Think Tanks
What are Think Tanks?
Think Tanks are a great place to look for information on various political and economic issues. They can provide non-partisan perspectives, solutions to big issues, and hold other organizations accountable. They are often non-profit research organizations, or NGO (non-governmental organizations), providing public policy analysis and research. Writing about think tanks and using their research: A cautionary tip sheet, provides a great overview of what think tanks are and how to evaluate them.
How to Find Them
- Penn Libraries has a comprehensive list of Public Policy Research Think Tanks, including U.S. and Worldwide.
- Georgetown University Library also has an online guide on International Relations and Foreign Policy, including policy databases and think tank directories.
- You also simply use Google searching "Foreign Policy think tanks."
How to Evaluate Think Tanks
There is still a strong need to evaluate these resources and be aware of fake organizations or conflicts of interests for funding or donations. Consider the following when you looking at Think Tanks and Watchdog organizations:
- Review the "About Us" page, can you identify the following:
- Do they have a mission or goals statement, or history of the organization?
- Who are the contributors, authors, board of trustees? What are their credentials? What makes them an expert? Google them!
- Do they have information about their standards, research methods, etc.?
- Look at a few of the articles, reports or commentary.
- What kind of topics do they cover?
- How do they collect data or conduct their research?
- Can you identify any bias?
- What do other people say about this organization?
- Are they connected with government agencies, political parties or organizations that give you pause?
- Where do they fall on this Global Go To Think Tank Index?
Books on Foreign Policy
Starting with books is a great way to get an overview on various topics. The best way to search is using OneSearch using any of the following search terms below and then limit your search results on the left side by clicking "Format" then "Books" then "Apply Filters". OneSearch also has articles, government documents, magazines, news papers and more!
- "U.S. Foreign Policy"
- "Foreign Policy" Wilsionism (or a different theory you are researching)
- "Foreign Policy" "North Korea"
OneSearch indexes all of our databases, providing literally millions of sources. Using quotation marks, limited your results with the facets on the left and using precise keywords will help you limit your results.
Relevant Databases
- Military & Government Collection This link opens in a new windowContains current U.S. government and military information including full-text for nearly 300 journals and periodicals and indexing and abstracts for 400 journals.
- CountryWatch This link opens in a new windowComprehensive and regularly updated reports on every country.
- Homeland Security Digital Library This link opens in a new windowOver 122,500 documents related to homeland security policy, strategy, and organizational management from a wide variety of sources including federal, state and local governments.
- International Security & Counter Terrorism Reference Center This link opens in a new windowOpen Source Intelligence Resource for analysts, risk management professionals, and students.
- Westlaw This link opens in a new windowLegal and law related material, including searches of United States and international codes. Also includes extensive current archives of news sources, a Company Investigator.
Academic and Government Journals On Foreign Policy & Issues
The library has access to several news and academic journals on foreign policy.
List of links to BBC publications included International Reports and BBC Monitoring
News Databases
- New York Times This link opens in a new windowFull access to NYTimes.com and NYTimes mobile apps, including breaking news articles, blogs, videos and interactive features.To register, go to www.nytimes.com/passes & log in with your Cal Maritime email (@csum.edu). Renew once per year by logging in at www.nytimes.com/passes
- NewsBank This link opens in a new windowA comprehensive news collection useful for exploring issues and events at the local, regional, national and international level. Source types include print and online-only newspapers, blogs, newswires, magazines, broadcast transcripts and videos.
- NewsStream (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowSearch the most recent global news content, as well as archives which stretch back into the 1980s featuring newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites in active full- text format
- Ethnic News Watch This link opens in a new windowAn interdisciplinary, bilingual (English and Spanish) database of newspapers, magazines and journals from ethnic, minority and native presses.
Government Documents
- GovInfoIt's basically Google for government documents, you can browse or search all different types of resources published by the U.S. government.
- U.S. Department of StateYou can browse current policy issues and find overviews of the U.S. relationships with different countries.
- CIA World Factbook This link opens in a new windowProvides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities.
