Bases teóricas de la variable independiente: Plan de tercerización del área de

politics. States no longer have a monopoly on power. The knitting needles of globalization – trade, finance, technology, and traditional and new media – are inexorable forces that go beyond the control of any state, leading to the decentralization of power.

Although it’s often positively associated, the decentralization of power can be an issue for think tanks. “While information wants to be free, knowledge is much ‘stickier’-harder to communicate, more subjective, less easy to define.”120 This leads to complications within the consistency, value, and seriousness of information. Not only that, but the constant access to public information that is used within the political sphere enables the increased actions taken by terrorist and demagogues. Globalization caused terrorism to change the nature of time in this changing world121, especially after the Cold War marked a shift in international arrangements. Direct action against this requires “a multilateral response, which further solidifies all centralized organizations and results in a more centralized international system to combat the threat from decentralized and autonomous networks of disaffected individuals”.122 Since the global political                                                                                                                

119 _{Andrea Moncada, New blood means new challenges for U.S. think tanks. Onthintanks.org. June 12,}

2012.

<http://onthinktanks.org/2012/06/12/new-blood-means-new-challenges-for-u-s-think-tanks/>).

120 _{Gates, B. (2006) ‘The Road Ahead’. Newsweek Jan 25.2006} 121 _{Terrorism in The Context of Globalization: Web URL:}

zmne.hu/aarms/docs/Volume9/Issue1/pdf/01.pdf

122 _{Hamilton & Gray 2012, Decentralized Terrorism: Ramifications for a Centralized International}

realm is becoming more decentralized, centralization efforts that battle terrorism are few and far between. These are some of the issues think tanks battle with the decentralization of power. XIV. Blurring of the Lines between Think Tanks and Journalism. Recently, a combination of circumstances has led to inreasing blurring of the lines between think tanks and journalism. A perfect example that reflects this emerging issue of global journalistic think tanks is the “Thinking about Think Tanks” event located in the Fletcher School at Tufts University that took place on October 14, 2014. The conference was organized and chaired by Brooke Williams, who, according to the conference schedule, is a member of Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics. However, a quick search indicates that Brooke Williams is also an award winning investigative reporter123 who plans to investigate think tanks during her fellowship at Harvard.

This severe blurring of the lines occurs between journalist and scholars. And though “journalists […] are not traditionally valued in think tanks, […] think tanks are in journalism more to promote ideas than to inform the public or expose wrongdoing”.124 Still, these odd and potentially troubling developments can increase the difficulties of keeping journalism and think tanks in their separate lanes, particularly when conflicts-of-interest may arise.

How can this occurrence be seen any different than when Doug Brandow, who in 2005 was also represented and introduced as a scholar from Cato, attended an event for scholars but ended up involving corporate beneficiaries within his testimony? The essence of using a scholarly event to perform lobbying activities is, therefore, a re-occurring event that deserves attention and classification as an emerging issue for think tanks.

There is no grudge or prejudice involved within the writings of this trend; we all have our own variety of affiliations. However, there is something troubling about this specific trend. The existence of another dimension to the current crisis we are now experiencing certainly needs to be addressed for further exploration, for “a relationship that used to be symbiotic […] is becoming competitive.”125 “Think tanks are doing journalism […] deskbound journalists, meanwhile, are embracing data and spreadsheets. […] Think tank journalism comes closest to the traditional sort when it is in the field…spend[ing] their days crunching data and attending meetings.”126 By using methods dedicated and devoted to think tanks, the lines between journalism and think tanks become blurred, leading to damaging consequences.

There is a reason why certain journalists try to imitate and mimic the think tank methods and infiltrate into the true scholarly world. Journalists sense their job opportunities starting to shrivel                                                                                                                

123_{Brooke Williams." Brooke Williams. Accessed October 27, 2014.}

http://ethics.harvard.edu/people/brooke-williams.

124 _Ibid.

125 _{“Making the Headlines." The Economist. September 20, 2014. Accessed October 27, 2014.}

http://www.economist.com/news/international/21618824-divide-between-having-ideas-and-reporting- them-dissolving-making-headlines

125 _Ibid. 126 _Ibid.

in the traditional media, while new media is starting to take the forefront in journalism.127 “For politicians, policymakers, and readers, more journalism means more information and choice. Inaccuracies can be quickly challenged and there is always a second opinion. For journalists, the news is not so good. Twitter, blogs, and newsletters can get a think tank’s ideas to its audience direct,”128 cutting out the middleman and endangering the jobs for journalists.

Additionally, there is other competition with think tanks, making this issue such an important one. In addition to competing with one another, think tanks are now also competing with large law firms, consulting firms, and advocacy groups who are trying to diversify and increase their market share in non-traditional markets. They are all blurring the lines so they can compete head- to-head with think tanks for the same audience and scarce resources. This think-tank issue endangers the specification of think tanks by the blurring of the lines, which can lead to further negativities in regards to methods, opportunities, and other elements that are involved with think tanks.

XV. Global Gridlock: In regards to political actions, major global issues that need to be