THINK TANKS & POLICY FORMULATION Research Papers (original) (raw)

Delinear a trajetória do pensamento político e social brasileiro não pode se furtar a um olhar sobre os think tanks (TTs). Ainda que sua definição seja incipiente e polêmica, é possível identificar situações sobre as quais não recai dúvida. Caso emblemático nesse contexto é o Cebrap – Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento. Entendido como um típico TT – organização dedicada à pesquisa e disseminação de ideias afetas às políticas públicas – o Cebrap albergou grandes intelectuais do país, servindo de ambiente de debates acerca dos principais problemas nacionais. Assim, se tornou referência nas ciências sociais, políticas, filosofia e na crítica literária e artística.; estão entre seus principais intelectuais. O Cebrap também inspirou a criação de institutos similares e essa proeminência justifica sua centralidade no cenário intelectual brasileiro das últimas décadas. Para explorar esse destaque, o artigo faz uma elucidação teórica dos TTs e o Cebrap enquanto tal; segue-se um resg...

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- Brazilian Studies, Brazil, Think Tanks, THINK TANKS & POLICY FORMULATION

Rola think tanków w systemie społeczno-gospodarczym państwa

- by Max Rust and +1
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- Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Think Tanks, THINK TANKS & POLICY FORMULATION

Expert advice is gaining importance in advanced-knowledge societies. The demand for scientific knowledge increases as political decision-makers look for answers to cope with the ever more complex challenges of a globalised world. At the same time, scientific evidence has become a strategic resource capable of justifying world-views and political positions. Against this background, the 'global spread' of think tanks seems to respond to this growing demand for scientific expertise. Defining what a think tank is, let alone what they do and if they are able to effectively shape political ideas, is still a controversial issue. This contribution outlines a conceptual framework for analysing the strategies of different types of think tanks in distinct institutional environments. Starting with classical typologies to distinguish between organisations, those which adhere to standards of scientific inquiry at one end of a continuum and ideologically biased institutes at the other, the analytical model takes into account distinct 'points of intervention' and systematically considers the respective institutional and ideological environment. The first dimension allows for distinguishing between distinct effects of political ideas: They can influence decision-making as concepts in the foreground or as underlying assumptions in the background of policy debates. At the cognitive level, they can function either as programmes (foreground), serving as policy prescriptions for the political elite necessary to formulate actual agendas, or as paradigms (background). Considering different 'knowledge regimes' permits to test the influence of respective institutional and normative settings and simultaneously assess the assumptions and convictions underlying these models and typologies.

- by Alexander Ruser
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- Sociology, Political Science, Discourse, Think Tanks

Der Sammelband beleuchtet die Herausforderungen, die sich in der »Wissensgesellschaft« im Verhältnis von Wissenschaft, Politik und Gesellschaft im Bereich der Internationalen Beziehungen und der Außenpolitik in neuer Weise stellen. Er vereinigt sowohl theoretische Beiträge über den Gegenstandsbereich der Internationalen Beziehungen und den sich daraus ergebenden Implikationen für das Verhältnis zwischen Wissenschaft und Praxis wie auch solche, die das Verhältnis zwischen Wissenschaft, Politik und Gesellschaft empirisch untersuchen. Die Beiträge sind aus einer Tagung der Sektion Internationale Politik der Deutschen Vereinigung für Politische Wissenschaft (DVPW) hervorgegangen, die 2005 gemeinsam mit der Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) in Berlin stattfand.

- by Armando Marques-Guedes
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- History, Sociology, Political Sociology, International Relations

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo discutir uma interseção de temas muito pouco explorada nas literaturas brasileira e estrangeira: as relações entre partidos políticos e centros de pesquisa, produção e articulação de conhecimentos voltados à formulação, implementação e avaliação de políticas públicas (think tanks). Mais especificamente, o trabalho pretende abordar os seguintes problemas de pesquisa: de que forma é possível enquadrar institutos e fundações vinculados a partidos políticos brasileiros a partir da conceituação e da metodologia de pesquisa próprias do estudo dos think tanks? Qual é o potencial analítico-explicativo decorrente desse enquadramento? A pesquisa justifica-se não apenas em decorrência da crescente relevância do campo de estudos sobre think tanks, ainda incipiente no Brasil, mas também diante da importância de se compreenderem o significado e o papel desempenhado pelas fundações partidárias na atual democracia brasileira, tanto estritamente no campo da formação de quadros partidários, quanto, de modo geral, na formulação de programas de governo e no impacto sobre a formulação de políticas públicas.

