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114-617: The Lowy Institute is an independent think tank founded in April 2003 by Frank Lowy to conduct original, policy-relevant research regarding international political, strategic and economic issues from an Australian perspective. It is based in Sydney , Australia. The institute has been described as "neoliberal", "centre-right" leaning and "reactionary". It states that its research and analysis aim to be non-partisan, and its programme of conferences, seminars and other events are designed to inform and deepen

228-1273: A visual artist , and John Shipton , an anti-war activist and builder. The couple separated before their son was born. When Julian was a year old his mother married Brett Assange, an actor with whom she ran a small theatre company and whom Julian Assange regards as his father (choosing Assange as his surname). Christine and Brett Assange divorced around 1979. Christine then became involved with Leif Meynell, also known as Leif Hamilton, whom Julian Assange later described as "a member of an Australian cult" called The Family . Meynell and Christine Assange separated in 1982. Julian Assange lived in more than thirty Australian towns and cities during his childhood. He attended several schools, including Goolmangar Primary School in New South Wales (1979–1983) and Townsville State High School in Queensland as well as being schooled at home. In his mid-teens, he settled with his mother and half-brother in Melbourne . He moved in with his girlfriend at age 17. Assange studied programming , mathematics , and physics at Central Queensland University (1994) and

342-535: A "LEAKS" project. Assange stated that he registered the domain "leaks.org" in 1999, but did not use it. He publicised a patent granted to the National Security Agency in August 1999, for voice-data harvesting technology saying "This patent should worry people. Everyone's overseas phone calls are or may soon be tapped, transcribed and archived in the bowels of an unaccountable foreign spy agency." Assange and

456-515: A book on the Internet about how to build a bomb". In the same year, he took over running one of the first public Internet service providers in Australia, Suburbia Public Access Network, when its original owner, Mark Dorset, moved to Sydney . He joined the cypherpunk mailing list in late 1993 or early 1994. According to Robert Manne , Assange's main political focus at this time seems to have been

570-745: A data network used by the US military, where Assange found reports he said showed the US military was hacking other parts of itself. Assange found a backdoor and later said they "had control over it for two years." In 2012, Ken Day, the former head of the Australian Federal Police computer crime team, said that there had been no evidence the International Subversives had hacked MILNET. In response to Assange's statements about accessing MILNET, Day said that "Assange may still be liable to prosecution for that act—if it can be proved." Assange wrote

684-526: A deal with the DOJ. Assange agreed to a plea deal with U.S. prosecutors. He pleaded guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified U.S. national defence documents in return for a sentence of time served . Following the hearing Assange flew to Australia, arriving on 26 June. Assange was born Julian Paul Hawkins on 3 July 1971 in Townsville , Queensland, to Christine Ann Hawkins,

798-577: A former Australian diplomat and cabinet secretary, Michael Thawley (with his wife Deborah). The institute registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission , in 2012, as the "Lowy Institute For International Policy", and by 2019 was reporting over $ 12 million in revenues (including over $ 2 million from government), and over $ 9 million in expenses. The institute publishes polls, white papers and rankings on various international affairs subjects—particularly regarding Australia and

912-528: A global shopping centre company; he retains a key role in various shopping centres in Australia and New Zealand . The institute receives funds from the Australian government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade , Department of Defence , and the Department of Home Affairs . Companies which provide funding include BHP , Capital Group , Rio Tinto , and Rothschild & Co . In 2003, Lowy endowed

1026-415: A group of other dissidents, mathematicians and activists established WikiLeaks in 2006. Assange became a member of its advisory board. From 2007 to 2010, Assange travelled continuously on WikiLeaks business, visiting Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. In December 2006, the month WikiLeaks posted its first leak, Assange published a five-page essay that outlined the "thought experiment" behind

1140-529: A guard shouted. The Kenya leak led to corruption being a major issue in the election that followed, which was marred by violence. According to Assange, "1,300 people were eventually killed, and 350,000 were displaced. That was a result of our leak. On the other hand, the Kenyan people had a right to that information and 40,000 children a year die of malaria in Kenya. And many more die of money being pulled out of Kenya, and as

1254-513: A larger mosaic that concentrates all the EPA's enemies against it at one time." According to the progressive media watchdog Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting , both left-wing and right-wing policy institutes are often quoted and rarely identified as such. The result is that think tank "experts" are sometimes depicted as neutral sources without any ideological predispositions when, in fact, they represent

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1368-1120: A number of categories and presents its findings in the Global Go-To Think Tanks rating index. However, this method of the study and assessment of policy institutes has been criticized by researchers such as Enrique Mendizabal and Goran Buldioski, Director of the Think Tank Fund, assisted by the Open Society Institute . Think tanks may attempt to broadly inform the public by holding conferences to discuss issues which they may broadcast; encouraging scholars to give public lectures, testifying before committees of governmental bodies; publishing and widely distributing books, magazines, newsletters or journals; creating mailing lists to distribute new publications; and engaging in social media. Think tanks may privately influence policy by having their members accept bureaucratic positions, having members serve on political advisory boards, inviting policy-makers to events, allowing individuals to work at

