Think Tank: Our Definition

GCIRD does not treat a think tank as a lobby, an academic institute, or a media outlet, although it is in conversation with all three. We understand a think tank as an institution that operates where political choice, economic reasoning, public communication, and scholarly research meet. Its task is to create the conditions in which informed interpretation can evolve and in which competing readings of international affairs can be examined with clarity.

A credible think tank is defined by the quality of its reasoning and by the continuity of its research community. It requires a group of scholars and practitioners who can work with conceptual precision while remaining intelligible to the broader public they serve. The value of such an institution lies not only in the knowledge it produces, but also in the way it fosters reflection, disagreement, and refinement.

GCIRD adds a further dimension to this understanding: a think tank should be permeable. It should be open to new researchers, new questions, and new regional viewpoints. It should not rely on a single intellectual tradition. As global challenges become more intertwined, knowledge must circulate more freely, and the boundaries of expertise must widen rather than contract.

To express this idea, GCIRD introduces a concept that guides our structure. We view a think tank as a distributed epistemic lab. This means that knowledge is not produced in a single centre or fixed hierarchy. Instead, it emerges from a dispersed network of contributors who test ideas across contexts, compare interpretations, and continuously revise their understanding. A distributed epistemic lab is not a metaphor. It is an alternative organisational model. It recognises that insight often appears at the margins of established institutions and that research gains strength when it moves across borders, disciplines, and generations.

In practice, GCIRD works through two interlinked frameworks. The first is global. Contributors come from different geopolitical settings and bring with them local knowledge and distinct intellectual traditions. The second is intergenerational. Established experts collaborate directly with younger analysts, creating a research environment that evolves rather than replicates itself.

For GCIRD, a think tank is therefore not a gatekeeper but a catalyst. It is a place where ideas are developed, contested, and strengthened in public view. Our aim is to offer a model of research that reflects the complexity of the world, not the structure of long-standing institutions.