- by Fernando Preusser
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- Think Tanks, Partidos políticos, THINK TANKS & POLICY FORMULATION

Сп. Ново време, бр. 3/2015 г./Novo vreme Journal, issue 3/2015

- by Hernán Ramírez
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- Political Economy, Political Parties, Think Tanks, Historia Argentina

في معرض وصفه لركائز المستقبل التي تعتمد عليها إسرائيل، ذكر رئيس الدولة الإسرائيلية شيمون
7012 ( في كتابه " الشرق الأوسط الجديد" أن القوة في العقود القادمة في /2/72 :7002/1/ بيريز ) 11
الجامعات وليس في الثكنات" ) 2(. وقد عبر بيريز بقوله هذا عن مدى اهتمام القيادة بالبحث العلمي، فهو
الركيزة التي تعتمد عليها إسرائيل لاستكمال مخططها الاستيطاني، بل هى مصدر القوة على حد تعبيره.
فالاعتماد على البحث والدراسة ليس بأمر طارئ أو جديد على الدولة الاستيطانية، وإنما استند قيام تلك
الدولة المحتلة على خطط وأفكار وضعها مفكروها وخبراؤها. ) 3( فأمن إسرائيل يستند إلى العلم
والمعرفة والبحث؛ ففي عام 0202 حاول مركز السياسة والاستراتيجية خلال مؤتمر هرتسيليا للأمن
القومي صياغة مفهوم الأمن الاستراتيجي لإسرائيل، فجاءت النتيجة أنه من أصل 35 محدِّدًا لمفهوم
الأمن الإسرائيلي مستقبلا ، كانت هناك عشرة محددات ذات أهمية خاصة، خمسة منها ذات صلة بالتعليم
والبحث العلمي، كما أن المحددين الأول والثاني لهما علاقة بالتعليم والبحث العلمي وهما الأكثر وزنًا
والأكثر إجماعًا بين أعضاء البحث. ) 4( لا غرابة إذن أن يكون العلم، والبحث، والمعرفة، والدراسة
بمثابة الركيزة الأساسية للاستراتيجية الأمنية لإسرائيل حتى تستطيع البقاء في محيط إقليمي معاد لها.
فجاءت إرهاصات مراكز الفكر ) 5( مصاحبة لنشأة هذه الدولة. فوجود مراكز الفكر ضرورة ملحة ليس
بإسرائيل فقط وأنما في الدول التي تتطلع للمستقبل فلم تعد عملية صنع السياسة العامة حكراً على الدولة
ومؤسساتها الرسمية، فهناك قوى جديدة بازغة )مراكز الفكر( لها إسهامها ودورها، بل وتقوم بوظائف
جديدة تعجز بعض الحكومات عن الاضطلاع بها. فقد جاء ظهورها نتيجة للاحتياج المجتمعي
والتطورات على الساحة الدولية وما تفرضه من ضرورة مساعدة صناع السياسة في مواجهة القضايا
) المعقدة التي أصبحت سمة العصر. ) 1
في ضوء ذلك، يحاول هذا الفصل رسم خريطة لمراكز الفكر الإسرائيلية، من حيث بداية ظهورها
وتصنيفاتها والقضايا محور اهتمامها على خلفية وجودها في نظام سياسي برلماني قائم على التعددية
الحزبية، وتكوين حكومات ائتلافية كسمة ملازمة للسياق السياسي بإسرائيل، الذي يعمل في إطار
أيديولوجي صهيوني استيطاني ذي مخططات توسعية تحتاج للبحث والتحليل لتحقيق مخططاتها، كما
توجد في سياق اجتماعي يتسم بالصراعات الداخلية والانشقاقات المجتمعية. ودراسة مدى تأثير هذه الأطر
على القضايا موضع اهتمام تلك المؤسسات البحثية. أو بيان حدود دورها في عملية صنع السياسة العامة
بإسرائيل.
هذا وتنقسم هذه الورقة البحثية إلى مبحثين؛ المبحث الأول يدرس خريطة مراكز الفكر الإسرائيلية
واهتمامتها، بينما يناقش المبحث الثاني تأثير مراكز الفكر على عملية صنع القرار بإسرائيل.