1482-504: A number of think tanks that are in the form of governmental, non-governmental, and corporate organizations. In China a number of think tanks are sponsored by governmental agencies such as Development Research Center of the State Council , but still retain sufficient non-official status to be able to propose and debate ideas more freely. In January 2012, the first non-official think tank in mainland China, South Non-Governmental Think-Tank,

1596-702: A particular perspective. In the United States, think tank publications on education are subjected to expert review by the National Education Policy Center 's "Think Twice" think tank review project. A 2014 New York Times report asserted that foreign governments buy influence at many United States think tanks. According to the article: "More than a dozen prominent Washington research groups have received tens of millions of dollars from foreign governments in recent years while pushing United States government officials to adopt policies that often reflect

1710-572: A password. When Manning told Assange she had nothing else to submit to WikiLeaks, he replied that "curious eyes never run dry in my experience." During her court martial, Manning said she downloaded the detainee assessment briefs (DABs) for Guantanamo Bay after speaking to a member of Wikileaks via a secure online chat log. While discussing files on Guantanamo Bay, Manning asked Assange about detainee assessment briefs. She said that "although he did not believe that they were of political significance, he did believe that they could be used to merge into

1824-424: A program called Sycophant that allowed the International Subversives to conduct "massive attacks on the US military". The International Subversives regularly hacked into systems belonging to a "who's who of the U.S. military-industrial complex " and the network of Australia National University . Assange later said he had been "a famous teenage hacker in Australia, and I've been reading generals' emails since I

1938-581: A range of economic and governance issues confronting Ghana and Sub-Saharan Africa . It has also been involved in bringing political parties together to engage in dialogue. In particular it has organised Presidential debates every election year since the Ghanaian presidential election, 1996 . Notable think tanks in Ghana include: Afghanistan has a number of think tanks that are in the form of governmental, non-governmental, and corporate organizations. Bangladesh has

2052-401: A result of the Kenyan shilling being debased". Reporters have discussed the moral dilemma involved in reporting the corruption in Kenya. WikiLeaks' international profile increased in 2008 when a Swiss bank, Bank Julius Baer , tried via a Californian court injunction to prevent the site's publication of bank records. Assange commented that financial institutions ordinarily "operate outside

2166-435: A result of the disclosures in the agreement submitted to the court prior to his release. The US cited the release in the opening of its request for extradition of Assange, saying his actions put lives at risk. John Young, the owner and operator of the website Cryptome , testified at Assange's extradition hearing that the unredacted cables were published by Cryptome on 1 September, the day before WikiLeaks, and they remain on

2280-526: A series of leaks from Chelsea Manning , a United States Army intelligence analyst: footage of a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad , U.S. military logs from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and U.S. diplomatic cables . Assange has won multiple awards for publishing and journalism. Assange was raised in various places around Australia until his family settled in Melbourne in his middle teens. He became involved in

2394-505: A wide range among them in terms of the quality of their research. Later generations of think tanks have tended to be more ideologically oriented. Modern think tanks began as a phenomenon in the United Kingdom in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with most of the rest being established in other English-speaking countries. Prior to 1945, they tended to focus on the economic issues associated with industrialization and urbanization. During

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2508-586: Is a global think tank that works on issues such as Water Diplomacy , Peace and Conflict and Foresight (futures studies) . Think tanks with a development focus include those like the National Centre for Cold-chain Development ('NCCD'), which serve to bring an inclusive policy change by supporting the Planning Commission and related government bodies with industry-specific inputs – in this case, set up at

2622-637: Is collaboration between policy institutes in different countries. For instance, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace operates offices in Washington, D.C. , Beijing , Beirut , Brussels and formerly in Moscow , where it was closed in April 2022. The Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) at the University of Pennsylvania , led by James McGann , annually rates policy institutes worldwide in

2736-424: Is credited with attracting information-harvesting cyber attacks on the institute, during and before 2012—comparable to similar attacks against U.S. think tanks. The attacks were generally attributed to China . In 2019, Richard McGregor published a Lowy report entitled "Xi Jingping: The Backlash", which looked at how the world is dealing with China's rise to global power. A cable dated 17 December 2010 sent from

2850-452: Is done in public think tanks. There is a strong emphasis on the knowledge-based economy and, according to one respondent, think tank research is generally considered high quality. Japan has over 100 think tanks, most of which cover not only policy research but also economy, technology and so on. Some are government related, but most of the think tanks are sponsored by the private sector. Institute of World Economics and Politics (IWEP) at

2964-664: Is to maintain analytical and research support for the President of Kazakhstan. Most Malaysian think tanks are related either to the government or a political party. Historically they focused on defense, politics and policy. However, in recent years, think tanks that focus on international trade, economics, and social sciences have also been founded. Notable think tanks in Malaysia include: Pakistan's think tanks mainly revolve around social policy, internal politics, foreign security issues, and regional geo-politics. Most of these are centered on

3078-701: The Afghan War logs in July 2010. It was described by the New York Times as "a six-year archive of classified military documents [that] offers an unvarnished and grim picture of the Afghan war". In October 2010, WikiLeaks published the Iraq War logs , a collection of 391,832 United States Army field reports from the Iraq War covering from 2004 to 2009. Assange said that he hoped the publication would "correct some of that attack on

