As academia grew critical, think tanks filled the role of supplying empire with theory.

Evidence

While Orientalism and modernization theory each had their own research traditions and methods, both shared a polarized view of the world that saw the East as inferior and the West as superior; both were based on deeply racist notions tied to biology and culture. Anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism relies on biologizing culture to make culture appear natural and inherent. … Policy makers found it more challenging to find scholars who fell in line with US imperial aims. This led to the rise of think tanks that established close ties to the US national security state, as Khalil demonstrates. Unmoored from the standards of academic rigor, think tanks would play an instrumental role in furnishing empire with theory and policy. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 251 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

At that point, various factors, particularly the impact of successful national liberation struggles on the field of Middle East studies, led to a flurry of books and articles critical of both Orientalism and modernization theory. Policy makers found it more challenging to find scholars who fell in line with US imperial aims. This led to the rise of think tanks that established close ties to the US national security state, as Khalil demonstrates. Unmoored from the standards of academic rigor, think tanks would play an instrumental role in furnishing empire with theory and policy. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 263 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The think tank originated as a deliberate instrument of intellectual engineering — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1910; Think tanks arose to replace critical scholars with imperial-friendly policy theory; Think tanks replaced academic Middle East studies when scholars turned critical of empire — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 251 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Think tanks arose to replace critical scholars with imperial-friendly policy theory #corroborates (0.92)
• Think tanks replaced academic Middle East studies when scholars turned critical of empire #corroborates (0.88) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 251
• Decolonization-driven academic critique pushed empire toward think tanks #corroborates (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 263