- by Heba El Din
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- Israel Studies, Israel, Think Tanks, THINK TANKS & POLICY FORMULATION

Think tank experts and their opinions have acquired a very influential position in China's public diplomacy. While the presence and roles of think tanks is rarely questioned within developed democracies, their position in emerging powers and the developing world is debatable. This article argues that the landscape of the think tank sector in China—indeed the biggest developing country and the most powerful emerging economy—has changed over the course of the last decade. By providing a detailed account of the evolution of this sector in China, the intent is to enlarge think tank studies beyond liberal contexts and to overcome limitations about the study of Chinese think tanks. As demonstrate by the expanding role of think tank networks in the Belt and Road Initiative they have been able to secure a special niche with regard to foreign policy and diplomacy, notwithstanding China's authoritarian political environment.

National Security Culture in Turkey:
A Qualitative Study on Think Tanks
Şule Toktaş
Bülent Aras
Abstract
This article examines the role that think tanks have played in the formulation of national security and a culture of security through field research conducted on fourteen think tanks located in Istanbul and Ankara. In addition to participant observation at the think tanks, twenty-five in-depth interviews were conducted with administrators and specialists. The findings revealed that, in terms of their strategic attitudes about national security in Turkey, there are three groups of think tanks: critical think tanks; b) middle-position think tanks; and c) congruent think tanks. Based on the results of the data collected, we argue that the culture of national security in Turkey has begun to be impacted by a plurality of actors, both civilian and official, and that there is an emerging competition for influence over the definitions and conceptualizations of security as well as the identification of security issues within a securitization process which has led to their securitization. Although the think-tank sector in Turkey is still in its formative years, its roles and influence in the debates on national security have been on the rise.
Keywords
Think-tank, securitization, Turkey, national security, research center, security studies.

- by Max Abrahms
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- International Relations, Media Studies, New Media, Terrorism
- by Ignacio González Bozzolasco and +1
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- Knowledge Management, Sociology of Knowledge, Educational Research, Transformation of University Systems
- by Heba El Din
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- Think Tanks, THINK TANKS & POLICY FORMULATION, Public Policy

The role of ideas – understood as roadmaps for policy decisions – is a cornerstone of the ongoing debate between reflexivist and rationalist, interest-based explanations of policy making. Cases supporting the reflexivist argument often feature crisis events after which new ideas swept away old policy ideas and interests alike, the epitome being the rise of Keynesianism after World War II. Unlike economic policy, national security policy is a ”hard case” for theorizing as there seems to be little or no room for ideas in determining policies that are designed to further the national interest. National security seems bureaucratic, materialist, rational and interest-based.
The field of deterrence strategy offers an interesting exception: faced with the policy vacuum the development of nuclear weapons introduced (the nuclear revolution) the US military turned to civilian scientists to construct policies that were previously the exclusive domain of soldiers. These experts, relying on the authority of the scientific method en lieu of practical knowledge proposed concepts that form the backbone of deterrence theorizing. Despite, in Emanuel Adler’s words, the imaginary aspects of nuclear theory, these ideas became reified concepts of traditional security thinking as nuclear deterrence strategy gradually became synonymous with security policy-making. What is curious is that the naturality of these ideas remains unquestioned after the end of the Cold War, and the concepts themselves are transplanted into other issue areas, such as cybersecurity.
The paper reconstructs the taken-for-grantedness of deterrence theory through a selection of hallmark RAND research on war limitation in the early 1960s, using a contextual, discursive institutionalist framework. It seeks to answer the question of how the specific construction and institutionalization of these ideas makes them impermeable to criticism despite a clear lack of conformity to the scientific method reified within deterrence theory.

- by Andras Szalai
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- History of Ideas, Constructivism, Nuclear Weapons, Cold War

This bilingual book offers a new perspective on building a think tanks theory.