3192-472: The Arab Spring . In March 2010 a member of WikiLeaks using the handle "Ox", widely believed to be Julian Assange, talked to Chelsea Manning by text chat while she was submitting leaks to WikiLeaks. The US referred to these chat logs in the 2018 indictment of Julian Assange and filed an affidavit which said they were able to identify Assange as the person chatting with Manning using hints he made during

3306-550: The Arab world , extrajudicial executions by Kenyan police, 2008 Tibetan unrest in China, and the "Petrogate" oil scandal in Peru . From its inception, the website had a significant impact on political news in a large number of countries and across a wide range of issues. From its inception, WikiLeaks sought to engage with the established professional media. It had good relations with parts of

3420-524: The Australian Freedom of Information Act to obtain documents, and secretly recorded meetings with Health and Community Services. The group also used flyers to encourage insiders to anonymously come forward, and according to Assange they "had moles who were inside dissidents." An insider leaked a key internal departmental manual about the rules for custody disputes to the group. In November 1996 Assange sent an email to lists he had created and mentioned

3534-466: The Cold War , many more American and other Western think tanks were established, which often guided government Cold War policy. Since 1991, more think tanks have been established in non-Western parts of the world. More than half of all think tanks that exist today were established after 1980. As of 2023, there are more than 11,000 think tanks around the world. According to historian Jacob Soll , while

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3648-457: The Crimes Act , and fraudulent use of a telecommunications network. The judge called the charges "quite serious" and initially thought a jail term would be necessary but ultimately sentenced Assange to a fine of A$ 2,100 and released him on a A$ 5,000 good behaviour bond because of his disrupted childhood and the absence of malicious or mercenary intent. After his sentencing, Assange told

3762-521: The NATO Secretary General, U.S , Vice-President Joe Biden , United Kingdom prime minister Boris Johnson , and various other Australian and foreign leaders. The institute commonly meets and interacts with Australian officials, and with visiting international leaders, and is a source of influence on Australian government. The resulting internal and external computer activity, including email traffic, which could be of interest to foreign powers,

3876-559: The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Think tank A think tank , or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy , political strategy , economics , military , technology , and culture . Most think tanks are non-governmental organizations , but some are semi-autonomous agencies within a government, and some are associated with particular political parties, businesses, or

3990-545: The Turks and Caicos Islands . The report had been due for publication earlier in the year but an injunction obtained by some of those named had prevented its publication. According to Assange, the Commission released a redacted report and then removed it. WikiLeaks obtained and restored the full text. The report found that foreign property developers had given millions of US dollars in payments and secret loans to senior politicians in

4104-708: The University of Melbourne (2003–2006), but did not complete a degree. Assange started the Puzzle Hunt tradition at the University of Melbourne, which was modelled after the MIT Mystery Hunt . He was involved in the Melbourne rave scene, and assisted in installing an internet kiosk at Ollie Olsen 's club night called "Psychic Harmony", which was held at Dream nightclub in Carlton (now called Illusion). Assange's nickname at

4218-496: The Victoria Police Child Exploitation Unit to prosecute individuals responsible for publishing and distributing child pornography. His lawyers said he was pleased to assist, emphasising that he received no benefit for this and was not an informer. His role in helping the police was discussed during his 1996 sentencing on computer hacking charges. According to his mother, Assange also helped police "remove

4332-519: The WANK hack at NASA in 1989, but this has never been proven. Assange called it "the origin of hacktivism ", and the Swedish television documentary WikiRebels , which was made with Assange's cooperation, also hinted he was involved. The WANK worm was also discussed in the opening chapter of Underground , a book for which Assange was the researcher. In mid-1991 the three hackers began targeting MILNET ,

4446-590: The hacker community and was convicted for hacking in 1996. Following the establishment of WikiLeaks, Assange was its editor when it published the Bank Julius Baer documents , footage of the 2008 Tibetan unrest , and a report on political killings in Kenya with The Sunday Times . Publication of the leaks from Manning started in February 2010. In November 2010 Sweden wished to question Assange in an unrelated police investigation and sought to extradite him from

4560-448: The " network intrusion detection technologies" company Earthmen Technology which developed Linux kernel hacking tools. During this period he also earned a sizeable income working as a consultant for large corporations. In October 1998, Assange decided to visit friends and announced on the cypherpunks mailing list he would be "hopscotching" through Russia , Mongolia , China , Poland and Eastern Europe . According to Assange, in

4674-477: The 1950s, the phrase "think tank" did not refer to organizations. From its first appearances in the 1890s up to the 1950s, the phrase was most commonly used in American English to colloquially refer to the braincase or especially in a pejorative context to the human brain itself when commenting on an individual's failings (in the sense that something was wrong with that person's "think tank"). Around 1958,

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4788-421: The 1980s as a result of globalization, the end of the Cold War , and the emergence of transnational problems. Two-thirds of all the think tanks that exist today were established after 1970 and more than half were established since 1980. The effect of globalisation on the proliferation of think tanks is most evident in regions such as Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and parts of Southeast Asia, where there

