Chatham House

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For the all-boys grammar school of the same name situated in Ramsgate, see Chatham House Grammar School. For the Mansion in Virginia USA, see Chatham Manor.
Chatham House

Independent thinking on international affairs
Formation 1920
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Membership 3,000+
Website www.chathamhouse.org
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi exits Chatham House after addressing an event on responsible investment in Burma and receiving her Chatham House Prize, 22 June 2012

Chatham House, also known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in London whose mission is to analyse and promote the understanding of major international issues and current affairs. It is regarded as one of the world's leading organizations in this area[1] and is the originator of the world-famous Chatham House Rule. 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 occupied by three British prime ministers, including William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham.

In the University of Pennsylvania’s 2013 Global Go To Think Tanks Report, Chatham House is ranked the second most influential think tank in the world after the Brookings Institution, and the world's most influential non-US think tank.[2] In 2009, Chatham House was also named the top non-US think tank by Foreign Policy magazine, which listed it as one of the top "scholars" for being among a handful of stars of the think-tank world who are regularly relied upon to set agendas and craft new initiatives.[3]

The current chairman of the Council of Chatham House is Stuart Popham and its director is Robin Niblett. The research directors are Bernice Lee, Patricia Lewis, Paola Subacchi and Alex Vines.

Chatham House has distinguished presidents from each of the three main political parties at Westminster: Sir John Major, former UK Prime Minister, Lord Ashdown, former EU Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina and former leader of the Liberal Democrats, and Baroness Scotland, the former Attorney General.[4]

Role

Drawing upon its members, Chatham House aims to promote debate on significant developments in international affairs and policy responses. Their independent research and analysis on global, regional and country-specific challenges is intended to offer new ideas to decision makers on how these could best be tackled from the near to the long term. Chatham House is routinely used as a source of information for media organizations 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 [5] (due to donations from large corporations, governments and other organizations), Chatham House is nevertheless membership-based and anyone may join. It has a range of membership options for corporations, academic institutions, NGOs, and individuals including students and under 35s. In addition to corporate members consisting of government departments, large corporations, academic institutions, investment banks, NGOs, energy companies and other organizations, Chatham House currently has international leaders from business, diplomacy, science, politics and media as its individual members.[6]

Chatham House Rule

Main article: Chatham House Rule

Chatham House is the origin of the anonymity rule known as the Chatham House Rule, which provides that guests 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. Despite this, most meetings at Chatham House are held on the record, and not under the Chatham House Rule.

Research and publications

Chatham House research is structured around four departments: Energy, Environment and Resources, International Economics, International Security, and Area Studies and International Law, which comprises regional programmes on Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and Russia and Eurasia, alongside the International Law programme. The International Security department also contains the Centre on Global Health Security.[7]

Recent notable reports and papers

The November 2013 report Conflict and Coexistence in the Extractive Industries examined disputes between governments and companies over mineral resources and how falling commodity prices, plus heightened concerns over resource security, environmental degradation and climate change, could bring further scrutiny and tensions to the sector.[8]

Chatham House released the report Managing Famine Risk in April 2013 which argued that while early warning systems for famine and food crises had a good record, early action had been heavily hindered by the perceived political risk in donor countries.[9]

In December 2012, Chatham House released Resources Futures, a report on resource insecurity and the potential for future supply disruptions, volatile prices, accelerated environmental degradation and rising political tensions over resource access.[10] The report proposed a new 'G8-style' group of critical producers and consumers called the 'Resource 30' or R30 to tackle resource price volatility.[11][12]

In May 2012, Chatham House published the report Shifting Capital: The Rise of Financial Centres in Greater China.[13] The report argued that China needs to develop a deeper and more diversified financial sector that reflects the size and the international integration of its real economy.

To assess what contribution, if any, gold could make to the international monetary system in the wake of the global financial crisis, Chatham House set up a global taskforce of experts in 2011. In February 2012, the taskforce released the report Gold and the International Monetary System[14] which concluded that although a gold standard may have limited reckless banking and debt accumulation, it likely would have created excessive constraint on national economic policies where more flexible responses were needed.

In September 2011 Chatham House published a report examining support for populist extremists across Europe and recommending how mainstream political parties could respond. Right Response: Understanding and Countering Populist Extremism in Europe, by Matthew Goodwin,[15] noted that extreme parties more effectively exchange ideas and strategies as compared to mainstream parties, and recommended established parties work together on best practice to confront this challenge.