- by Jordi Xifra and +1
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- Think Tanks, THINK TANKS & POLICY FORMULATION

The Chinese media has covered the domestic debate over Xi Jinping's new approach to think tanks, with Chinese academics and policy analysts discussing the future trends and likely development path of think tanks, whereas, the foreign media has attempted to better understand the policy implications. Yet, few analyses have directly addressed how President Xi’s proposal will impact other think tank sectors, most notably China’s military think tanks.

- by Sergiy Gerasymchuk
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- Security Studies, Think Tanks, Ukraine, THINK TANKS & POLICY FORMULATION

Think tanks constitute an essential part of the Turkish foreign policy establishment. They inform foreign diplomats about policies on behalf of the Turkish Government. Furthermore, they offer foreigners insight into the thinking and the... more

For the first time, this study systematically explores the types, working methods, financing and personnel structure of the various foreign and security policy think-tanks in Austria. On the basis of a non-representative survey with 20 employees from foreign and security policy think-tanks, the self-assessment of the influence on political actors was surveyed. Austrian think-tanks are primarily publicly financed and cover a wide range of topics. Their expertise is particularly valued in the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. Panel discussions, seminars and workshops are rated as particularly effective.

In public policy process; official, unofficial and international actors
play complicated roles. As unofficial actors, think tanks contribute to public
policy making in various areas and ways and compete with each other. In
historical perspective, American think tanks highly beneficial to formulation
of internal and foreign policies in their respective country and some of them
have noteworthy funding. This study which is structured into three parts
starts with the analysis think tanks development and their influence on public
policy. Later on, the literature on ranking, success and impact studies of
think tanks is intensely scrutinised. Lastly, Global Go To Think Tanks
(GGTTT) reports under the leadership of McGann are examined. This study
reveals the think tanks ranking literature based on the evolution, citations,
similarities and differences of think tanks. Moreover, GGTTT index reports
are the most comprehensive, contemporary and prominent of these studies,
despite some criticisms made by other scholars and experts.

- by Hüseyin Özgür and +1
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- Think Tanks, THINK TANKS & POLICY FORMULATION, Public Policy

A tese aborda a constituição e as formas de ação adotadas por três centros de estudos e pesquisas em economia, financiados por grupos de empresas, cujos membros mais destacados chegaram à condução econômica, ocupando, em inúmeras ocasiões, postos governamentais, especialmente ministérios da área, presidência dos bancos centrais e outros cargos relevantes no Brasil e na Argentina, num amplo período compreendido entre os anos de 1961 e 1996, abarcando tanto a crise dos regimes populistas, quanto a passagem dos governos autoritários e democráticos, que lhes sucederam. As instituições de que trata o trabalho são, o Instituto de Pesquisas Econômicas e Sociais (IPÊS), a Fundación de Investigaciones Económicas Latinoamericanas (FIEL) e a Fundación Mediterránea (FM), escolhidas por serem atores fundamentais no desenho das políticas implementadas por distintos governos dos dois países, durante o último terço do século XX. Entidades que podem ser consideradas paradigmas de uma nova matriz de relação entre o Estado, as corporações empresariais e os técnicos vinculados fundamentalmente à área econômica, desenvolvida no período. De modo diferente das corporações de padrão mais antigo, essas instituições contaram com uma estrutura mais dinâmica e atuaram como ponte entre o Estado e os empresários para desenhar e por em prática, seja de forma direta ou indireta, políticas de transformações profundas nas suas estruturas econômicas, afastando-se dos modelos desenvolvimentistas para aproximarem-se, cada vez mais, dos moldes liberais, alcançando certo consenso no interior de diferentes frações das burguesias e de outros setores das sociedades brasileira e argentina.

- by Hernán Ramírez
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- Political Economy, Argentina, Neoliberalism, Civil-military relations

In Flanders every political party has its own political foundation or study centre. Although their importance for the party organisation is widely recognised, a systematic and comparative analysis of these study centres is still lacking. This article is the first attempt to address this empirical void. Based on document analysis, interviews and survey material, we analyse the basic characteristics of the study centres of seven Flemish parties, covering all major political families. We compare their size, internal structure and autonomy vis-à-vis the party, explore the advisors profile and background and discuss the generation and products of advice. We conclude that despite their heterogeneity Flemish study centres share a common but limited functionality, being more of an extension of political parties than classical think tanks.