4902-544: The 1990s, he and Suburbia Public Access Network facilitated leaks for activists and lawyers. Assange told Suelette Dreyfus that he had "acted as a conduit for leaked documents" when fighting local corruption. While awaiting trial and trying to get custody of his son, Assange and his mother formed the activist organisation Parent Inquiry Into Child Protection. An article in the Canadian magazine Maclean's later referred to it as "a low-tech rehearsal for WikiLeaks". The group used

5016-624: The 2011 Lowy Institute Poll was considered inadequate for formulating Australian policy compared to studies undertaken by CSIRO , Ipsos -Eureka, Cardiff University , Stanford University , and Yale University . In 2012, the institute was criticised by Jim Green, national nuclear campaigner of Friends of the Earth Australia , alleging that the institute ran "a disgraceful propaganda campaign" to advocate for Australian uranium sales to India , in contravention of Australia's longstanding policy of refusing to sell uranium to nations who did not join

5130-518: The 20th century, such institutes were found primarily in the United States, along with much smaller numbers in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Western Europe. Although think tanks had also existed in Japan for some time, they generally lacked independence, having close associations with government ministries or corporations. There has been a veritable proliferation of "think tanks" around the world that began during

5244-510: The AUCRYPTO forum, ran a website that gave advice on computer security to 5,000 subscribers in 1996, and contributed research to Suelette Dreyfus 's Underground (1997), a book about Australian hackers including the International Subversives. According to Assange, he "deliberately minimized" his role in Underground so it could "pull in the whole community". In 1998 he co-founded with Trax

5358-499: The Asia-Pacific region—and advocates for a proactive and globally engaged Australian foreign policy. It hosts conferences, seminars and other events. Its annual Lowy Lecture is the institute's "signature event", where a "prominent individual", from Australia or abroad, comments on Australia's global role and on global influences on Australia. The institute has hosted presentations by every Australian prime minister since 2003, as well as

5472-454: The Cryptome site. Lawyers for Assange gave evidence it said would show that Assange was careful to protect lives. In December 2010, PostFinance said it was closing Assange's Swiss bank account because he "provided false information regarding his place of residence during the account opening process" but that there would be "no criminal consequences" for misleading authorities. WikiLeaks said

5586-613: The Foundation of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan was created in 2003. IWEP activities aimed at research problems of the world economy, international relations, geopolitics, security, integration and Eurasia, as well as the study of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and its contribution to the establishment and strengthening of Kazakhstan as an independent state,

5700-593: The German and British press. A collaboration with the Sunday Times journalist Jon Swain on a report on political killings in Kenya led to increased public recognition of the WikiLeaks publication, and this collaboration won Assange the 2009 Amnesty International New Media Award. Assange said that six men with guns tried to attack the compound that he slept at in Kenya after the report was published, but were scared away when

5814-459: The German magazine Der Freitag published an article giving details which enabled people to piece the information together. On 1 September 2011, WikiLeaks announced they would make the unredacted cables public and searchable. The Guardian wrote that the decision to publish the cables was made by Assange alone, a decision that it and its four previous media partners condemned. Glenn Greenwald wrote that "WikiLeaks decided—quite reasonably—that

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5928-697: The Lowy Institute and its results are widely cited in the Australian and international media. The Lowy Institute has also conducted opinion polling in Indonesia, New Zealand and China. The first Lowy Poll was in 2005. In April 2023, the Lowy Institute poll indicated that one in five Chinese-Australians were called offensive names in 2022, down 10 points from 31% in 2020, highlighting that Chinese-Australians face fewer racist insults than at height of diplomatic tensions with Beijing. The institute's board comprises Australian policy makers and business people. The format of

6042-578: The Philippines could be generally categorized in terms of their linkages with the national government. Several were set up by the Philippine government for the specific purpose of providing research input into the policy-making process. Sri Lanka has a number of think tanks that are in the form of governmental, non-governmental and corporate organizations. There are several think tanks in Singapore that advise

6156-671: The U.S. government unsealed new indictments against Assange, charging him with violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and alleging he had conspired with hackers. Assange was incarcerated in HM Prison Belmarsh in London from April 2019 to June 2024, as the U.S. government's extradition effort was contested in the UK courts. In 2024, following a High Court ruling that granted Assange a full appeal to extradition, Assange and his lawyers negotiated

6270-665: The UK. In June 2012, Assange breached his bail and took refuge in the Embassy of Ecuador in London . He was granted asylum by Ecuador in August 2012 on the grounds of political persecution and fears he might be extradited to the United States. In 2013, he launched the WikiLeaks Party and unsuccessfully stood for the Australian Senate . Swedish prosecutors dropped their investigation in 2019. On 11 April 2019, Assange's asylum

6384-512: The US embassy in Australia was released to Italian investigative journalist Stefania Maurizi in December 2023 under freedom of information . The US cable concerned reactions in Australia to the United States diplomatic cables leak . The cable revealed that US officials monitored pro- Assange protests in Australia for "anti-US sentiment" and warned that there was "increasing sympathy, particularly on

