. Studies about think tanks in Bolivia have suggested that they have been successful in influencing public policy, due to their strong links with political parties and social movements. They describe the Bolivian think tank landscape as inherently political, pinpointing the emergence of many... Read full article

After interviewing Fundacion ARU last May, I also got together with Osvaldo Nina, Lykke Andersen and Carolina Cardona of the Instituto de Estudios Avanzados en Desarrollo (INESAD). Osvaldo Nina is its current Executive Director, while Lykke Andersen was INESAD's first Director. Carolina... Read full article

Last month, I had the opportunity to travel to La Paz, Bolivia, and interview the directors and researchers of the think tanks belonging to the Think Tank Initiative: Fundacion ARU and the Instituto de Estudios Avanzados en Desarrollo (INESAD). With both institutions we discussed what it is... Read full article

Think tanks are nothing new in Latin America. When, in 1790, the Sociedad Académica de Amantes del País was founded in Lima, the first think tank in the continent was also possibly established. The Sociedad became a space where colonial Peruvian intellectuals would meet to discuss and... Read full article

Something for the weekend: This paper on the role of think tanks in Bolivian politics by Rafael Loayza Bueno and Ajoy Datta, has just been published by ODI. It was a particularly satisfying moment when Rafael, after working on it during a Hansard Fellowship internship at RAPID, told me that... Read full article