- by Valérie Pattyn and +2
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- Political Parties, Belgium, Think Tanks, THINK TANKS & POLICY FORMULATION

Towards More Effective Arab Think Tanks utilizing "Rational" Science

Background on the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program
The Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) of the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania conducts research on the role policy institutes play in governments and civil societies around the world. Often referred to as the “think tanks’ think tank,” TTCSP examines the evolving role and character of public policy research organizations. Over the last 26 years, the TTCSP has developed and led a series of global initiatives that have helped bridge the gap between knowledge and policy in critical policy areas such as international peace and security, globalization and governance, international economics, environmental issues, information and society, poverty alleviation, and healthcare and global health. These international collaborative efforts are designed to establish regional and international networks of policy institutes and communities that improve policy making while strengthening democratic institutions and civil societies around the world.
The TTCSP works with leading scholars and practitioners from think tanks and universities in a variety of collaborative efforts and programs, and produces the annual Global Go To Think Tank Index that ranks the world’s leading think tanks in a variety of categories. This is achieved with the help of a panel of over 1,900 peer institutions and experts from the print and electronic media, academia, public and private donor institutions, and governments around the world. We have strong relationships with leading think tanks around the world, and our annual Think Tank Index is used by academics, journalists, donors and the public to locate and connect with the leading centers of public policy research around the world. Our goal is to increase the profile and performance of think tanks and raise the public awareness of the important role think tanks play in governments and civil societies around the globe.
Since its inception in 1989, the TTCSP has focused on collecting data and conducting research on think tank trends and the role think tanks play as civil society actors in the policymaking process. In 2007, the TTCSP developed and launched the global index of think tanks, which is designed to identify and recognize centers of excellence in all the major areas of public policy research and in every region of the world. To date TTCSP has provided technical assistance and capacity building programs in 81 countries. We are now working to create regional and global networks of think tanks in an effort to facilitate collaboration and the production of a modest yet achievable set of global public goods. Our goal is to create lasting institutional and state-level partnerships by engaging and mobilizing think tanks that have demonstrated their ability to produce high quality policy research and shape popular and elite opinion and actions for public good.

- by Andras Wantsemails
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- THINK TANKS & POLICY FORMULATION
- by Hernán Ramírez
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- History, Latin American Studies, Chicago School, Neoliberalism

Tematem obrad były przede wszystkim uwarunkowania gospodarcze, polityczne i prawne realizowanej strategii współpracy gospodarczej Chin z 16 krajami regionu CEE (Central and Eastern Europe). Ważnym elementem dyskusji stał się temat aktualnej sytuacji ekonomicznej w Europie Środkowej i Wschodniej (EŚW) oraz jej powiązań gospodarczych z Chinami.

- by Katarzyna Golik
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- China, Chinese Politics, Poland, Central and Eastern Europe
- by Heba El Din
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- Israel Studies, Think Tanks, THINK TANKS & POLICY FORMULATION, Public Policy

There are numerous think tanks, both in the United States and Russia, which are deeply concerned about the state of Russian-American relations. Places like the Moscow Carnegie Centre or the Brookings Institution in Washington DC are regular go-to places for the media when seeking expert opinion and analysis. However, these centers of independent knowledge production have had a decided slant in allocating blame for the poor bilateral relations to the Russian side, with the explanations ranging from the fairly simple to the rather mystically esoteric.

- by Dr. Matthew Crosston
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- Organizational Behavior, Discourse Analysis, History, Military History
- by Özer Köseoğlu and +1
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- Policy Analysis/Policy Studies, Public Administration, Foreign Policy Analysis, Public Policy Analysis