6498-521: The WikiLeaks strategy: use leaks to force organisations to reduce levels of abuse and dishonesty or pay "secrecy tax" to be secret but inefficient. Assange explained: The more secretive or unjust an organization is, the more leaks induce fear and paranoia in the leadership and planning coterie. This must result in minimization of efficient internal communications mechanisms (an increase in cognitive "secrecy tax") and consequent system-wide cognitive decline resulting in decreased ability to hold onto power as

6612-527: The account was used to "donate directly to the Julian Assange and other WikiLeaks Staff Defence Fund" and said the closing was part of a banking blockade against WikiLeaks . According to the Associated Press , leaked documents from WikiLeaks include an unsigned letter from Julian Assange authorising Israel Shamir to seek a Russian visa on his behalf in 2010. WikiLeaks said Assange never applied for

6726-487: The accusations he said "It is absolutely right to name names. It is not necessarily right to name every name." John Goetz of Der Spiegel, who was also at the dinner, says that Assange did not make such a statement. In November 2010 WikiLeaks published a quarter of a million U.S. diplomatic cables, known as the "Cablegate" files. WikiLeaks initially worked with established Western media organisations, and later with smaller regional media organisations while also publishing

6840-538: The actions of think tanks and potentially bypass the political process, analysing the social background and values of those who work in think tanks. Pautz criticizes this viewpoint because there is in practice a variety of viewpoints in think tanks and argues it dismisses the influence that ideas can have. In some cases, corporate interests, military interests and political groups have found it useful to create policy institutes, advocacy organizations, and think tanks. For example, The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition

6954-492: The argument that WikiLeaks' publications put lives at risk. At one of Assange's extradition hearings in 2020, a lawyer for the US said that "sources, whose redacted names and other identifying information was contained in classified documents published by WikiLeaks, who subsequently disappeared, although the US can't prove at this point that their disappearance was the result of being outed by WikiLeaks." The US Justice Department conceded that it had not identified anyone harmed as

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7068-406: The basis of which measures eight types of power: military capability, defence networks, economic resources, economic relationships, diplomatic influence, cultural influence, resilience and future resources. The annual Lowy Poll surveys a nationally representative sample of the adult Australian population on foreign policy issues and is the Lowy Institute's flagship publication. It is wholly funded by

7182-458: The behest of the government to direct cold chain development. Some think tanks have a fixed set of focus areas and they work towards finding out policy solutions to social problems in the respective areas. Initiatives such as National e-Governance Plan (to automate administrative processes) and National Knowledge Network (NKN) (for data and resource sharing amongst education and research institutions), if implemented properly, should help improve

7296-454: The best and safest course was to release all the cables in full, so that not only the world's intelligence agencies but everyone had them, so that steps could be taken to protect the sources and so that the information in them was equally available". The US established an Information Review Task Force (IRTF) to investigate the impact of WikiLeaks' publications. It involved as many as 125 people working over 10 months. According to IRTF reports,

7410-418: The cables upon which their reporting was based. Assange told a media partner that he owned the information and had a financial interest in how it was released. The files show United States espionage against the United Nations and other world leaders, revealed tensions between the U.S. and its allies, and exposed corruption in countries throughout the world as documented by U.S. diplomats, helping to spark

7524-561: The capital, Islamabad . One such think tank is the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), which focuses on policy advocacy and research particularly in the area of environment and social development. Another policy research institute based in Islamabad is the Institute of Social and Policy Sciences (I-SAPS) which works in the fields of education, health, disaster risk reduction, governance , conflict and stabilization. Since 2007 - 2008, I-SAPS has been analyzing public expenditure of federal and provincial governments. Think tanks in

7638-460: The chats and that Manning identified him as Assange to Adrian Lamo . In the chat logs, Manning asks Assange if he was "any good at LM hash cracking", which would decrypt passwords. Assange said he was, and told Manning about rainbow tables that WikiLeaks used to crack hashes and find passwords associated with them. An affidavit by an FBI agent involved in bringing the case against Assange claimed this showed an "illegal agreement" to help crack

7752-470: The church spans from Charlemagne all the way to the 17th century, when the kings of France were still arguing about whether they had the right to appoint bishops and receive a cut of their income." Soll cites as an early example the Académie des frères Dupuy , created in Paris around 1620 by the brothers Pierre and Jacques Dupuy and also known after 1635 as the cabinet des frères Dupuy . The Club de l'Entresol , active in Paris between 1723 and 1731,

7866-422: The construction of a discourse coalition with a common aim, citing the example of deregulation of trucking, airlines, and telecommunications in the 1970s. Plejwe argues that this deregulation represented a discourse coalition between the Ford Motor Company , FedEx , neo-liberal economists, the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute . Elite theory considers how an "elite" influence

7980-422: The control of states, and attract media support for its advocacy of freedom of speech , though not as much as he hoped; his goal of crowd-sourcing analysis of the documents was unsuccessful and few of the leaks attracted mainstream media attention. In July 2009 Assange released through Wikileaks the full report of a commission of inquiry, set up by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office , into corruption in

