524 Revista del Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos Núm. 2 / 2013 North Korea and Vietnam. The scepticism as regards the power of think tanks in Spain and France makes the esteem that they are held in by high-ranking politicians in the United States even more remarkable: “Heritage Foundation is without question the most far-reaching conservative organization in the country in the war of ideas, and one that has had a tremendous impact not just in Washington, but literally across the planet”.36 Another relevant point is that the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States unmistakably took on the leadership of a think tank from his political camp in an official speech. In Spain, by contrast, the subject remains unknown or relegated to the background by political decision-makers. In the war of ideas – allegory of physical confrontation -, think tanks are the intellectual army of a state, defending their ideological model – product of the framework of references composed of beliefs, values, culture and history. The information revolution has created an ever-increasingly connected world; a world in which the public perception of values and motivations of a state can create an environment, and activate or deactivate the search for international support for its policies. The more than 40 American think tanks working in the areas of defence, security, and international relations invade and occupy the intellectual and cognitive space, taking ownership of the marketplace of ideas. The war of ideas describes a confrontation between opposing ideals, ideologies, representations and concepts. In this modern war, nations or interest groups turn to strategic influence to defend and promote their interests at national and international level. The military objective is to reach the hearts and minds of the citizens, while the weapons are the think tanks, television programmes, articles in the press, the internet, secret documents, radio transmissions and public diplomacy:37 “One resists the invasion of armies; one does not resist the invasion of ideas”.38 Soft power39 describes methods of influence developed by a state that opts for cultural and ideological methods of influence, leaving aside all recourse to violence. Credibility and legitimacy are indispensable for soft power to be effective. International institutions, NGOs, lobby groups and think tanks are both players and resources for its development and for the implementation of positive perceptions. Joseph Nye 36 GRINGRICH, Newt, Speaker of the House, Speech from 15 November 1994 37 ECHEVARRIA, Antulio Joseph, Wars of Ideas and the War of Ideas, SSI Monographs. Carlisle, United States: Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College (SSI). p. 63 38 HUGO, Victor, The History of a Crime, New York: Mondial, 2005 39 S. NYE, Joseph, Bound to Lead: the changing nature of American power, Basic Books, New Editons, 1991
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