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

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.

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.