8094-422: The court did not take the case, sending it back to the County Court. Assange fell into a deep depression while waiting for his trial and checked himself into a psychiatric hospital and then spent six months sleeping in the wilderness around Melbourne. In December 1996, facing a theoretical sentence of 290 years in prison, he struck a plea deal and pleaded guilty to 24 hacking charges including breaches of

8208-478: The debate about international policy in Australia and to help shape the broader international discussion of these issues. Based in Sydney, the Lowy Institute was founded in 2003 by Slovakian-born, Australian-Israeli billionaire businessman Sir Frank Lowy . Lowy, a veteran of the 1947–1949 Palestine war , and close associate of two former Israeli prime ministers, emigrated to Australia and founded Westfield Corporation ,

8322-568: The development of international cooperation and the promotion of peace and stability. The Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the RK (KazISS) was established by the Decree of the President of RK on 16 June 1993. Since its foundation the main mission of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as a national think tank,

8436-607: The donors' priorities." Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah , set up various state-supported think tanks in the 1960s. By the 1990s, a variety of policy research centers sprang up in Africa set up by academics who sought to influence public policy in Ghana. One such think tank was The Institute of Economic Affairs, Ghana , which was founded in 1989 when the country was ruled by the Provisional National Defence Council . The IEA undertakes and publishes research on

8550-461: The encryption key in their book WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy . Leigh said he believed the key was a temporary one that would expire within days. WikiLeaks supporters disseminated the encrypted files to mirror sites in December 2010 after WikiLeaks experienced cyber-attacks. When WikiLeaks learned what had happened it notified the US State Department . On 25 August 2011,

8664-800: The environment demands adaptation. Assange found key supporters at the Chaos Computer Club conference in Berlin in December 2007, including Daniel Domscheit-Berg and Jacob Appelbaum and the Swedish hosting company PRQ . During this period, Assange was WikiLeaks' editor-in-chief and one of four permanent staff. The organisation maintained a larger group of volunteers, and Assange relied upon networks of others with expertise. The organisation published internet censorship lists, leaks , and classified media from anonymous sources . The publications include revelations about drone strikes in Yemen , corruption across

8778-437: The experts they fund for future government jobs, while others want to push specific areas of research or education." McGann distinguishes think tanks based on independence, source of funding and affiliation, grouping think tanks into autonomous and independent, quasi-independent, government affiliated, quasi-governmental, university affiliated, political-party affiliated or corporate. A new trend, resulting from globalization,

8892-761: The first organization to be regularly described in published writings as "the Think Tank" (note the title case and the use of the definite article ) was the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences . However, the Center does not count itself as and is not perceived to be a think tank in the contemporary sense. During the 1960s, the phrase "think tank" was attached more broadly to meetings of experts, electronic computers , and independent military planning organizations. The prototype and most prominent example of

9006-537: The footage through a US Freedom of Information Act request, but the request was denied. Assange and others worked for a week to break the U.S. military's encryption of the video, which they titled Collateral Murder and which Assange first presented at the U.S. National Press Club . It shows United States soldiers fatally shooting 18 civilians from a helicopter in Iraq, including Reuters journalists Namir Noor-Eldeen and his assistant Saeed Chmagh . WikiLeaks published

9120-466: The general historical account of what occurred at Guantanamo." She added that "after this discussion, I decided to download the data." In 2011, a series of events compromised the security of a WikiLeaks file containing the leaked US diplomatic cables. In August 2010, Assange gave Guardian journalist David Leigh an encryption key and a URL where he could locate the full file. In February 2011 David Leigh and Luke Harding of The Guardian published

9234-468: The government on various policies and as well as private ones for corporations within the region. Many of them are hosted within the local public educational institutions. Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( / ə ˈ s ɑː n ʒ / ə- SAHNZH ; né Hawkins ; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to international attention in 2010 after WikiLeaks published

9348-597: The information-sharing possibilities created by the internet and its threats. He began programming in 1994, authoring or co-authoring network and encryption programs, such as the Rubberhose deniable encryption system. Assange wrote other programs to make the Internet more accessible and developed cyber warfare systems like the Strobe port scanner which could look for weaknesses in hundreds of thousands of computers at any one time. During this period of time he also moderated

9462-452: The institute with a donation sufficient to fund the first eight years of its operation. His family continues to play a key role in the institute, with at least four "Lowy"-named people on the Board of Directors. The institute has also been funded by donations from the investment management firm, Manikay Partners; from a global accounting and professional services firm: Ernst & Young ; and from

9576-503: The islands, including the TCI's former premier, Michael Misick . The Cablegate as well as Iraq and Afghan War releases impacted diplomacy and public opinion globally, with responses varying by region. In April 2010, WikiLeaks released video footage of the 12 July 2007, Baghdad airstrike , that have been regarded by several debaters as evidence of war crimes committed by the U.S. military. The news agency Reuters had earlier requested

9690-465: The judge that he had "been misled by the prosecution in terms of the charges" and "a great misjustice has been done". The judge told Assange "you have pleaded guilty, the proceedings are over" and advised him to be quiet. Assange has described the trial as a formative period and according to The New Republic , "the experience set him on the intellectual path" leading him to found WikiLeaks. In 1993, Assange provided technical advice and support to help

