SIPRI Competitors

RAND is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that provides leaders with the information they need to make evidence-based decisions. The challenges facing humanity are complex. So is the policy landscape decisionmakers must navigate to create positive change. RAND's mission is straightforward. We help improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. Our rigorous research is free from political or commercial pressures so that policy leaders can use the best possible data to make the best possible decisions. Why is this work so vital? Because when RAND can help improve policymaking, we can help make the world a better place for us all. http://www.rand.org/jobs.html

IDA (Institute for Defense Analyses) – a not-for-profit corporation headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia just outside Washington, DC – operates three Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) in the public interest: the Systems and Analyses Center, the Science and Technology Policy Institute, and the Center for Communications and Computing. Sponsors rely on IDA for dispassionate, fact-based, and scientifically rigorous research and advice to inform their decisions. Since 1956, IDA’s basic mission has remained unchanged – bring the best scientific, technical, and analytic talent to bear on issues critical to U.S. National security, in a research environment free of commercial or shareholder interests where objectivity and the public interest are foremost. The work produced by IDA’s FFRDCs is characterized by unquestioned objectivity and high quality. Because of our unique relationship with our Government sponsors, IDA enjoys unusual access to highly classified and sensitive government and corporate proprietary information. We adhere to a strict regime for avoiding conflicts of interest. We are thus in the position of offering outsider perspectives on important issues with insider access to information. Our diverse mix of professionals possesses expertise in a broad range of technologies and systems combined with deep knowledge of costs, policies, operations, and organizational matters. IDA continually renews and evolves its staff, integrating those newly educated in the latest advances in research with seasoned veterans of acquisition management, policy-making, and operational leadership roles in government and defense-related organizations. The exceptional creativity, determination, and commitment to service that IDA researchers bring to their work are the foundation of IDA’s excellence.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to advancing practical ideas to address the world’s greatest challenges. Founded in 1962, CSIS is led by General Joseph F. Dunford, who was appointed chief executive officer in 2026. CSIS brings together more than 275 full-time staff and a global network of affiliated scholars working across four core areas of public policy: defense and security, geopolitics and foreign policy, economic security and technology, and global development. Our scholars are regularly called upon by Congress, the executive branch, the media, and others to explain the day’s events and offer recommendations to improve U.S. strategy. CSIS’s purpose is to define the future of national security. We are guided by a distinct set of values—non-partisanship, independent thought, innovative thinking, cross-disciplinary scholarship, integrity and professionalism, and talent development. CSIS’s values work in concert toward the goal of making real-world impact. X: cs.is/U4RJEq LinkedIn: cs.is/33W0gX8 Instagram: cs.is/2ZbBTkF Threads: cs.is/3vamuH2 Bluesky: https://bit.ly/4admmIb YouTube: cs.is/2TKVQ0k Podcasts: cs.is/2NuWcaD