Chatham House
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chatham House, formally known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in London whose mission is to analyze and promote the understanding of major international issues and current affairs. It is regarded as the world's leading organization in this area. It takes its name from its premises, a grade I listed 18th century house in St. James's Square designed in part by Henry Flitcroft and once occupied by three British Prime Ministers including William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham.
The current chairman of the Council of Chatham House is Dr. DeAnne Julius and its Director is Dr. Robin Niblett, who succeeded Professor Victor Bulmer-Thomas in January 2007. Dr Rosemary Hollis, a prominent Middle East expert, is its Director of Research and Keith Burnet is the Head of Communications.
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[edit] Role
Chatham House conducts original research into a variety of regional and global issues, and describes itself as follows.
- ... a melting pot that brings together people and organisations with an interest in international affairs. We provide an independent forum in which academia, business, diplomats, the media, NGOs, politicians, policy makers and researchers can interact in an open and impartial environment.
- The widespread recognition of the Chatham House Rule as a byword for free and frank debate is a reflection of our unique and non-aligned perspective.
Chatham House is routinely used as a source of information for media organisations seeking background or experts upon matters involving major international issues.
Although it has been alleged that Chatham House reflects a pro-establishment view of the world [1] (due to donations from large corporations, governments and other organisations), Chatham House is nevertheless membership-based and anyone may join. It has a range of different types of membership including Major Corporate, Corporate, Academic, Individual and Under 30.
[edit] Chatham House Rule
Chatham House is the origin of the confidentiality rule known as the Chatham House Rule, which provides that members attending a seminar may discuss the results of the seminar in the outside world, but may not discuss who attended or identify what a specific individual said. The Chatham House Rule evolved to facilitate frank and honest discussion on controversial or unpopular issues by speakers who may not have otherwise had the appropriate forum to speak freely. However, most Chatham House meetings are held 'on the record', and not under the Chatham House Rule.
[edit] Research
In August 2006 Chatham House released a report titled Iran, its Neighbours and the Regional Crises which said that the influence of Iran in Iraq had overtaken that of the US. The report asserted that any threatening action towards Iran could result in mass destabilization across the Middle East.
In December 2006 the departing director of Chatham House – Victor Bulmer-Thomas – produced a briefing paper on U.K. foreign policy during the Blair era entitled Blair’s Foreign Policy and its Possible Successor(s). The paper generated a media storm as it heavily criticized the Prime Minister for allying the U.K. too closely to the U.S. at the expense of closer ties with Europe.
[edit] History
The Royal Institute of International Affairs was founded in 1920 as the Institute of International Affairs following a meeting at the previous year's Paris Peace Conference. The first chairman was Robert Cecil, while Lionel Curtis served as honorary secretary. Arnold J. Toynbee later became director. The Council on Foreign Relations, its American sister institute, was established the following year. Chatham House's well-known headquarters at 10 St. James's Square, London, was gifted to the institute in 1923, having previously been the home of three British Prime Ministers - Pitt the Elder, Edward Stanley and William Gladstone - and also of the Earl and Countess of Blessington.
The name of the building grew to be so synonymous with the institute that it was officially rebranded as "Chatham House" in September 2004. However, the "Royal Institute of International Affairs" remains its legal name and is still sometimes used interchangeably with "Chatham House".
The Chatham House building is located just a few metres from the former Libyan embassy building where the 1984 Libyan Embassy Siege took place.
The annual Chatham House Prize was started in 2005 and is awarded to the individual who is judged to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year. Previous recipients include Victor Yushchenko and Joaquim Chissano. The 2007 winner was Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned.
A recent addition to the calendar of events is The BBC Today/Chatham House lecture series developed with the Today programme. The series was designed to promote debate and discussion on key international issues of the day. At the inaugural lecture in 2006, Condoleezza Rice defended the U.S. decision to go to war with Iraq.
