text: Very good question, in fact the smartest one I heard in a while. I have to agree to a certain degree, by definition a real think-tank can not afford to be limited in its intellectual scope, so conservatism and a think-tank can not really go together (just like a communist think-tank, or an Islamic fundamentalist think-tank). You may limit your thought process within the realm of what ever ideology you want to but that would not be a think-tank but a project group at its best