Can you imagine a world without Think Tanks?
This post has been sitting in my draft folder for far too long. I actually do not remember what triggered the first draft, but I seem to remember vaguely that among calls for organizational reforms in higher education or international organizations not enough debate seems to take place on why we need Think Tanks in international affairs & development in their current shape & size... Yes, I typed "Think Tank" into Google Image search... Perhaps the answers to the title of the post are less rhetorical than the title suggests, but I have been wondering lately what the role of Thinks Tanks in the international development industry really is. Don’t get me wrong: Many great colleagues do great work at great thinks tanks and I received my PhD from a prominent institution that works partly as an academic department, partly as a think tank and partly as a consulting firm. But it ’ s 2019 after all and I wonder what would happen if they/many/some weren’t around anymore. H