Abstract Two important challenges in policy design are better understanding of the design space and consideration of the temporal factors. Moreover, in recent years it has been demonstrated that understanding the complex interactions of policy measures can play an important role in policy design and analysis. In this paper, the advances made in conceptualization and application of networks to policy design in the past decade are highlighted. Specifically, the use of a network-centric policy design approach in better understanding the design space and temporal consequences of design choices are presented. Network-centric policy design approach has been used in classification, visualization, and analysis of the relations among policy measures as well as ranking of policy measures using their internal properties and interactions, and conducting sensitivity analysis using Monte Carlo simulations. Furthermore, through use of a decision support system, network-centric approach facilitates ranking, visualization, and selection of policies using different sets of criteria, and exploring the potential for compromise in policy formulation. The advantage of the network-centric approach is providing the ability to go beyond visualizations and analysis of policies and piecemeal use of network concepts as a
tool for different policy design tasks to moving to a more integrated bottom–up approach to design. Furthermore, the computational advantages of the network-centric policy design in considering temporal factors such as policy sequencing and addressing issues such as layering, drift, policy failure, and delay are presented. Finally, some of the current challenges of network-centric design are discussed, and some potential avenues of exploration in policy design through use of computational methodologies, as well as possible integration with approaches from other disciplines, are highlighted.

2014 is starting to look and sound and feel an awful lot like 1964. If you find yourself sitting at home wondering how 50 years could go by with so much historical change and global shifting and yet still end up basically back at the starting point of a quasi-Cold War between the United States and Russia, then please allow me to offer one slightly unique explanation as to how this has all come to pass: it’s my fault.

- by Dr. Matthew Crosston
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- Discourse Analysis, Religion, Comparative Religion, History

China has the second largest number of think tanks in the world (426), behind only the United States (1,826). [1] On October 27, at the sixth meeting of the Leading Group for Overall Reform, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a new type of think tank. President Xi said think tanks should have “Chinese characteristics,” promote China’s modernization and governing system as well as strengthen China’s soft power (Xinhua, October 27). When compared with their U.S. counterparts, Chinese think tanks tend to be considered less influential on a global scale and yet, the number of think tanks is growing along with their scope of research.

Crowdsourcing is rapidly evolving and applied in situations where ideas, labour, opinion or expertise of large groups of people are used. Crowdsourcing is now used in various policy-making initiatives; however, this use has usually focused on open collaboration platforms and specific stages of the policy process, such as agenda-setting and policy evaluations. Other forms of crowdsourcing have been neglected in policy-making, with a few exceptions. This article examines crowdsourcing as a tool for policy-making, and explores the nuances of the technology and its use and implications for different stages of the policy process. The article addresses questions surrounding the role of crowdsourcing and whether it can be considered as a policy tool or as a technological enabler and investigates the current trends and future directions of crowdsourcing.

Over the past fifteen years, an interconnected set of regulatory reforms, known as Better Regulation, has been adopted across Europe, marking a significant shift in the way that European Union (EU) policies are developed. There has been little exploration of the origins of these reforms, which include mandatory ex ante impact assessment. Drawing on documentary and interview data, this article discusses how and why large corporations, notably British American Tobacco (BAT), worked to influence and promote these reforms. Our analysis highlights (1) how policy entrepreneurs with sufficient resources (such as large corporations) can shape the membership and direction of advocacy coalitions; (2) the extent to which ‘‘think tanks’’ may be prepared to lobby on behalf of commercial clients; and (3) why regulated industries (including tobacco) may favor the use of ‘‘evidence-tools,’’ such as impact assessments, in policy making. We argue that a key aspect of BAT’s ability to shape regulatory reform involved the deliberate construction of a vaguely defined idea that could be strategically adapted to appeal to diverse constituencies. We discuss the theoretical implications of this finding for the Advocacy Coalition Framework, as well as the practical implications of the findings for efforts to promote transparency and public health in the EU.

- by Gary J Fooks
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- Public Health Policy, Better Regulation, Public Health, Health Policy

Democratic elections facilitate the exchange of ideas in a country and are an important moment for public engagement in political processes. Elections present an opportunity for organisations that want to influence or promote a culture of ideas and innovation, evidence-use, transparency, democracy and citizen participation. This publication seeks to inspire and inform think tanks to act. It is a collection of stories and practical advice from organisations around the world that have influenced their country’s electoral process in some way.