9804-510: The leaks could cause "serious damage" and put foreign US sources at risk. The head of the IRTF, Brigadier General Robert Carr, testified under questioning at Chelsea Manning's sentencing hearing that the task force had found no examples of anyone who had lost their life due to WikiLeaks' publication of the documents. Ed Pilkington wrote in The Guardian that Carr's testimony significantly undermined

9918-440: The left" for Assange. It described the institute's Michael Fullilove as a "moderating voice" who, "while calling the leaks 'fascinating', also termed WikiLeaks ' conduct reckless in a blog post. But for the most part, sensationalist headlines are drowning out Fullilove and other reasonable observers." The institute's website offers publications for free download. In 2006 the regular talks began to be recorded and made available on

10032-526: The military. Think tanks are often funded by individual donations, with many also accepting government grants. Think tanks publish articles and studies, and sometimes draft legislation on particular matters of policy or society. This information is then used by governments, businesses, media organizations, social movements or other interest groups. Think tanks range from those associated with highly academic or scholarly activities to those that are overtly ideological and pushing for particular policies, with

10146-527: The more established think tanks, created during the Cold War , are focused on international affairs, security studies, and foreign policy. Think tanks vary by ideological perspectives, sources of funding, topical emphasis and prospective consumers. Funding may also represent who or what the institution wants to influence; in the United States, for example, "Some donors want to influence votes in Congress or shape public opinion, others want to position themselves or

10260-416: The names of Afghani informants, expressing their fear that they could be killed if exposed. In their book WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy they say Declan Walsh heard Assange say at a dinner when asked about redaction "Well, they're informants, so if they get killed, they've got it coming to them. They deserve it." Assange denies making this statement; speaking on PBS Frontline about

10374-529: The only data he inserted or deleted was his program. The prosecution argued that a magazine written by the International Subversives would encourage others to hack, calling it a "hacker's manual" and alleging that Assange and the other hackers posted information online about how to hack into computers they had accessed. His trial date was set in May 1995 and his case was presented to the Supreme Court of Victoria , but

10488-548: The others in, and the AFP tapped Assange's phone line (he was using a modem ) and raided his home at the end of October. The earliest detailed reports about Assange are 1990s Australian press reports on him and print and TV news of his trial. He was charged in 1994 with 31 counts of crimes related to hacking, including defrauding Telecom Australia , fraudulent use of a telecommunications network, obtaining access to information, erasing data, and altering data. According to Assange,

10602-677: The quality of work done by think tanks. Some notable think tanks in India include: Over 50 think tanks have emerged in Iraq, particularly in the Kurdistan Region. Iraq's leading think tank is the Middle East Research Institute (MERI), based in Erbil. MERI is an independent non-governmental policy research organization, established in 2014 and publishes in English, Kurdish, and Arabic. It

10716-563: The questions of the federal government." In the early 1920s, fascist and other far-right think tanks appeared in the Netherlands . After 1945, the number of policy institutes increased, with many small new ones forming to express various issues and policy agendas. Until the 1940s, most think tanks were known only by the name of the institution. During the Second World War, think tanks were often referred to as "brain boxes". Before

10830-464: The raves was "Prof". By 1987, aged 16, Assange had become a skilled hacker under the name Mendax , taken from Horace 's splendide mendax (from Latin, "nobly untruthful"). Around this time, the police raided his mother's home and confiscated his equipment. According to Assange, "it involved some dodgy character who was alleging that we had stolen five hundred thousand dollars from Citibank". Ultimately, no charges were raised and his equipment

10944-502: The rule of law", and he received extensive legal support from free-speech and civil rights groups. Bank Julius Baer's attempt to prevent the publication via injunction backfired. As a result of the Streisand effect , the publicity drew global attention to WikiLeaks and the bank documents. By 2009 WikiLeaks had succeeded in Assange's intentions to expose the powerful, publish material beyond

11058-525: The term "think tank" is modern, with its origin "traced to the humanist academies and scholarly networks of the 16th and 17th centuries," Soll writes that, "in Europe, the origins of think tanks go back to the 800s when emperors and kings began arguing with the Catholic Church about taxes. A tradition of hiring teams of independent lawyers to advise monarchs about their financial and political prerogatives against

11172-511: The think tank; employing former policy-makers; or preparing studies for policy makers. The role of think tanks has been conceptualized through the lens of social theory. Plehwe argues that think tanks function knowledge actors within a network of relationships with other knowledge actors. Such relationships including citing academics in publications or employing them on advisory boards, as well as relationships with media, political groups and corporate funders. They argue that these links allow for

11286-475: The third category was the RAND Corporation , which was founded in 1946 as an offshoot of Douglas Aircraft and became an independent corporation in 1948. In the 1970s, the phrase became more specifically defined in terms of RAND and others. During the 1980s and 1990s, the phrase evolved again to arrive at its broader contemporary meaning of an independent public policy research institute. For most of

