THINK-TANK AND FOREIGN POLICY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (NIIA) AND THE INSTITUTE OF STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES (ISIS) MALAYSIA

Think tanks all over the globe have been known to play a pivotal role in the foreign policy formulation of their respective countries. This paper is a comparative study of Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) and Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia and seeks to address the following questions: What is think tank? What role Nigerian Institute of International Affairs and Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia play in foreign policy formulation in their respective countries? What are the constraints faced by these two think tanks in foreign policy formulation and how can these challenges be addressed? This is a desk research and it relies on secondary sources of data such as books, journals, newspapers and internet materials. The paper argues that both think tanks have provided expertise, informed opinion and advice to their respective countries and have also reflected the foreign policy corner stones of their respective countries. Both think tanks differed in terms of level of government interference and also faced finance and manpower problems. The paper recommends among others, improvement of financial base through seeking assistance from wealthy individuals and corporate organisations; collaboration with universities in order to address manpower shortage