Think tank

A think tank is an organization which is typically associated with producing analysis, discussion, advice, advocacy, and/or research aimed at advancing or justifying certain policies, values, or ideas in governance or in society more generally. Think tanks may profess a wide range of ideological standpoints and goals and may or may not be transparent or academically rigorous in their activities and aims. Think tanks are typically funded through private donations, grants, and, in some cases, public funds. The boundaries of what constitutes a "think tank" are not strictly defined and thus may overlap with various other types of organizations that conduct similar or related activities.

In capitalist society, capitalist-backed think tanks serve as a tool of the capitalist class in which various sections of the bourgeoisie may work out domestic and foreign policy consensus among themselves to then be formalized in the governance structures of the bourgeois state, among other functions. Some examples of influential think tanks of the imperial core include the Brookings Institution, The Heritage Foundation, the Council on Foreign Relations, the RAND Corporation, Chatham House, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and the Atlantic Council. The US-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a CIA cutout which contributes to fostering color revolutions in various countries, also coordinates a global network of think tanks of approximately 80 member organizations in 50 countries, known as the Network of Democracy Research Institutes (NDRI).

Functions

Bourgeois think tanks serve additional functions beyond managing and negotiating the policy interests of the bourgeoisie's factions. Among their other functions, think tanks provide forums in which the "revolving door" of public and private interests may semi-publicly network amongst themselves and obtain information, influence, training, career opportunities, and funding whilst legitimizing themselves as "experts" in the public eye. Think tanks can provide an informal training ground for new leadership and spokespeople as well as an informal recruiting ground for "policy experts" to become aides or appointees of corporate leaders that take government positions. Think tanks are also a forum through which capitalists can convey their "concerns, goals, and expectations to those young experts and young professors that want to further their careers" by receiving foundation grants or invitations to work or participate in discussions at think tanks.

Role in military-industrial complex

Bourgeois think tanks can serve a marketing role for various industries, for example the Atlantic Council has been described as the "marketing arm of the military-security complex." Many think tanks which receive funding from defense contractors who themselves are awarded government funding promote war-hawk policies when they consult with or obtain positions in government, thus fueling their war-based funding cycle. Due to such dynamics, think tanks are included in the expanded "MICIMATT" model of the Military-Industrial Complex.

Manufacturing doubt and controversy

Think tanks may also perform a role in an industry's efforts to manufacture controversy or create doubt around a particular topic (a marketing technique sometimes called "fear, uncertainty, and doubt" or FUD). This may occur in cases such as when scientific findings or changes in public perception of an issue threaten the industry's profitability. This incentivizes the industry to commission the production of studies, articles, or other publications which cast doubt or raise controversy around information unfavorable to their interests and thereby delay unfavorable policy actions. A commonly cited example of this phenomenon is the US tobacco industry's efforts to cast doubt on scientific findings of the health risks of smoking. As one tobacco company's internal memorandum stated in 1969, "Doubt is our product since it is the best means of competing with the 'body of fact' that exists in the mind of the general public. It is also the means of establishing a controversy."

A similar case can be seen with the production of doubt around the issue of climate change. For example, the 1998 Global Climate Science Communications Plan, created by representatives from major fossil fuel corporations in collaboration with conservative think tanks and public relations experts was created in response to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol greenhouse gas emissions treaty. In one of their memos, they write that "victory will be achieved" when "average citizens 'understand' (recognize) uncertainties in climate science" and when "recognition of uncertainties becomes part of the 'conventional wisdom'" while those who follow extant science "appear to be out of touch with reality". The memo discusses various methods to "undercut the 'conventional wisdom' on climate science" such as founding a non-profit "educational foundation" designed to become an alternative to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), working with scientists who support their position and recruiting scientists who specifically do not have a long history of visibility to join the climate debate and do media outreach, and to produce a "steady stream of op-ed columns and letters to the editor authored by scientists".

Funding

Although think tanks are sometimes emphasized as being supposedly "non-profit" with the implication that this makes them more politically neutral, this characterization downplays the fact that it is not simply straightforward or above-board financial profit motives which may affect the supposed impartiality of a think tank, as other incentives such as seeking (in)formal positions within the funder organization or gaining access to particular (governmental) data sets, or gaining other social, career, or indirect financial benefits may be at play. Furthermore, think tanks commonly carry out their activities by being commissioned (paid) to produce something (such as a specific study), or because they acquired project-related funding; either of these sources of funding will contribute both to the project but also to the organization's growth. The fact that this funding can be jeopardized if the think tank does not produce its funders' desired result can also affect the nature of what they produce.