Think Tanks And Power In Foreign Policy

What is the role of elites in shaping foreign policy? Did unaccountable foreign policy elites shape the post-1945 world order? Chatham House and the Council on Foreign Relations were vital in America's shift from isolationism to globalism, and in Britain's shift from Empire to its current pro-American orientation and were also fundamental in engineering public backing for a new world order. Inderjeet Parmar presents new evidence to show how well-organized and well-connected elite think tanks helped to change the world.

This book examines changing international dynamics through the lens of some of the leading think tanks from the emerging powers in the world. Through twelve case studies, the authors explore how security and international affairs think tanks in emerging powers collaborate with their policy makers to meet current and anticipate future foreign policy and security challenges. Overall, the book illustrates and analyzes how think tanks in a variety of political and economic contexts are able to contribute to their respective policy-making processes. Included in the discussions are the problems or successes that each respective nation’s think tanks face, where they feel the emerging nation will be positioned, and where they are failing to meet the policy challenges they face. The book provides a comprehensive look at successful foreign policy formulation to serve as examples for other think tanks in similar political and economic conditions.

Questions about the role and influence of think tanks in matters of foreign policy and geopolitics are both timely and important. The reconfiguration of global power, explosion of social media, shifts away from traditional print and oral-based ways of imparting knowledge, and the dramatic increase in the volume of information and ideas clamoring for the attention of policy-makers are changing the landscape of foreign policy-making and the pathways through which influence is achieved. This book explains the impact of think tanks on the framing of domestic and international conversations on matters of foreign policy and geopolitics. An international group of prominent experts examine these issues in specific countries and also across national and regional borders to better understand how governments and actors in civil society are influenced by the activities of think tanks.

Abelson focuses on a host of high profile think tanks - including the Brookings Institution, the Heritage Foundation, and the Project for the New American Century - and on the public and private channels they rely on to influence important and controversial foreign policies, including the development and possible deployment of a National Missile Defense and George Bush's controversial war on terror. In the process of uncovering how some of the nation's most prominent think tanks have established themselves as key players in the political arena, he challenges traditional approaches to assessing policy influence and suggests alternative models.

Although think-tanks are often regarded as scientific and non-partisan organizations committed to improving governmental decision-making, they have clearly demonstrated in recent years that they have other goals in mind. No longer content observing domestic and foreign affairs from the comfort of their book-lined offices, think-tanks, not unlike interest groups and lobbyists, have made a concerted effort to become an integral part of the policy-making process. This study examines the growing involvement of think-tanks in American politics and explores the many governmental and non-governmental channels they rely on to exercise influence.

Think tanks have become increasingly important in American politics foreign policy. In the last thirty years think tanks have emerged as major actors on the political stage, comparable in influence to large interest groups, political parties, and government agencies. In the same time span these think tanks have replaced universities as the main source for new policy ideas and the background research and arguments to justify them. This book discusses think tanks in general but focuses specifically on the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) in Philadelphia. Though a smallish 'tank,' FPRI has been enormously influential, feeding its ideas into government and policy debate even at the level of presidential politics. The author discusses FPRI within the context of the growing influence of presidential politics. The author discusses FPRI within the context of the growing influence of think tanks over public policy in general and foreign policy in particular.

Not long ago, the idea of think tank diplomacy would have provoked scepticism. But if a key aspect of diplomacy is how countries are seen abroad, official diplomats are not the only actors. In contexts as diverse as Syria, Myanmar and the South China Sea, think tanks exercise influence and deserve detailed study.

"In this fascinating study, leading American China scholar Cheng Li has written and compiled an unprecedented volume on China's rapidly growing community of think tanks. The study includes a thorough inventory of China's research institutions (government and private), and it offers compelling case studies of four leading public intellectuals. But the best part is Cheng Li's own deep insights into this community of thinkers and institutions, their relative strengths and weaknesses, and impact on China's domestic and foreign policies. This volume should be mandatory reading for all China specialists." David Shambaugh George Washington University and author of China's Future China's momentous socioeconomic transformation is not taking place in an intellectual vacuum: Chinese scholars and public intellectuals are actively engaged in fervent discussions about the country's domestic and foreign policies, demographic constraints, and ever-growing integration into the world community. This book focuses on China's major think tanks where policies are initiated, and on a few prominent thinkers who influence the way in which elites and the general public understand and deal with the various issues confronting the country. The book examines a number of factors contributing to the rapid rise of Chinese think tanks in the reform era. These include the leadership's call for "scientific decision-making," the need for specialized expertise in economics and finance as China becomes an economic powerhouse, the demand for opinion leaders in the wake of a telecommunication revolution driven by social media, the accumulation of human and financial capital, and the increasing utility of the "revolving door" nature of think tanks. It has been widely noted that think tanks and policy advisors have played an important role in influencing the strategic thinking of the top leadership, including the formation of ideas such as the "Three Represents," "China's peaceful rise," "One Belt, One Road," and the founding of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). In 2014, President Xi Jinping made think tank development a national strategy, and he claimed that "building a new type of think tank with Chinese characteristics is an important and pressing mission." Though the media outside China has often reported on this important development, it has all but escaped rigorous scholarly scrutiny. This book will categorize Chinese think tanks by their various forms, such as government agencies, university-based think tanks, private think tanks, business research centers or consultancies, and civil society groups. It will not only analyze the problems and challenges in China's think tank development, but also reveal the power of ideas.