George Osborne and Christine Lagarde speaking at Chatham House, 9 September 2011

In October 2010 Chatham House published a report entitled Strategy in Austerity: The Security and Defence of the United Kingdom.[16] The report offered a framework for assessing the quality and durability of the British government's Strategic Defence and Security Review. Briefing Papers were also published on Iraq, Yemen, Cyber-Warfare, and the legal implications of unmanned drones (UAVs) amongst others.

In September 2010 Chatham House produced the report The ‘Shale Gas Revolution’: Hype and Reality, by Paul Stevens,[17] which analysed the huge increase in unconventional gas production in the US. The report cast serious doubts over the industry’s confidence in the ‘revolution’ and whether conditions in the US could be replicated. It received a Special Note in the Publication of the Year category at the Prospect Think Tank Awards 2011.[18]

A Chatham House analysis of the June 2009 Iranian presidential election voting figures by Ali Ansari, Daniel Berman and Thomas Rintoul[19] revealed irregularities in the official statistics that contradicted the official government line that a spate of newly participating voters had pushed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to victory. This report was widely cited by major media outlets, including The New York Times,[20] BBC News,[21] The Guardian,[22] The Telegraph,[23] The Wall Street Journal,[24] and the Financial Times.[25]

Speakers

In addition to undertaking wide-ranging research, Chatham House hosts high-profile speakers from around the world. Recent speakers include Shinzo Abe, David Cameron, Aung San Suu Kyi, Christine Lagarde, Madeleine Albright, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Abdullah Gül, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Herman Van Rompuy, Muhammad Yunus, and Ban Ki-moon.

Periodical Publications

Chatham House also houses the key scholarly and policy journal International Affairs, as well as a bi-monthly magazine The World Today.

Chatham House Prize

The Chatham House Prize is an annual award presented to "the statesperson deemed by Chatham House members to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year".[26]

List of winners

Year Name Country
2005 President Viktor Yushchenko[26]  Ukraine
2006 President Joaquim Chissano[26]  Mozambique
2007 Sheikha Mozah Al Missned[26]  Qatar
2008 President John Kufuor[26]  Ghana
2009 President Lula da Silva[27]  Brazil
2010 President Abdullah Gül[28]  Turkey
2011 Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi[29]  Myanmar
2012 President Moncef Marzouki and Rached Ghannouchi[26]  Tunisia
2013 Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton[30]  United States

History

Origins

The Royal Institute of International Affairs finds its origins in a meeting, convened by Lionel Curtis, of the American and British delegates to the Paris Peace Conference on 30 May 1919. Curtis had long been an advocate for the scientific study of international affairs and, following the beneficial exchange of information after the peace conference, argued that the method of expert analysis and debate should be continued when the delegates returned home in the form of international institute.[31]

Ultimately, the British and American delegates formed separate institutes, with the Americans developing the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

The British Institute of International Affairs, as it was then known, held its inaugural meeting, chaired by Lord Robert Cecil, on 5 July 1920. In this, former Foreign Secretary Viscount Edward Grey moved the resolution calling the institute into existence:

"That an Institute be constituted for the study of International Questions, to be called the British Institute of International Affairs."[32]

These two, along with Arthur J. Balfour and John R. Clynes, became the first Presidents of the Institute, with Curtis and G. M. Gathorne–Hardy appointed joint Honorary Secretaries. [33]

By 1922, as the Institute’s membership grew, there was a need for a larger and more practical space and the Institute acquired, through the gift of Canadian Colonel R. W. Leonard, Chatham House, Number 10 St. James's Square, where the Institute is still housed.[34]

Inter-War Years

Following its inception, the Institute quickly focused upon Grey’s resolution, with the 1920s proving an active decade at Chatham House. The journal, International Affairs, was launched in January 1922, allowing for the international circulation of the various reports and discussions which took place within the Institute.[35]

After being appointed as Director of Studies, Professor Arnold Toynbee became the leading figure producing the Institute's annual Survey of International Affairs, a role he held until his retirement in 1955. While providing a detailed annual overview of international relations, the survey’s primary role was ‘to record current international history’.[36] The survey continued until 1963 and was well received throughout the Institution, coming to be known as ‘the characteristic external expression of Chatham House research: a pioneer in method and a model for scholarship.’[37]

