RIAC’s Seminar on the Future of Think Tanks

With Daniel W. Drezner, Professor of International Politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University

In 2019–2021 some of the most influential think tanks will celebrate their hundredth anniversaries. In the midst of a new round of populism, the collapse of trust in traditional institutions and the crisis of internationalism, international think tanks reconsider their mission and role in society and world politics.

On January 17, 2019, at 4:30 pm, Russian International Affairs Council held an open seminar on the challenges think tanks are facing and the forecast for their future.

How do think tanks deal with competition and the private sector, universities and NGOs? Is it possible to produce serious analytics without losing the wide audience in the age of post-truth? Can think tanks oppose something to the negative trends in relations between states or are they doomed to serve the interests of their sponsors?

These and other issues were discussed by:

— Special guest — Daniel Drezner, Professor of International Politics at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, participant of Gaidar Forum 2019 «Russia and the World: National Development Goals and Global Trends», author of the book «The Ideas Industry: How Pessimists, Partisans, and Plutocrats are Transforming the Marketplace of Ideas» (2017),

— Andrey Kortunov, RIAC Director General

— Dmitry Trenin, Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, RIAC Member

Moderator: Anton Tsvetov, RIAC and Center for Strategic Research Expert

Working Language: English.

This piece was republished from RIAC.