Contours of transformations of the geographical structure of think tanks

DOI: 10.35595/2414-9179-2025-3-31-397-413

View or download the article (Rus)

About the Authors

Fyodor V. Blazhevich

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Geography,
1, Leninskie Gory, Moscow, 119991, Russia,
E-mail: fedor.blazhevich02@mail.ru

Nikolai A. Sluka

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Geography,
1, Leninskie Gory, Moscow, 119991, Russia,
E-mail: sluka2011@yandex.ru

Irina N. Tikunova

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Geography,
1, Leninskie Gory, Moscow, 119991, Russia,
E-mail: vstikunov@yandex.ru

Abstract

The article is devoted to the geographical study of the phenomenon of think tanks. From the standpoint of the historical and geographical approach, the stages of its spatial diffusion are assessed, and a noticeable acceleration of the process has been noted since the last quarter of the XX century. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of the spatial regrouping of forces in the world expert and analytical community in the early XXI century based on data from the international program “Analytical Centers and Civil Society”. Territorial shifts are analyzed in two categories of structures—with basic functions and the largest organizations with global prestige, and on three scales—at the level of macroregions, countries and cities. The significant predominance of the former sets the main “visible” trends in the development and transformation of the main parameters of the geographical structure of the international expert and analytical community. Due to the spatial unevenness of the growth of analytical centers, a fairly high level of their territorial concentration remains, with a noticeable decrease in territorial differentiation and a change in territorial composition along the path to polycentrism due to the emergence of new “poles of growth” in the Global South. Based on quantitative indicators, modern models of the formation of thought factories in the countries of the world are proposed, and their grouping is given. Analytical centers with basic functions are becoming a widespread phenomenon and a necessary attribute of a large city; their elite is very limited and concentrated in select centers. 174 such structures are based in 89 cities in 55 countries. 2/5 of them are concentrated in European megacities, 1/4 each in America and Asia, and less than 1/10 in other regions of the world. Their actual location is determined primarily by the metropolitan area factor. Taking into account the level of concentration of the world’s leading think tanks, several categories of expert and analytical centers have been identified: the largest (Washington), large (London, New Delhi), medium-sized (Beijing, Brussels), small (28 cities) and emerging (141 cities). Despite the obvious resources of the think tanks in increasing the country’s international importance and authority, Russia is still lagging behind, and is represented only by Moscow in the world ranking of expert and analytical centers.

Keywords

social geography, political geography, diffusion of innovations, soft power, international expert and analytical community, spatial regrouping of forces

References

  1. Abelson D. Think Tanks and U.S. Foreign Policy: An Historical Perspective. U.S. Foreign Policy, 2002. V. 7. No. 3. P. 9–12.
  2. Balayan A.A., Sungurov A.Yu. Think Tanks under the Global Transformations. St. Petersburg: Aletheia, 2022. 372 p. (in Russian).
  3. Blazhevich F.V., Sluka N.A. Geography of “Think Tanks”. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 5, Geografiya (Moscow University Bulletin. Series 5. Geography), 2024a. V. 79. No. 4. P. 133–140 (in Russian). DOI: 10.55959/MSU0579-9414.5.79.4.11.
  4. Blazhevich F.V., Sluka N.A. Shifts in the Global Think Tank Spatial Structure at the Beginning of the XXI Century. Geographical Environment and Living Systems, 2024b. No. 2. P. 6–23 (in Russian). DOI: 10.18384/2712-7621-2024-2-6-23.
  5. Boucher S. Europe and its Think Tanks: A Promise to be Fulfilled. An Analysis of Think Tanks Specialised in European Policy Issues in the Enlarged European Union. Studies and Research, 2004. No. 35. P. 1–147.
  6. Chagry A. “Think Tanks” and the Political Process: The Role and Significance in Decision-Making. Transbaikal State University Journal, 2019. V. 25. No. 4. P. 75–85 (in Russian). DOI: 10.21209/2227924520192547585.
  7. Dickson P. Think Tanks. Moscow: AST, 1972. 512 p. (in Russian).
  8. Global Cities Innovation Index: 2023. Moscow: HSE, 2023. 316 p. (in Russian).
  9. Gorny M.B. Think Tanks and Centers of Public Policy in the Late XX—early XXI centuries. Public Policy, 2006. No. 1. P. 67–80 (in Russian).
  10. Hägerstrand T. Diffusion as a Spatial Process. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967. 334 p.
  11. Kolosov V.A. Geopolitics and the World Economy: Traditions and New Interdisciplinary Research Directions. Geography of the World Economy: Traditions, Modernity, Prospects. Moscow–Smolensk: Ojkumena, 2016. P. 81–94 (in Russian).
  12. Lebedeva M.M. “Soft Power”: Concept and Approaches. MGIMO Review of International Relations, 2017. No. 3. P. 212–223 (in Russian). DOI: 10.24833/2071-8160-2017-3-54-212-223.
  13. Maslov A.A. The Transformation of Analytical Centers as an Element of Chinese “Soft Power” in the 2010–2020. Outlines of Global Transformations: Politics, Economics, Law, 2021. V. 14. No. 4. P. 6–22 (in Russian). DOI: 10.23932/2542-0240-2021-14-4-1.
  14. McGann J.G. Global Go to Think Tank Index Report. TTCSP, 2008–2021.
  15. Medushevsky N.A. Think Tanks in the EU: Comparative Analysis of European and American Research Approaches. RUDN Journal of Political Science, 2010. No. 1. P. 111–121 (in Russian).
  16. Nye J. Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power. New York: Basic Books, 1991. 336 p.
  17. Nye J. The Future of Power. New York: Public Affairs, 2011. 320 p.
  18. Romachev R.V., Timofeeva A.P. The Phenomenon of “Revolting Doors” as a Paradigm of the US Corporatocracy. Political Science Issues, 2023. No. 9-2 (97-2) (in Russian).
  19. Sassen S. The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo. Princeton, New Jersey, 1991. 480 p.
  20. Savneva E.Yu. The Genesis of Think Tanks. Collection of papers of the 66th Scientific Conference of Students and Postgraduates of the Belgorod State University. In 3 parts. Minsk, 2009. Part 3. P. 286–289 (in Russian).
  21. Taylor P.J. The New Geography of Global Civil Society: NGOs in the World City Network. Globalizations, 2004. No. 1 (2). P. 265–277.
  22. Think Tanks and Civil Societies. Catalyst for Ideas and Action. New York: Routledge, 2000. 617 p.
  23. Vernon R. Raymond International Investment and International Trade in the Product Cycle. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1966. V. 80. Iss. 2. P. 190–207.

For citation: Blazhevich F.V., Sluka N.A., Tikunova I.N. Contours of transformations of the geographical structure of think tanks. InterCarto. InterGIS. Moscow: MSU, Faculty of Geography, 2025. V. 31. Part 3. P. 397–413. DOI: 10.35595/2414-9179-2025-3-31-397-413 (in Russian)