The Regional Centre for Strategic Studies is ranked one of the top 10 think tanks in South Asia and no. 2 in South Asia and No. 33 globally in the ‘Best Regional Studies Centre’ category, on the 2020 University of Pennsylvania Global Go To Think Tank Index Report, released on the 28th of January 2021.

The RCSS is ranked the number 1 think tank in Sri Lanka among seven categories. TTCSP surveyed 11,000 think tanks worldwide for the 2020 Index Report and RCSS is ranked the 131st globally in the Top Think Tanks Worldwide (U.S. and Non-U.S.) category.

The Global Go To Think Tank Index Report of University of Pennsylvania is widely regarded as the definitive resource on the study of the think tanks across the world. The Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program of Lauder Institute of the University of Pennsylvania has produced the Global Go To Think Tank Index annually since 2007 with the information from a wide range of scholars, policymakers, journalists and funders.

This is the third consecutive year the RCSS was ranked the best, number 1, think tank in Sri Lanka and the following chart indicates the ranking of RCSS in seven categories:

Category Sri Lanka South Asia Global
Top Think Tanks Worldwide (U.S. And Non-U.S.) 1st 7th 131st
Best Regional Studies Centre 1st 2nd 33rd
Top Foreign Policy and International Affairs Think Tanks 1st 3rd 80th
Top Defense and National Security Think Tanks 1st 6th 79th
Best Think Tank Conference 1st 2nd 37th
Best Think Tank Network 1st 2nd 51st
Best Use of Social Media and Networks 1st 3rd 44th