As think tank numbers explode, they have become an integral part of political life. Political leaders, corporations and non-governmental organisations draw upon their expert advice to advance their causes in the battle of ideas.

Diane Stone is Reader in Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick
Andrew Denham is Reader in Government at the University of Nottingham

1. Introduction Think tanks, policy advice and governance - Diane Stone
Part I The international dimension
2. Institutes of International Affairs in foreign policy making, opinion mobilisation and unofficial diplomacy - Inderjeet Parmar
3. Think tanks beyond nation states - Diane Stone
4. European Union think tanks: Generating ideas, analysis and debate - Heidi Ullrich
Part II European think tank traditions
5. Think tanks in Germany - Martin Thunert
6. Italy: Think tanks and the political system - Sonia Lucarelli and Claudio M. Radaelli
7. French think tanks in comparative perspective - Catherine Fieschi and John Gaffney
8. Think tanks, post communism and democracy in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe - Mark Sandle
Part III. Think tanks in democratic development and economic transition
9. The Chinese tradition of policy research institutes - Ming Chen Shai with Diane Stone
10. Think tanks in Japan: A new alternative - Makiko Ueno
11. Think tanks and Malaysian development - Su Ming Khoo
12. Think tanks in developing countries: Lessons from Argentina - Miguel Braun, Antonio Cicioni and Nicholas J. Durote
Part IV. The Anglo-American tradition
13. The business of ideas: A look at the think tank industry in the United States - Don Abelson
14. A 'hollowed out' tradition? British think tanks in the twenty-first century - Andrew Denham and Mark Garnett
15. Australian think tanks - Ian Marsh and Diane Stone
16. Three decades of Canadian think tanks: Evolving institutions, conditions and strategies - Evert A. Lundqvist
Afterword Soft power, global agendas - William Wallace