In 1926, 14 members of Chatham House represented Great Britain at the first conference of the Institute of Pacific Relations, a forum dedicated to the discussion of problems and relations between Pacific nations.[38] The IPR served as a platform for the Institute to develop an advanced political and commercial awareness of the region, with special focus being place upon China’s economic development and international relations.[39]

In the same year the Institute received its Royal Charter, thereupon being known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs. The Charter set out the aims and objectives of the Institute, reaffirming its wish to ‘advance the sciences of international politics...promote the study and investigation of international questions by means of lectures and discussion…promote the exchange of information, knowledge and thought on international affairs.’[40]

1929 marked the inception of the Institute's special study group on the international gold problem. The group, which included leading economists such as John Maynard Keynes, conducted a three year study into the developing economic issues which the post-war international monetary settlement created.[41] The group’s research anticipated Britain’s decision to abandon the gold standard two years later.[42]

Around this time Chatham House became known as the place for leading statesmen and actors in world affairs to visit when in London; notably, Mahatma Gandhi visited the institute on 20 October 1931, in which he delivered a talk on ‘The Future of India’. The talk was attended by 750 members making it the Institute’s largest meeting up to that point.[43]

In 1933 Sir Norman Angell, whilst working within the Institute’s Council, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his book The Great Illusion, making him the first and only Laureate to be awarded the prize for publishing a book.[44]

Chatham House held the first Commonwealth Relations Conference in Toronto, Canada in 1933. Held roughly every five years, the conference provided a forum for leading politicians, lawyers, academics and others to discuss the implications of recent Imperial Conferences.[45] With various dominion nations seeking to follow individual foreign policy aims, Major General Sir Neill Malcolm, the chairman of the Canadian Institute for International Affairs, emphasised the need for ‘essential agreement in matters of foreign policy between the various Governments’, with the Commonwealth Relations Conference being the vehicle upon which this cooperation would be achieved and maintained.[46]

In 1937, Robert Cecil was also awarded the Nobel Prize for his commitment to, and defence of, the League of Nations and the pursuit for peace and disarmament amongst its members.[47]

War Years, 1939-1945

The outbreak of WWII led the Chairman Lord Astor to decentralise the Institute, with the majority of staff moving to Balliol College, Oxford. Throughout the war years the Institute worked closely with the Foreign Office who requested various reports on foreign press, historical and political background of the enemy and various other topics. The few who remained in London were either drafted into various government departments or worked under Toynbee, dedicating their research to the war effort.[48]

The Institute also provided many additional services to scholars and the armed forces. Research facilities were opened to refugee and allied academics, whilst arrangements were made for both the National Institute of Economic and Social Research and the Polish Research Centre to relocate to the Institute following the bombing of their premises. In addition, allied officers undertook courses in international affairs at the Institute in an attempt to develop their international and political awareness.[49]

The Post War Years

Chatham House had been researching potential post-war issues as early as 1939 through the Committee on Reconstruction.[50] Whilst a number of staff returned to the Institute at the end of the war, a proportion of members found themselves joining a range of international organisations, including the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund. Combining this with the Institute’s early support of the League of Nations and impact of the gold study on the Bretton Woods system, Chatham House found itself to be a leading actor in international political and economic redevelopment.[51]

In reaction to the changing post-war world, Chatham House embarked on a number of studies relating to Britain and the Commonwealth’s new political stature, in light of growing calls for decolonisation and the development of the Cold War.[52] A board of studies in race relations was created in 1953, allowing for the close examination of of changing attitudes and calls for racial equality throughout the world. The group broke off into an independent charity in 1958, forming the Institute of Race Relations.[53]

Following the Cuban missile crisis and Brazilian coup d'état, the institute developed a growing focus on the Latin American region. Che Guevara, whilst working within the Cuban government, authored an article for International Affairs in 1964, displaying the Institute’s desire to tackle the most difficult international issues.[54]

Chatham House played a more direct role in the international affairs of the Cold War through the October 1975 Anglo-Soviet round-table, the first in a series of meetings between Chatham House and the Institute of World Economy and International Relations in Moscow. As an early example of two-track diplomacy, the meeting sought to develop closer communication and improved relations between Britain and the Soviet Union, one of the first such attempts in the Cold War.[55]

