A weekly roundup of publications, reports, events & articles from the leading UK think tanks.

Welcome to this week’s Think-tank Roundup. As well as the controversial Policy Exchange report and some good stuff on events in Georgia you’ll find rows over the Muslim Writers Awards, debates about the legacy of Solzhenitsyn, windfall taxes for energy companies and calls for football clubs to pay more – to those off the field!

As ever please use the comments for anything I’ve missed…

Reports & Publications…

• The Hansard Society released ‘Digital Dialogues 3’ – the third report in a series into the use of online technologies to enhance engagement between central government and the public. The report “focuses on seven case studies (including the Office of the Prime Minister and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office) that highlight the factors that help and hinder online engagement. The report finds that many government departments remain wary of using the internet to engage because it is new and unfamiliar”
• As you might have heard (!) Policy Exchange released ‘Cities Unlimited’ – a highly critical look at the last decade of regeneration policies and a “a series of radical proposals that would reverse the trend and inject a much needed momentum back into regeneration policy”
• For an interesting counterpoint to the Policy Exchange report you might want to read “How can cities thrive in the changing economy?” from The Work Foundation. The focus is economic development rather than regeneration specifically but it’s still worth a look and has a few interesting rebuttals to some of the points raised by PX.

Articles, Speeches & Briefings…

• Chatham House carries one of the better articles I’ve read on events between Russia & Georgia this week – “Intellectual Dishonesty and the Culpability of All.” As the title suggest James Nixey’s article looks at the selective thinking on both sides of the dispute – “Aside from the avoidable loss of innocent life, one the most depressing things about the past few days is the lack of intellectual honesty on display. Rather than examine motive and facts on the ground, both Russians and Georgians have chosen to extract what they wish from the overall picture and used it to fit their pre-existing nationalist ideologies”
• For more comment on the situation in Georgia you might also want to visit the European Council on Foreign Relations – they have a collection of articles by various fellows and experts.
• A very interesting article in the RSA Journal on ‘Brain Power’ by Jonathan Carr-West – “How do we cope with the complexity of the modern world and foster local and global solidarity in the face of diversity and individualism? Solutions to these challenges will come from our growing desire to shape our neurological processes”.
• Over at religious think-tank Theos the current ‘debate’ is on the influence of Alexander Solzhenitsyn and why we “should resist the temptation to ignore either his critique of the west or the importance of his religious faith in directing the analysis he gave”.
• In typically bellicose fashion the Henry Jackson Society asks “Czechoslovakia 1938 – Georgia 2008 ?” – Marko Attila Hoare concludes that “However unpalatable this conflict may be for us, it is better to take a tough but non-violent stance against Moscow today, than to pursue a policy of appeasement that will pave the way to a more dangerous – and potentially violent – conflict with Russia tomorrow”
• Compass continues to press their campaign for a Windfall Tax on energy companies and looks at the continuing media interest the campaign has generated. The main campaign page has templates for letters should you wish to lobby your MP or Alasdair Darling.
• In conjunction with the Fair Pay Network the IPPR are calling on Premiership football clubs to become ethical employers and pay fair wages to everyone working off the pitch.
• The Centre for Social Cohesion carries a story on Max Malik’s confrontation with the Muslim Writers Awards (an honour he won in 2007) over their alleged refusal to read his 2008 entry ‘The Butterfly Hunter’.

Events & Meetings…

• Demos are hosting a speech by the Shadow Chancellor George Osborne on notions of fairness in British politics. The speech will be at Demos in Tooley Street next Wednesday (20th) at 10:30am – contact for details.