- by Leandro Echt and +1
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- Evidence, Elections, Think Tanks, Think Tank

En el presente artículo nos proponemos abordar la constitución y desarrollo histórico de tres institutos de estudios económicos vinculados a corporaciones empresarias cuyos miembros ocuparon puestos claves dentro del área económica en diferentes gobiernos de Argentina y Brasil. Esta temática constituye parte de mi tesis de doctorado actualmente en curso . Los casos seleccionados son los de FIEL (Fundación de Investigaciones Eco-nómicas Latinoamericanas) , FM (Fundación Mediterránea) e IPES (Instituto de Pesqui-sas Econômicas e Sociais) , que se constituyeron en paradigmas de una nueva matriz de relación entre Estado, corporaciones y tecnócratas durante el período.
A través del estudio de caso y comparativo de sus miembros, estructuras, políticas pro-puestas y modos de acción, intentaremos caracterizar esa nueva matriz, como así tam-bién encontrar respuestas a los cambios ocurridos respecto de la anterior. Ya que, de modo diferente a las corporaciones de cuño más antiguo, que se manifestaban impropias para actuar en un escenario de acentuados conflictos externos e internos, estos contaron con estructuras más dinámicas, con las cuales fueron capaces de delinear determinadas propuestas, alcanzar cierto consenso dentro de diferentes fracciones de la burguesía y poner en práctica, ya sea de forma directa o indirecta, políticas de transformación profun-da en las estructuras de sus respectivos países.

- by Hernán Ramírez
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- Latin American Studies, Political Economy, Think Tanks, Historia Argentina
- by Hernán Ramírez
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- Political Economy, Neoliberalism, Chicago School of Economics, Think Tanks
- by Hernán Ramírez
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- Brazil, Neoliberalism, Interest Groups (Political Science), Think Tanks

Um conjunto de atores tem se afirmado com crescente relevância para o debate estratégico das potências tradicionais nas últimas décadas. Os think tanks – organizações dedicadas à produção e à articulação de conhecimentos voltados a políticas públicas de âmbito doméstico e internacional – formulam ideias, discursos e práticas que precedem, informam e pretendem influenciar os processos de definição de agenda, formulação de política e tomada de decisão no âmbito das políticas externa, de defesa e de segurança. O objetivo do presente trabalho consiste em fornecer uma análise das políticas recomendadas pelos principais think tanks voltados para os temas de política externa, de defesa e de segurança na Alemanha, nos Estados Unidos da América (EUA) e na França no tocante ao relacionamento desses países com o Brasil no período de 2003 a 2014. Primeiramente discutem-se as principais especificidades dos think tanks como atores envolvidos no ciclo de políticas públicas e, particularmente, como atores que buscam influenciar a tomada de decisão nas áreas de interesse. A seguir, abordamos o contexto em que se inserem e as características dos think tanks mais relevantes em atuação nos três países. Discute-se, na sequência, a aplicabilidade da fundamentação teórico-metodológica da análise de discurso pós-estruturalista como abordagem de pesquisa adequada ao objetivo proposto neste trabalho, para então analisarmos a produção discursiva desses institutos e, particularmente, as políticas por eles recomendadas em relação ao Brasil entre 2003-2014.

- by Fernando Preusser and +1
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- Discourse Analysis, Poststructuralism, Think Tanks, Brazilian Foreign policy

This special issue studies the International Crisis Group (icg), one of the most notable and widely referenced producers of knowledge about conflict areas, used extensively by policy makers, the media and academics. The authors take different theoretical and methodological approaches to make sense of this hard-to-ignore conflict expert, exploring the icg’s daily operations and role in international politics. This introduction sets the scene by offering a critical exploration of the organisation and its approach to the construction of political knowledge. It analyses the icg’s position in the conflict-related knowledge market and the sources of its expert authority. It then discusses the organisation’s roles – from mediation to instrumentalisation – in the ‘battlefield of ideas’ in conflict and intervention contexts and its potential to make an impact on policy framings and outcomes. It shows that studies of the icg need to ‘unpack’ the organisation in order to account for it as both a highly successful international expert brand and a very heterogeneous actor in specific contexts and at specific times.

- by Berit Bliesemann de Guevara
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- Peace and Conflict Studies, Knowledge, Peacebuilding, Statebuilding

Towards New and More Innovative Arab Think Tanks