1st Edition

Think Tanks, Foreign Policy and Geo-Politics Pathways to Influence

Edited By Donald E. Abelson, Stephen Brooks, Xin Hua Copyright 2017
    218 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    218 Pages
    by Routledge

    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.

    Table of Contents

    Chapter 1 Struggling to Be Heard: The Crowded and Complex World of Foreign Policy-Oriented Think Tanks

    Donald E. Abelson and Stephen Brooks

    Chapter 2 Feulner’s Pendulum: Moving between Policy Research and Political Advocacy Donald E. Abelson

    Chapter 3 Blending Advocacy and Research: The Attributes and Brand Identities of the Foremost Human Rights Advocacy Think Tanks

    Stephen Brooks and Pinar Cil

     

    Chapter 4 The Governance Turn in EU Foreign Policy: Are EU Think Tanks out of the Picture?

    Marybel Perez

    Chapter 5 Think Tanks American Style

    Donald E. Abelson

     

    Chapter 6 Germany: The Think and the Tank

    Josef Braml

     

    Chapter 7 Think Tanks and Foreign Policy in the United Kingdom

    Mark Garnett and Simon Mabon

     

    Chapter 8 Chinese Think Tanks’ Influence on Foreign Policy Making: A Case Study of the Role of CIIS and SIIS in the Making of China’s Europe Policy

    Xin Hua

    Chapter 9 Still Lagging Behind?

    Foreign Policy Think Tanks in Poland: Origins and Contemporary Challenges

    Monika Sus

    Chapter 10 Foreign Policies in Spain: The Role of Think Tanks in the Battle between the Central State and Catalonia

    Olivier Urrutia

    Chapter 11 And the Winner Is: Why Measuring Think Tank Performance is Inherently Problematic: Lessons from Canada and Beyond

    Donald E. Abelson

    Biography

    Donald E. Abelson is Professor in the Department of Political science at The University of Western Ontario. He specializes in American politics and US foreign policy. His work focuses primarily on the role of think tanks and their efforts to influence public opinion and public policy and he is a widely published author on Canadian and US think tanks and interest groups.

    Xin Hua is Associate Professor and Senior Research Fellow at the Center for EU Studies, Shanghai International Studies University and Senior Research Fellow and Councillor at Shanghai Institute for European Studies.

    Stephen Brooks is Professor at the University of Windsor and Director of the Ottawa Internship Program at the University of Michigan.