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If you don't follow @RollandNadege, you really should! In our new report @ThinkDemocracy, she explains how authoritarian regimes—including in China, Russia, & Gulf states—leverage their own versions of "think tanks" as instruments of #sharppower: https://www.ned.org/sharp-power-and-democratic-resilience-series-commanding-ideas/
THREAD: A few key observations by @RollandNadege in her new report, "Commanding Ideas" that differentiate between how think tanks based in open societies function vs. how authoritarian regimes employ their own "think tanks" in the service of the state...
Think tanks first emerged from democratic societies to generate new ideas and provide objective research, without direction from government. Their ability to voice independent opinions stems from pluralism inherent to open societies. @RollandNadege @ThinkDemocracy
But the antiliberal and antidemocratic political systems to which authoritarian "think tanks" belong repress any form of dissent and claim control over the discursive and ideational space, undercutting the pretense of parity with their democratic counterparts. @RollandNadege
Grasping their potential value as conduits for influence abroad, authoritarians use "think tanks" to deliver the regime's preferred version of the truth, promote a fabricated version of themselves & nurture relationships w/ foreign individuals & institutions close to policymaking
Authoritarians employ a deliberate method to influence building. They proactively set the agenda via conferences and publications their "think tanks" organize. Some topics are not discussed because they are deemed too sensitive for the regime... @RollandNadege @ThinkDemocracy
This systematically selective engagement by authoritarian "think tanks" marginalizes entire segments of opinion and overcrowds debate with voices favorable to authoritarian objectives, with a cumulative effect that approximates censorship. @RollandNadege @ThinkDemocracy
"The purposeful, determined, and relentless efforts of authoritarian regimes to shape and manipulate the ideas space directly undermine the resilience of a core democratic principle—pluralism." Read the report for ideas on how civil society can respond: https://www.ned.org/sharp-power-and-democratic-resilience-series-commanding-ideas/