Soon after the first Anglo-Soviet round-table, the Institute began an intensive research project into ‘British Foreign Policy to 1985’. Its primary aim was to analyse the foreign policy issues which Britain would encounter in the near and far future. Research began in 1976 and the findings were published in International Affairs between 1977 and 1979.[56]

U.S. President Ronald Reagan delivers an address to the Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1988; first lady Nancy Reagan and U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher are at right

At the start of the 1980s, the Council moved to expand the Institute's research capabilities in two key emerging areas. The first modern programmes to be created under this initiative were the Energy and Research Programme and the International Economics Programme, formed in 1980 - 1981.[57]

In addition to reshaping its research practices, the Institute also sought to strengthen its international network, notably amongst economically prosperous nations. For example, Chatham House’s Far East programme, created with the intention of improving Anglo-Japanese relations in the long and short term, was bolstered by the support of the Japan 2000 group in 1984.[58]

Recent History

The Institute celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1995, an event marked by the visit of HM The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. During her visit, the Queen was briefed by the Institute’s experts on South Africa in preparation of her impending visit to the country following the end of apartheid.

1998 marked the creation of the Angola Forum. Combining the nation’s oil reserves with its growing international ambition, Angola quickly became an influential African nation. As a result, Chatham House launched the Forum to create an international platform for ‘forward looking, policy focused and influential debate and research'.[59] The Institute’s wider Africa Programme was created in 2002, beginning the modern structure of area studies programmes.[60]

In 2005, ‘Security, Terrorism and the UK’, the Institute’s report on the Iraq War, was published.[61] The report, which links the UK’s participation in the Iraq War and the nation’s exposure to terrorism and the shadow of fear which such terror casts, gained significant media attention.

The Chatham House Prize was also launched in 2005, recognising state actors who made a significant contribution to international relations the previous year. HM The Queen presented the debut first award to Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko.[62]

