A Capitol Idea reveals the extent to which think tanks in the United States have become active and vocal participants in the foreign policy-making process. In this timely exploration, Donald Abelson re-evaluates the role of these complex organizations and looks at how political influence is achieved on Capitol Hill and in the White House.

Abelson focuses on a host of high profile think tanks - including the Brookings Institution, the Heritage Foundation, and the Project for the New American Century - and on the public and private channels they rely on to influence important and controversial foreign policies, including the development and possible deployment of a National Missile Defense and George Bush's controversial war on terror. In the process of uncovering how some of the nation's most prominent think tanks have established themselves as key players in the political arena, he challenges traditional approaches to assessing policy influence and suggests alternative models.