The Aspen Institute was founded in the United States in 1950 on the initiative of a group of American intellectuals and businessmen who believed firmly in the need to impart a fresh thrust to dialogue, knowledge and human values in the complex and rapidly evolving international geopolitical picture that had so recently emerged from the devastation of World War II.
The Aspen Institutes around the world are non-profit, non-partisan, apolitical institutions which share a basic mission and working method, and which engage in constant exchange and cooperation. Cooperation in shared events and projects, to which the network’s members are admitted, is increasingly frequent.
Independent but coordinated Aspen centers are found in France, Germany, Japan, India, Romania, Spain, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Colombia and New Zealand.