In January 2013 the Institute announced its Academy for Leadership in International Affairs, offering potential and established world leaders a 12 month fellowship at the institution with the aim of providing ‘a unique programme of activities and training to develop a new generation of leaders in international affairs.’[63]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Think-tanks going global, survey finds EurActiv.com
  2. ↑ University of Pennsylvania The 2013 Global Go To Think Tanks Ranking 23 January 2014
  3. ↑ McGann, James (2009-02-01). "Foreign Policy: The Think Tank Index". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2009-02-01. 
  4. ↑ Patrons, Presidents, Council, and Directors at Chatham House
  5. ↑ Tesfamariam, Sophia (2007-02-06). "Scholarly or Sophistry? A take on Chatham House’s "Ethiopia and Eritrea: Allergic to Persuasion"". American Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-05-17. 
  6. ↑ Chatham House Membership
  7. ↑ Research at Chatham House
  8. ↑ "Commodity disputes likely to increase". CNBC (2013-11-28). Retrieved 2014-02-03.
  9. ↑ Kinver, Mark (2013-04-05). "Chatham House report: Famine risks are badly managed". BBC News. Retrieved 2013-06-26.
  10. ↑ Harding, Robin (2012-12-10). "Nationalism threat to resource prices". Financial Times. Retrieved 2012-12-19.
  11. ↑ Bawden, Tom (2012-12-10). "Pressure on dwindling resources 'threatens global chaos'". The Independent. Retrieved 2012-12-19.
  12. ↑ Bromby, Robin (2012-12-13). "Talkfest won't tackle the big issues". The Australian. Retrieved 2012-12-19.
  13. ↑ Subacchi, P., et al. Shifting Capital: The Rise of Financial Centres in Greater China at Chatham House, May 2012
  14. ↑ Chatham House Gold Taskforce Gold and the International Monetary System at Chatham House, February 2012
  15. ↑ Goodwin, M. Right Response: Understanding and Countering Populist Extremism in Europe at Chatham House, September 2011
  16. ↑ Cornish, P. Strategy in Austerity, The Security and Defence of the United Kingdom at Chatham House, October 2010
  17. ↑ Stevens, P. The ‘Shale Gas Revolution’: Hype and Reality at Chatham House, September 2010
  18. ↑ On Think Tanks Prospect Magazine Think Tank Awards 2011 Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  19. ↑ Ansari, A., Berman, D. and Rintoul, T. Preliminary Analysis of the Voting Figures in Iran's 2009 Presidential Election at Chatham House, June 2009
  20. ↑ The New York Times, Answering Your Iran Questions, 26 June 2009
  21. ↑ BBC News, Iran: Where Did All the Votes Come From?, 23 June 2009
  22. ↑ The Guardian, Magic Numbers, 22 June 2009
  23. ↑ The Daily Telegraph, Mousavi Urges More Protests as Iran's Hardline Leadership Arrests Opposition Member's Family, 22 June 2009
  24. ↑ The Wall Street Journal, Heavy Security Reins in Iranian Protests, 22 June 2009
  25. ↑ The Financial Times, Tensions Deepen as UK Rebuffs Tehran Claims, 21 June 2009
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4 26.5 "Chatham House Prize". Chatham House. Retrieved 12 November 2013. 
  27. ↑ "Lula: Brazil's Olympic Champion". Latinbusinesschronicle.com. 6 Oct 2009. Retrieved 5 Jun 2010. 
  28. ↑ "Gül winner of prestigious Chatham House award". Todayszaman.com. 20 March 2010. Retrieved 5 Jun 2010. 
  29. ↑ "Winner of prestigious Chatham House award 2011". chathamhouse.org. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 2 Dec 2011. 
  30. ↑ "Hillary Clinton voted Chatham House Prize winner" (Press release). Chatham House. 28 August 2013. 
  31. ↑ Carrington. Chatham House: Its History and Inhabitants. Chatham House. p. 47. ISBN 1 86203 154 1. 
  32. ↑ ibid., p. 48.
  33. ↑ Ibid.
  34. ↑ Ibid., p. 50
  35. ↑ Ibid.
  36. ↑ 'Report of the Council of the Royal Institute of International Affairs to the 7th AGM' in The Royal Institute of International Affairs Annual Reports 1926-1931, (London: Chatham House, 1931), p. 3.
  37. ↑ Ibid., p. 11.
  38. ↑ 'Report of the 8th AGM' in Annual Reports 1926-1931, p. 3
  39. ↑ 'Report of the 11th AGM' in Annual Reports 1926-1931, p. 31.
  40. ↑ Ibid., pp. 5 - 6.
  41. ↑ "The International Gold Problem, 1931-2011". Retrieved 27/01/2014. 
  42. ↑ Kisch, C. H. "The Gold Problem". Chatham House. Retrieved 31/01/2014. 
  43. ↑ Ibid.
  44. ↑ 'Sir Norman Angell - Facts.' Retrieved 03/02/2014
  45. ↑ McIntyre, D. The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 36 (4): 591–614. 
  46. ↑ 'Report of the 13th AGM' in The Royal Institute of International Affairs Annual Reports 1931-1932, pp. 9-10.
  47. ↑ 'Robert Cecil - Facts.' Retrieved 03/02/2014
  48. ↑ Carrington, Chatham House, pp. 63-64.
  49. ↑ Ibid.
  50. ↑ Ibid.
  51. ↑ Ibid.
  52. ↑ Julius, Dr. DeAnne. "Impartial and International". Chatham House. Retrieved 24/01/2014. 
  53. ↑ 'About'. , Institute of Race Relations. Accessed 27 January 2013.
  54. ↑ The Royal Institute of International Affairs Annual Reports, 1964-1965, p. 3.
  55. ↑ The Royal Institute of International Affairs Annual Reports, 1975-1976, p. 3.
  56. ↑ 'British Foreign Policy to 1985'Retrieved 03/02/2014
  57. ↑ The Royal Institute of International Affairs Annual Reports, 1980-1981, p. 9.
  58. ↑ The Royal Institute of International Affairs Annual Reports, 1984-1985, p. 7.
  59. ↑ 'The Angola Forum'Retrieved 03/02/2014
  60. ↑ 'About the Africa Programme'Retrieved 03/02/2014
  61. ↑ 'Security, Terrorism and the UK'Retrieved 03/02/2014
  62. ↑ 'Impartial and International'Retrieved 03/02/2014
  63. ↑ 'Academy for Leadership in International Affairs'Retrieved 03/02/2014

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Coordinates: 51°30′28″N 0°08′10″W / 51.5077°N 0.1360°W / 51.5077; -0.1360

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