Think Tanks, Foreign Policy and Geo-Politics
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.
Stephen Brooks is Professor at the University of Windsor and Director of the Ottawa Internship Program at the University of Michigan.
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.
Think Tanks, Foreign Policy
and Geo-Politics
Pathways to Influence
Edited by
Donald E. Abelson,
Stephen Brooks and Xin Hua
First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2017 Donald E. Abelson, Stephen Brooks and Xin Hua selection and editorial material; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of the editors to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Abelson, Donald E., editor. | Hua, Xin (Political scientist), editor. | Brooks, Stephen, 1956- editor.
Title: Think tanks, foreign policy and geo-politics : pathways to influence / edited by Donald E. Abelson, Xin Hua and Stephen Brooks.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2016.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016013719| ISBN 9781472475855 (hardback) | ISBN 9781315551111 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: International relationsResearchCross-cultural studies. | Research institutesCross-cultural studies.
Classification: LCC JZ1234 .T55 2016 | DDC 327dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016013719
ISBN: 978-1-4724-7585-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-55111-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK
Donald E. Abelson is Professor of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario, where he has served as director of the Center for American Studies, chair of the political science department, and founding director of the Canada-US Institute. He has published a number of books and articles dealing with the influence of think tanks on public policy and foreign policy and has been called a foremost authority on think tanks in Canada and the US. He is a regular commentator on the subject for various media outlets.
Josef Braml joined the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in 2006 as editor-in-chief of DGAPs Yearbook on International Relations. Prior to that, he was a senior fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, the project leader at the Aspen Institute Berlin, a consultant at the World Bank, a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution, a congressional fellow of the American Political Science Association and a member of the legislative staff in the US House of Representatives. He earned a PhD in Political Science and a Masters in International Business and Cultural Studies at the University of Passau.
Stephen Brooks is Professor of Political Science at the University of Windsor and Director of the Ottawa Internship Program at the University of Michigan. His research and teaching focus on various aspects of American and Canadian politics.
Pinar Cil is a legal fellow at NATO headquarters in Brussels, focusing on international humanitarian law. She has worked in both governmental and non-governmental sectors, including positions with the Canadian Senate and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Her research interests include the nexus between human rights and international humanitarian law, criminal justice and national security policy. She graduated in 2016 with a joint Juris Doctor/Master of Arts (2016) from the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law and the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University.
Mark Garnett is Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Lancaster University. He has written numerous articles and books on various aspects of British politics, focusing mainly on the relationship between ideas and practice.
Xin Hua is Associate Professor of Political Science and International Political Economy at the Shanghai International Studies University. He is also a senior research fellow and councillor of the Shanghai Institute for European Studies and a non-resident research professor for the Center for National Strategic Studies, Shanghai Jiaotong University. He regularly provides research reports for several Chinese think tanks and is frequently called upon to offer media commentaries. He has won two academic prizes issued by the Shanghai Federation of Academic Institutions of Social Sciences and received his PhD in international relations from Fudan University.
Simon Mabon is Lecturer in International Relations at Lancaster University and author of Saudi Arabia and Iran: Power and Rivalry in the Middle East, The Origins of ISIS and Hezbollah: From Islamic Resistance to Government, and co-editor of Terrorism and Political Violence. He is a research associate with the Foreign Policy Centre and Director of the Richardson Institute.
Marybel Perez is Senior Researcher at the Center for Philanthropy Studies at the University of Basel, Switzerland. Her previous appointments include Adjunct Lecturer at Parsons: The New School in Paris, and ESSCA School of Management and the Catholic University of the West in Angers, France. Perez was a research fellow for Eurosphere at the University of Bergen, Norway, where she obtained her PhD.
