This joint conference between Italy's preeminent think-tank Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), LSE IDEAS, the LUISS School of Government, and Centre de la Méditerranée Moderne et Contemporaine in Nice explores the think tank model and their role in policy-making. The conference is part of IAI's 50th anniversary celebrations. 

Conference Proposals 

The conference is looking for proposals on questions such as:

• Think tanks are relatively new players. Are there points in common in the way US, UK, French, Italian think tanks behave/try to influence foreign and defence policy?
• The evolution of the international context, characterized by growing integration and multilateralism, requires technical experts to play a greater role in shaping government policy. How have think tanks evolved to keep up with these changes? In particular, as regards foreign and security policy, has greater European integration resulted in a growing role for technical experts?
• Is there a specific role of "technical experts" in foreign and defence policy? What is the role of think tanks and technical experts in determining foreign and defence policy through external action (not from within institutions)? 

More information and details on how to submit your proposal are available here.