11400-618: The transfer of sovereignty to China in 1997, more think tanks were established by various groups of intellectuals and professionals. They have various missions and objectives including promoting civic education; undertaking research on economic, social and political policies; and promoting "public understanding of and participation in the political, economic, and social development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ". Think tanks in Hong Kong include: India has

11514-642: The truth that occurred before the war, during the war, and which has continued after the war". Regarding his own role within WikiLeaks, he said, "We always expect tremendous criticism. It is my role to be the lightning rod... to attract the attacks against the organization for our work, and that is a difficult role. On the other hand, I get undue credit." Assange travelled often and tried to stay away from Western intelligence agencies by checking into hotels under false names, sleeping on sofas and floors, and using encrypted phones and cash. According to David Leigh and Luke Harding they had to persuade Assange to redact

11628-628: The visa or wrote the letter. According to the New York Times , in November 2010 "Assange had mused about seeking refuge in Russia", and Russia issued Assange a visa in January 2011. According to Andrew O'Hagan , during the 2011 Egyptian revolution when Mubarak tried to close the mobile phone networks, Assange and others at WikiLeaks "hacked into Nortel and fought against Mubarak's official hackers to reverse

11742-463: The website. The Lowy Institute launched a blog The Interpreter in November 2007. According to former Executive Director Allan Gyngell: "it aims to provide you with fresh insights into international events and a new way to engage with the Institute." Lowy Institute also developed analytical tool Asia Power Index . This tool allows changes in the global distribution of power. Countries can be compared on

11856-542: The world's second-largest number of think tanks . Most are based in New Delhi, and a few are government-sponsored. There are few think tanks that promote environmentally responsible and climate resilient ideas like Centre for Science and Environment , Centre for Policy Research and World Resources Institute . There are other prominent think tanks like Observer Research Foundation , Tillotoma Foundation and Centre for Civil Society . In Mumbai, Strategic Foresight Group

11970-540: Was "probably Australia's most accomplished hacker". Assange's official biography on WikiLeaks called him Australia's "most famous ethical computer hacker", and the earliest version said he "hacked thousands of systems, including the Pentagon " when he was younger. He and two others, known as "Trax" and "Prime Suspect", formed a hacking group called "the International Subversives". According to NPR , David Leigh , and Luke Harding , Assange may have been involved in

12084-439: Was 17". Assange has attributed his motivation to this experience with power. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) set up an investigation called Operation Weather targeting The International Subversives. In September 1991, Assange was discovered hacking into the Melbourne master terminal of Nortel , a Canadian multinational telecommunications corporation. Another member of the International Subversives turned himself and

12198-534: Was a concerted effort by other countries to assist in the creation of independent public policy research organizations. A survey performed by the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program underscores the significance of this effort and documents the fact that most of the think tanks in these regions have been established since 1992. As of 2014 , there were more than 11,000 of these institutions worldwide. Many of

12312-483: Was another prominent example of an early independent think tank focusing on public policy and current affairs, especially economics and foreign affairs. Several major current think tanks were founded in the 19th century. The Royal United Services Institute was founded in 1831 in London , and the Fabian Society in 1884. The oldest United States –based think tank, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace ,

12426-603: Was established in the Guangdong province. In 2009 the China Center for International Economic Exchanges was founded. In Hong Kong, early think tanks established in the late 1980s and early 1990s focused on political development, including the first direct Legislative Council members election in 1991 and the political framework of " One Country, Two Systems ", manifested in the Sino-British Joint Declaration . After

12540-561: Was formed in the mid-1990s to dispute research finding an association between second-hand smoke and cancer . Military contractors may spend a portion of their tender on funding pro-war think tanks. According to an internal memorandum from Philip Morris Companies referring to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "The credibility of the EPA is defeatable, but not on the basis of ETS [ environmental tobacco smoke ] alone,... It must be part of

12654-412: Was founded in Washington, D.C. , in 1910 by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie . Carnegie charged trustees to use the fund to "hasten the abolition of international war, the foulest blot upon our civilization." The Brookings Institution was founded shortly thereafter in 1916 by Robert S. Brookings and was conceived as a bipartisan "research center modeled on academic institutions and focused on addressing

12768-613: Was listed in the global ranking by the United States's Lauder Institute of the University of Pennsylvania as 46th in the Middle East. There are many think tank teams in Israel, including: In South Korea , think tanks are prolific and influential and are a government go-to. Think tanks are prolific in the Korean landscape. Many policy research organisations in Korea focus on economoy and most research

12882-499: Was returned, but Assange "decided that it might be wise to be a bit more discreet". In 1988 Assange used social engineering to get the password to Australia's Overseas Telecommunications Commission's mainframes. Assange had a self-imposed set of ethics: he did not damage or crash systems or data he hacked, and he shared information. The Sydney Morning Herald later opined that he had become one of Australia's "most notorious hackers", and The Guardian said that by 1991 he

12996-486: Was withdrawn following a series of disputes with Ecuadorian authorities. The police were invited into the embassy and he was arrested. He was found guilty of breaching the United Kingdom Bail Act and sentenced to 50 weeks in prison. The U.S. government unsealed an indictment charging Assange with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion related to the leaks provided by Manning. In May 2019 and June 2020,

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