The Stanley Foundation is a nonprofit

Nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

, nonpartisan

Nonpartisan

In political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....

, private operating foundation started in 1956 by engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

 and entrepreneur

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...

, C. Maxwell Stanley

C. Maxwell Stanley

Claude Maxwell "Max" Stanley was an American engineer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, peace activist, and world citizen. He founded Stanley Consultants, an engineering and consulting firm; co-founded HON Industries, an office furniture manufacturing company; and funded the Stanley Foundation, an...

, with headquarters in Muscatine, Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

 in the United States.

The foundation is a policy institute (think tank)

Think tank

A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...

 that researches and analyzes international relations

International relations

International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...

. The foundation's mission is to "promote public understanding, constructive dialogue, and cooperative action on critical international issues. The organization's work recognizes the essential roles of both the policy community and the broader public in building sustainable peace." From 1974 to 2004, the foundation published the international news magazine World Press Review

World Press Review

World Press Review is an independent, nonpartisan New York based magazine founded in 1974 and initially published by Stanley Foundation and Teri Schure, with an online edition which was launched in 1997...

.