so many think tanks so little time

The US State Department actually prepared a report on the benefits of think tanks for US Foreign Policy. Available in pdf format It's an entertaining read if you're up for it.

US Foreign Policy Agenda November 2002 Volume 7 Number 3 An Electronic Journal of the US State Department The Role of Think Tanks in US Foreign Policy

'Think tanks provide a steady stream of experts to serve in incoming administrations and on congressional staffs,' a function that is 'critical in the American political system,' says State Department Director of Policy and Planning Richard Haass. In addition, he says, 'think tanks provide departing officials with institutional settings in which they can share insights from government service,' and 'remain engaged in pressing foreign policy debates.' page 39

Ripley's believe it or not moment, the above quote is in the section headed The Revolving Door It then goes on to list "prominent Americans who have served in government and in think tanks." Here's an example of one of these prominent Americans:

George P. Shultz Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution

Formerly: Secretary of State in the Reagan Administration (1982-1989), Chairman of President Reagan's Economic Policy Advisory Board (1981-1982), Secretary of the Treasury (1972-1974), Nixon Administration's Secretary of Labor (1969-1970).

There is so much to say about Mr. Shultz and the Hoover Institution, it's hard to know where to begin. So, let's start with his corporate affiliations.

Mr. Shultz is a member of the board of directors of Bechtel Group, Fremont Group, Gilead Sciences, Unext.com, and Charles Schwab & Co. He is also chairman of the International Council of J. P. Morgan Chase and on the advisory committee of Infrastructureworld.

Bechtel is currently up for a $600 million USAID government contract to rebuild infrastructure in Iraq. And speaking of Iraq....

It was awfully nice of the Washington Post to publish Mr. Shultz's Hoover Digest essay Act Now advocating a war in Iraq. And Mr. Shultz backs his harsh words up with action. He's on a committee.

Mr. Shultz is the Chairman of the board of advisors for Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI). Guess they got their wish. CLI is closely associated with the Iraqi National Congress (INC). That's right, Ahmed Chalabi. How do we know the two groups are associated? The CLI website is hosted by the INC as reported by Karen Pease from Iowans for Peace. But bpost also discovered this first hand. The links on the site are very unstable and will dump you right onto the INC home page without much effort. In fact, if you try the link http://www.liberationiraq.org/ it may dump you there now. It's hit or miss.

In honor of George P. Shultz's position on a think tank, committee, and corporate interest, the Trifecta. Congratulations George!

Oops...out of time. There's so much yet to explore at the Hoover Institution, the think tank that gave us Condoleezza Rice, the woman who has an oil tanker named after her.