Almost every day there's some breathtaking study from this think tank or that authoritative sounding institute or centre. Some of them have become infamous during the Bush/Cheney regime - outfits like the Project for the New American Century or the Heritage Foundation or the American Enterprise Institute which are shameless shills for the neo-con fantasy of American global domination.
Don't worry, there are also plenty of think tanks that are disguised vehicles to shill for leftwing causes. They don't have the power (def'n: "money" - see lobbyists) of the big rightwing propaganda mills but they can be equally disingenuous.
You see, today you can find a reputable sounding institute or foundation or centre willing to champion just about any cause you care to promote. That's because there are now roughly FIVE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED public policy organisations which aim to “bridge the gap between knowledge and policy” in both security and non-security areas. Fifty four hundred and counting according to the list compiled by the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philly, an institute in the form of a think tank to ponder think tanks. Neat, eh?
How do you make sense of this morass of sometimes agenda-driven opinion makers? A good start is to follow the advice given Polonius to his departing son Laertes, "Take each man's censure but reserve thy judgment."
A good way to start is to find just a few that are internationally recognized for their scholarship and objectivity. Two of my favourites are the Royal Institute ("Chatham House") and the International Crisis Group. There are a number of others that I like but I'm not absolutely certain that I am able to give them the same endorsement so they'll go unmentioned.
If you're interested, the Foreign Policy Research Institute has a directory (seemingly endless) of the world's abunance of think tanks. Visit them here: http://www.fpri.org/
So, here is the FPRI's overall Top 10 Think Tanks Globally:
Centre for European Policy Studies (Belgium)
French Institute for International Relations (France)
German Institute for International Politics and Security (Germany)
Institute of World Economy and International Relations (Russia)
International Crisis Group (Belgium)
International Institute for Strategic Studies (UK)
Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies (Israel)
Japan Institute of International Affairs (Japan)
Royal Institute of International Affairs (UK)
Shanghai Institute for International Studies (China)
It is sort of interesting to note that, while North America has nearly 1,900 or about 40% of the think tanks listed, not one of them makes the Top Ten list.
Don't worry, there are also plenty of think tanks that are disguised vehicles to shill for leftwing causes. They don't have the power (def'n: "money" - see lobbyists) of the big rightwing propaganda mills but they can be equally disingenuous.
You see, today you can find a reputable sounding institute or foundation or centre willing to champion just about any cause you care to promote. That's because there are now roughly FIVE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED public policy organisations which aim to “bridge the gap between knowledge and policy” in both security and non-security areas. Fifty four hundred and counting according to the list compiled by the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philly, an institute in the form of a think tank to ponder think tanks. Neat, eh?
How do you make sense of this morass of sometimes agenda-driven opinion makers? A good start is to follow the advice given Polonius to his departing son Laertes, "Take each man's censure but reserve thy judgment."
A good way to start is to find just a few that are internationally recognized for their scholarship and objectivity. Two of my favourites are the Royal Institute ("Chatham House") and the International Crisis Group. There are a number of others that I like but I'm not absolutely certain that I am able to give them the same endorsement so they'll go unmentioned.
If you're interested, the Foreign Policy Research Institute has a directory (seemingly endless) of the world's abunance of think tanks. Visit them here: http://www.fpri.org/
So, here is the FPRI's overall Top 10 Think Tanks Globally:
Centre for European Policy Studies (Belgium)
French Institute for International Relations (France)
German Institute for International Politics and Security (Germany)
Institute of World Economy and International Relations (Russia)
International Crisis Group (Belgium)
International Institute for Strategic Studies (UK)
Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies (Israel)
Japan Institute of International Affairs (Japan)
Royal Institute of International Affairs (UK)
Shanghai Institute for International Studies (China)
It is sort of interesting to note that, while North America has nearly 1,900 or about 40% of the think tanks listed, not one of them makes the Top Ten list.
1 comment:
It is sort of interesting to note that, while North America has nearly 1,900 or about 40% of the think tanks listed, not one of them makes the Top Ten list.
That would be because it is the list of the top ten outside the US!
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