Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book assesses how American think tanks perceive their own success, which is to say the metrics and benchmarks the organizations use to determine how well their priorities are fulfilled. It demonstrates that American think tanks have, especially in recent decades, pursued highly quantifiable activities and outputs, and these quantitative-friendly indicators have become the main benchmarks against which these organizations evaluate their success, independently and in comparison with their peers. The book seeks to delineate the structure, role, and function of supranational think tanks. The book identifies the principal revelations reached throughout and serves as an opportunity to identify the major themes that consistently appeared. It synthesizes the preceding identification and analysis of the roles, priorities, and metrics of success utilized by American and supranational think tanks.