Chatham House, formally known as The Royal Institute of International Affairs, is a non-profit A non-profit organization is an organization that does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead uses them to help pursue its goals. Examples of NPOs include charities (i.e. charitable organizations), trade unions, and public arts organizations. Most governments and government agencies meet this definition, but in, non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted, non-governmental organization created by natural or legal persons with no participation or representation of any government. In the cases in which NGOs are funded totally or partially by governments, the NGO maintains its non-governmental status by excluding government representatives from based in London London is a leading global city being the world's largest financial centre alongside New York City, and has the largest city GDP in Europe. Central London is home to the headquarters of most of the UK's top 100 listed companies and more than 100 of Europe's 500 largest. London's influence in politics, finance, education, entertainment, media, whose mission is to analyse and promote the understanding of major international issues and current affairs Current affairs is a genre of broadcast journalism where the emphasis is on detailed analysis and discussion of news stories that have recently occurred or are ongoing at the time of broadcast. It is regarded as one of the world's leading organizations in this area. It takes its name from its premises, a grade I listed A listed building in the United Kingdom is a building which has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. It is a widely used status, applied to around half a million buildings 18th century house in St. James's Square designed in part by Henry Flitcroft and thrice occupied by British Prime Ministers including William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham PC was a British Whig statesman who achieved his greatest fame leading Britain during the Seven Years' War (known as the French and Indian War in North America). He again led the country (holding the official title of Lord Privy Seal) between 1766-68.

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. The three Research Directors are Bernice Lee, Dr Paola Subacchi and Alex Vines OBE. Keith Burnet is Director of Communications. Dr Rosemary Hollis, a prominent Middle East expert, is a former Director of Research.

Chatham House was named the top non-US think tank A think tank is an organization or individual that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economy, science or technology issues, industrial or business policies, or military advice. Many think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide by