3=Philip |title=Nine lives of neoliberalism |publisher=Verso Books |publication-place=London |isbn=978-1-78873-253-6 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10419/215796 |hdl=1871.1/b253496c-1e94-468f-a61d-7d2bfb8649d4 |hdl-access=free |id={{DNB-IDN|1267842180/34}} |chapter-url=https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/215796/1/Full-text-book-Plehwe-et-al-Nine-lives-of-neoliberalism.pdf#page=286 |pages=257-282, at p. 275}}</ref> The organization offers training, consulting, and professional certification related to fundraising, marketing, organizational leadership, and think tank management through its Atlas Network Academy program.<ref name="McGann & Whelan 2020" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-25 |title=SFL alumnus from Nigeria, Bayonle Fesobi, attends Atlas Network Academy training in Tanzania |url=https://studentsforliberty.org/blog/sfl-alumnus-bayonle-fesobi-attends-atlas-network-academy-training/ |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=Students For Liberty}}</ref> In 2020, Atlas Network trained nearly 4,000 people in promoting free-market voices,<ref>{{cite web |last=Armiak |first=David |title=Koch-Backed Donor Network Wants to Blame COVID Deaths on Public Health Measures |url=https://truthout.org/articles/koch-backed-donor-network-wants-to-blame-covid-deaths-on-public-health-measures/ |access-date=2021-10-11 |website=Truthout |date=4 April 2021}}</ref> preparing nearly 900 people to work at global think tanks.<ref name="Le Monde 2021">{{cite news |last=Horel |first=Stéphane |date=3 November 2021 |title=Vaping: The real dollars behind fake consumer organisations |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2021/11/03/vaping-the-real-dollars-behind-fake-consumer-organisations_6100848_3224.html |access-date=2021-11-04 |work=Le Monde}}</ref> ''Philadelphia'' described Atlas Network as "supporting free-market approaches to eliminating poverty and noted for its refutation of climate change and defense of the tobacco industry."<ref name="Hingston 2020">{{Cite web |last=Hingston |first=Sandy |date=2020 |title=Science and Religion Have Never Been More at Odds. Can Conshohocken's Templeton Foundation Bridge the Divide? |url=https://www.phillymag.com/news/2020/10/10/john-templeton-foundation-philadelphia/ |url-status=live |website=Philadelphia Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201013165734/https://www.phillymag.com/news/2020/10/10/john-templeton-foundation-philadelphia/ |archive-date=2020-10-13}}</ref>

Atlas Network holds four regional Liberty Forums (in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe) and an international conference in the United States.<ref name="ball" /> At its December 2021 "Liberty Forum and Freedom Dinner" in Miami, Florida, for think tank partners from around the world, Mario Vargas Llosa and Yeonmi Park were among the 800 attendees, and Yotuel Romero performed.<ref name="Meagher 2008, p. 94" /><ref name="Fund 2021">{{Cite web |last=Fund |first=John |date=2021-12-13 |title=Think Tanks Can Be a Frontline Defense against Pandemic Setbacks |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/12/think-tanks-can-be-a-frontline-defense-against-pandemic-setbacks/ |access-date=2022-01-07 |website=National Review}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rosell |first=Rosi |date=2021-12-22 |title=Yotuel Romero Shook Up LoanDeopt Park – Calle Ocho News |url=https://calleochonews.com/yotuel-romero-shook-up-loandepot-park-in-the-name-of-freedom/ |access-date=2022-01-07 |website=Calle Ocho News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title='En Cuba se está dando un cambio fenomenal' |url=https://www.diariolasamericas.com/america-latina/en-cuba-se-esta-dando-un-cambio-fenomenal-n4239076 |access-date=2022-02-14 |website=Diario Las Américas |language=es |date=14 December 2021}}</ref> Llosa, a Nobel Prize winner and classical liberal, is considered a friend of the organization.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Classical Liberal in Peru – Javier Fernández-Lasquetty |url=https://lawliberty.org/book-review/a-classical-liberal-in-peru/ |access-date=2023-12-08 |website=Law & Liberty |date=13 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="Villasmil 2023">{{Cite web |last=Villasmil |first=Juan P. |date=2023-12-18 |title=Why Libertarianism Is Rising in Latin America |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/11/16/argentina-election-milei-venezuela-machado-libertarianism-economics-us-influence/ |access-date=2023-12-08 |website=Foreign Policy}}</ref> Adam Weinberg, an Atlas Network executive, wrote in the ''New York Post'' that its Liberty Forums are "like an Anti-Davos", offering trade-show-type environments for think tanks to exchange ideas.<ref name="Weinberg 2024">{{Cite web |last=Weinberg |first=Adam |date=2024-02-07 |title=How I became part of a 'global conspiracy' — for advancing freedom |url=https://nypost.com/2024/02/07/opinion/how-i-became-part-of-a-global-conspiracy-for-advancing-freedom/ |access-date=2024-02-13 |website=New York Post}}</ref>

In Canada, Atlas Network partners with about a dozen think tanks, including the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Montreal Economic Institute, the Fraser Institute, the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, SecondStreet.org.<ref name="AtlasNetwork_20211206">{{Cite web |title=Atlas Network partners in Canada and United States on... |access-date=February 16, 2025 |date=December 6, 2021 |url=https://www.atlasnetwork.org/articles/atlas-network-partners-in-canada-and-united-states-on-the-list-for-2022-smart-bets |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605020045/https://www.atlasnetwork.org/articles/atlas-network-partners-in-canada-and-united-states-on-the-list-for-2022-smart-bets |archive-date=June 5, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Pannett 2024" /><ref name="Dembicki 2022" /><ref name="Fisher_202103">{{Cite news |last=Fisher |first=Michael |title=Atlas Network |work=DeSmog |date=March 2021 |access-date=February 16, 2025 |url=https://www.desmog.com/atlas-economic-research-foundation/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250131221601/https://www.desmog.com/web/20250131221601/https://www.desmog.com/atlas-economic-research-foundation/ |archive-date=January 31, 2025}}</ref> Atlas Network has also partnered with the F. A. Hayek Foundation in Slovakia, the Association for Liberal Thinking in Turkey, the Lithuanian Free Market Institute, and Libertad y Desarrollo in Chile to establish Free Enterprise Training Centers.<ref name="ball" /> The organization also partners with Chile's Fundación Piensa and Argentina's Libertad y Progreso.<ref name="Villasmil 2023" />

In 2021, Atlas Network partnered with Cuban anti-communism activist Ruhama Fernandez to share her story after Fernandez was arrested for criticizing the Cuban government.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fernandez |first=Ruhama |title=I'm a Cuban dissident. We need America to stand with us against this communist regime. |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2021/08/31/cuba-protests-castro-communism-havana-freedom-political-prisoner/5652092001/ |access-date=2021-09-08 |website=USA Today}}</ref> The Ukraine-based Bendukidze Free Market Center is also an Atlas Network partner.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Melnyk |first=Nataliya |title=A plea from Ukraine: Continue to stand with us |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-a-plea-from-ukraine-20220315-4i6t2gdgfbcchkadoil4ctj3ga-story.html |access-date=2022-03-18 |website=nydailynews.com |date=15 March 2022}}</ref> Commentator Deroy Murdock, an Atlas Network senior fellow as of 2017, wrote that the organization "encourages institutions to use local knowledge to reduce government obstacles to upward mobility", featuring local entrepreneurs who overcome such obstacles.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Murdock |first=Deroy |date=2017-12-22 |title=Deroy Murdock: Atlas Network defeats poverty for $4.88 per person |url=https://www.unionleader.com/opinion/columnists/deroy-murdock-atlas-network-defeats-poverty-for-488-per-person/article_e65ca84a-d8ac-5e19-982b-9ed0de54baf0.html |access-date=2023-12-19 |website=UnionLeader.com}}</ref>

In Australia, Atlas Network has partnered with several free-market think tanks, including the Centre for Independent Studies, Institute of Public Affairs, and LibertyWorks (founded by entrepreneur Andrew Cooper<ref>{{cite web |title=CPAC Team |website=CPAC Australia |date=5 February 2026 |url=https://www.cpac.network/cpac-team/andrew_cooper |access-date=8 February 2026}}</ref>).<ref name=":19">{{cite journal |last1=Walker |first1=Jeremy |title=Silencing the Voice: the Fossil-fuelled Atlas Network's Campaign against Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australia |journal=Cosmopolitan Civil Societies |date=30 September 2023 |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=105–125 |doi=10.5130/ccs.v15.i2.8813 |url=https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/mcs/article/view/8813/8267 |access-date=20 February 2024 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Williams |first=David |title=Chiding in plain sight, Part II |url=https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/11/02/chiding-in-plain-sight-part-two/ |access-date=20 February 2024 |website=Newsroom |date=2 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204203510/https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/11/02/chiding-in-plain-sight-part-two/ |archive-date=4 February 2024}}</ref> In New Zealand, Atlas Network has partnered with the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union.<ref name="Williams 2023">{{cite web |last1=Williams |first1=David |title=Chiding in plain sight |url=https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/10/31/chiding-in-plain-sight/ |access-date=20 February 2024 |website=Newsroom |date=31 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204203511/https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/10/31/chiding-in-plain-sight/ |archive-date=4 February 2024}}</ref> ACT New Zealand leader David Seymour once worked for the Atlas Network-affiliated Frontier Centre for Public Policy in Canada.<ref name="Pannett 2024">{{Cite news |last=Pannett |first=Rachel |date=2024-07-02 |title=New Zealand, once a utopia for Trump-weary exiles, turns to the right |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/07/02/new-zealand-america-moving-trump/ |access-date=2024-07-15 |newspaper=The Washington Post |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Atlas Network chair Debbi Gibbs' father helped found the ACT party.<ref name="Pannett 2024" /> In May 2024, Atlas Network co-hosted its Europe Liberty Forum in Madrid with its Spanish partner Fundalib (Foundation for the Advancement of Liberty).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cleppe |first=Pieter |date=2024-05-27 |title=European liberty campaigners gather in Madrid |url=https://www.brusselsreport.eu/2024/05/27/european-liberty-campaigners-gather-in-madrid/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=Brussels Report}}</ref>

=== Grants === In the early 2000s, Atlas Network moved to distribute general purpose funds through grant competitions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Djelic |first1=Marie-Laure |last2=Mousavi |first2=Reza |date=2020-05-12 |chapter=How the neoliberal think tank went global: The Atlas Network, 1981 to the present |editor-last1=Plehwe |editor-first1=Dieter |editor-last2=Slobodian |editor-first2=Quinn |editor-last3=Mirowski |editor-first3=Philip |title=Nine lives of neoliberalism |publisher=Verso Books |publication-place=London |isbn=978-1-78873-253-6 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10419/215796 |hdl=1871.1/b253496c-1e94-468f-a61d-7d2bfb8649d4 |hdl-access=free |id={{DNB-IDN|1267842180/34}} |chapter-url=https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/215796/1/Full-text-book-Plehwe-et-al-Nine-lives-of-neoliberalism.pdf#page=284 |pages=257-282, at p. 273}}</ref> The organization provides limited amounts of financial support to new think tanks on a case-by-case basis. Grants are usually given for specific projects and range between $2,000 and $5,000.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wyszomierski |first1=Sara |title=Guide to Funding for International & Foreign Programs |date=2010 |publisher=University of Michigan |page=409}}</ref> In 2020, Atlas Network provided more than $5 million in the form of grants to support its network of more than 500 partners worldwide.<ref>{{cite form 990 |signatory-last=Lipps |signatory-first=Bradley A. |preparer-last=Chen| preparer-first=Jie |tax-year=2020 |org=Atlas Economic Research Foundation |ein=94-2763845 |signature-date=2021-04-05 |modification-date=2021-06-11 |fy=no|url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/942763845/05_2021_prefixes_92-94/942763845_202012_990_2021052118161289}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Nunez |first=Joaquin |title=In a country where doing business is almost impossible, Papa Coriandre proves to be the exception to the rule |url=https://voz.us/in-a-country-where-doing-business-is-almost-impossible-papa-coriandre-proved-to-be-the-exception-to-the-rule/?lang=en |website=Voz Media |date=24 June 2023}}</ref> According to Atlas Network, its grants fund coaching, networking, pitch competitions, award programs, and other "ambitious projects for policy change".<ref name="Weinberg 2024" /> By the end of 2024, Atlas Network said it had 581 partners in more 100 countries worldwide;<ref>{{cite web |date=2024 |title=The Network |url=https://www.atlasnetwork.org/partners |url-status=live |website=Atlas Network |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250101071950/https://www.atlasnetwork.org/partners |archive-date=1 January 2025 |access-date=1 January 2025}}</ref> ''The Guardian'' reported it had "more than 450 think tanks" in May 2024.<ref name="Geoghegan 2024" />

The organization funds Costa Rica's IDEAS Labs, which helped reform the country's pension laws in 2020.<ref name="Fund 2021" /> Atlas Network also supports the Philippines-based Foundation for Economic Freedom, which works on property rights.<ref name="Fund 2021" /> Atlas Network supports the Burundian think tank CDE Great Lakes, which has helped reduce the paperwork and fees required to start a business in the country. The think tank works with local entrepreneurs, such as "Papa Coriandre", who formalized his small business and has since grown it from two to 139 employees.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Núñez |first=Joaquín |date=2023-06-25 |title=In a country where doing business is almost impossible, Papa Coriandre proves to be the exception to the rule |url=https://voz.us/en/world/230625/9236/in-a-country-where-doing-business-is-almost-impossible-papa-coriandre-proved-to-be-the-exception-to-the-rule.html?lang=en |access-date=2023-06-29 |website=Voz Media}}</ref>

=== Awards === Atlas Network's Templeton Freedom Award, supported by Templeton Religion Trust and named after Sir John Templeton, was established in 2004.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Commemorating Sir John Templeton (1912–2012) |editor-last=Welker |editor-first=Michael |title=The Science and Religion Dialogue: Past and Future |year=2014 |publisher=Peter Lang |doi=10.3726/978-3-653-04874-2/12 |isbn=978-3-631-65185-8}}</ref> In 2015, the Acton Institute was awarded $100,000 for its documentary film ''Poverty, Inc.''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-11-13 |title=Acton Institute film about poverty wins $100,000 Templeton Freedom Award |url=https://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/2015/11/acton_institute_film_about_pov.html |access-date=2021-08-31 |website=M-Live}}</ref> In 2020, the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies won the award for its Affordable Food for the Poor Initiative.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Promoting Food Security Through Free Trade Ideas, A Congratulations to the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies |url=https://www.propertyrightsalliance.org/news/promoting-food-security-through-free-trade-ideas-a-congratulations-to-the-center-for-indonesian-policy-studies/ |access-date=2021-09-30 |website=Property Rights Alliance}}</ref> In 2021, India's Centre for Civil Society was the winner.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rosell |first=Rosi |date=2021-12-22 |title=Yotuel Romero Shook Up LoanDeopt Park – Calle Ocho News |url=https://calleochonews.com/yotuel-romero-shook-up-loandepot-park-in-the-name-of-freedom/ |access-date=2022-12-12 |website=Calle Ocho News}}</ref> In 2022, the Sri Lanka–based Advocata Institute, an Atlas Network partner, won its Asia Liberty Award and the Templeton Freedom Award.<ref>{{Cite web |author= |date=13 October 2022 |title=Advocata Institute wins 2022 Asia Liberty Award |url=https://www.ft.lk/business/Advocata-Institute-wins-2022-Asia-Liberty-Award/34-740882 |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=Daily FT |publication-place=Colombo, Sri Lanka |publisher=Wijeya Newspapers}}</ref><ref>{{Cite episode |people=Odermatt, John (host); Fernando, Dhananath (guest) |title=Americans should pay attention to Sri Lanka's economic crisis with Dhananath Fernando |type=Podcast episode |series=Finding Freedom with John Odermatt |issue=364 |url=https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/americans-should-pay-attention-to-sri-lankas-economic-crisis-with-dhananath-fernando |access-date=2022-12-20 |publisher=Lions of Liberty podcast network}}</ref>

The organization's Think Tank Shark Tank competition allows professionals to pitch their projects to judges.<ref>{{Cite web |author= |date=2019-08-18 |title=ILAPI to compete in 2019 Think tank shark tank Award in Kenya |url=https://www.rainbowradioonline.com/ilapi-to-compete-in-2019-think-tank-shark-tank-award-in-kenya/ |access-date=2021-09-10 |website=RainbowRadioOnline.com |publication-place=London & Accra, Ghana |publisher=Rainbow Radio International |archive-date=2021-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910152945/https://www.rainbowradioonline.com/ilapi-to-compete-in-2019-think-tank-shark-tank-award-in-kenya/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2018, Dhananath Fernando won the Asia Think Tank Shark Tank championship for his research on the high cost of construction in Sri Lanka and his proposal to lower the taxes on construction materials.<ref>{{Cite web |author= |date=14 February 2018 |title=Dhananath Fernando wins US$10,000 for Sri Lanka in Think Tank Shark Tank in Asia |language=en |url=https://www.dailymirror.lk/business-news/Dhananath-Fernando-wins-US-for-Sri-Lanka-in-Think-Tank-Shark-Tank-in-Asia/273-145799 |access-date=2021-09-11 |website=DailyMirror.lk |publication-place=Colombo, Sri Lanka |publisher=Wijeya Newspapers}}</ref> In 2019, Students for Liberty and Entrepreneurship (South Sudan) led by John Mustapha Kutiyote won the award for promoting home ownership by women.<ref>{{cite web |author= |url=https://www.atlasnetwork.org/articles/kutiyote-wins-the-2019-think-tank-shark-tank-prize |title=Kutiyote wins the 2019 Think Tank Shark Tank prize |website=Atlas Network |date=22 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://admin.atlasnetwork.org/assets/documents/financials/AR_2019_Revised.pdf#page=12 |author=Atlas Network |date=2 April 2020 |title=Atlas Network 2019 Annual Report |page=12 |access-date=1 March 2024 |publication-place=Arlington, Virginia |publisher=Author}}</ref>{{Third-party inline|date=March 2024}} Students for Liberty Brasil won the 2021 Latin America competition for their project on educating Brazilian favela residents about property rights.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-06-26 |title=Projeto para favelas do Brasil vence Shark Tank da América Latina |url=https://www.clickguarulhos.com.br/2021/06/26/projeto-para-favelas-do-brasil-vence-shark-tank-da-america-latina/ |access-date=2021-09-10 |website=Click Guarulhos |language=pt-br}}</ref>

=== Publications === Atlas Network publishes a magazine titled ''Freedom's Champion'' twice a year.<ref name="Lau 2025">{{Cite news |last=Lau |first=Matthew |date=25 June 2025 |title=Friedman is still freedom's happy warrior |url=https://financialpost.com/opinion/milton-friedman-freedom-happy-warrior |access-date=2025-07-23 |work=Financial Post |publisher=Postmedia Network |language=en}}</ref> In 2025, the organization featured economist Milton Friedman and his role in supporting Atlas Network's mission, with Brad Lips saying Friedman's legacy is "more important and influential than ever." The organization also hosted a webinar on Friedman's long-term impact.<ref name="Lau 2025" />

== Financials == As a non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization, Atlas Network receives donations from foundations, individuals, and corporations, but not government funding.<ref name="McGann & Whelan 2020" /> In April 2025, ''ABC News Australia'' reported that Atlas Network donors "believe individuals should be empowered to prosper and the state should play a small role."<ref name="Clark 2025" />

Atlas Network has received funding from the Charles Koch Foundation and the Charles Koch Institute.<ref name="Le Monde 2021" /> Other donors include Donors Trust, Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, and the Lilly Endowment.<ref name="Fund 2021" />

Research by the activist website ''DeSmog'' said Atlas Network had received millions of dollars from Koch-affiliated groups, the ExxonMobil Foundation, and the Sarah Scaife Foundation.<ref name="Westervelt & Dembicki 2023" /> As of 2005, Atlas Network had received $440,000 from ExxonMobil itself.<ref>{{Cite magazine |author= |date=May 2005 |title=Put a tiger in your think tank |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2005/05/put-tiger-your-think-tank |access-date=2017-09-22 |magazine=Mother Jones |publication-place=San Francisco |publisher=Foundation for National Progress |issn=0362-8841}}</ref> In 2023, Atlas Network said it had received no funding from oil and gas companies "for nearly 15 years," and reaffirmed this claim in April 2025.<ref name="Westervelt & Dembicki 2023" /><ref name="Clark 2025" />

Of Atlas Network partners, 57 percent in the U.S. received funding from the tobacco industry between 1990 and 2000.<ref name="Smith, Thompson & Lee 2016" /> Atlas Network said that corporate funding accounted for less than 2% of its total donations in 2020.<ref name="Le Monde 2021" /> ''National Review'' said in 2021 that "fossil-fuel and tobacco interests" provided less than 1% of Atlas Network's funding over two decades, versus 98% from individuals and foundations.<ref name="Fund 2021" />

As of 2020, Atlas Network had assets of $13,849,965.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.atlasnetwork.org/assets/uploads/annual-reports/AR_2020_Spreads.pdf |title=Annual Report 2020 |website=Atlas Network |date=2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817181410/https://www.atlasnetwork.org/assets/uploads/annual-reports/AR_2020_Spreads.pdf |archive-date=17 August 2021 |access-date=1 January 2025}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite web |last1=Roberts |first1=Andrea |last2=Suozzo |first2=Alec Glassford |last3=Ash Ngu |first3=Brandon |date=9 May 2013 |title=Atlas Economic Research Foundation – Nonprofit Explorer |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/942763845 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250101074314/https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/942763845 |archive-date=1 January 2025 |access-date=1 January 2025 |website=ProPublica}} Updated through the years. {{failed verification|date=October 2025}}</ref> In 2023, the group received over $28 million from donors and gave out more than $7.6 million in grants to its partners.<ref name="Clark 2025" />

==Partners==

Notable partners of Atlas Network include think tanks such as the Institute of Economic Affairs in the United Kingdom; the Cato Institute, Manhattan Institute, Pacific Research Institute, the Heartland Institute, the Goldwater Institute, and Acton Institute in the United States; the Fraser Institute, Macdonald–Laurier Institute, Canadian Taxpayers Federation, the Montreal Economic Institute, the American Legislative Exchange Council, and Second Street in Canada;<ref name="Fisher_202103" /> the Centre for Independent Studies in Australia; and the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union.<ref name="Westervelt & Dembicki 2023" /><ref name="Williams 2023" /><ref name=":2" /> The Heritage Foundation was a member until 2020.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Stöcker |first=Christian |date=2024-07-16 |title='Project 2025': Der Masterplan für den fossilen Gottesstaat – Kolumne |url=https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch/project-2025-der-masterplan-fuer-den-fossilen-gottesstaat-der-rationalist-kolumne-a-0ea020d7-082f-4398-ac84-59a1db6c3932 |access-date=2024-07-23 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist|30em}}

== External links == * {{official website|http://atlasnetwork.org}} * {{ProPublicaNonprofitExplorer|942763845}}

{{coord|38.9038|N|77.0285|W|display=title}} {{authority control}} Category:501(c)(3) organizations Category:Acton Institute Category:Cato Institute Category:Conservative organizations in the United States Category:Heartland Institute Category:The Heritage Foundation Category:Libertarian organizations based in the United States Category:Libertarian think tanks Category:Lobbying organizations Category:Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Category:Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C. Category:Political and economic think tanks in the United States