Analysis: Think tanks, marketplace for ideas

This book by Stephen Boucher, Secretary General of Notre Europe, with a preface by Pascal Lamy, the current General Director of the World Trade Organisation, gives a precise definition of think tanks and explains how they work.

Since the 1980s, the number of think tanks is on the rise and they tend to play a still more important role in the decision-making process. While there are several hundreds of these groups in the EU, they still lack visibility, despite a recent interest in media. And yet, their reserch team and communicators try to influence the concepts on which today’s policies will rely. 

Who are they? What kind of relationships do they have with political decisionmakers, experts and private companies? Do they offer innovative political solutions or are they only tools for propaganda? Who finance them?

This book explains how future political solutions are developed through these new groups of influence. More information here.