BBC -- The War of the Washington Think Tanks

The intellectual battles being fought in Washington are not merely idle chatter.

Foreign policy experts on all sides of the debate are convinced that the shape of a new world order is being sketched out at the moment in Washington.

And those who win the intellectual debate often find themselves serving in the government.

So whatever new paradigm becomes dominant, it will influence the conduct of US foreign policy for years to come, not just in the Middle East, but across the world.

Right now the neocons are winning but there are other foreign policy positions.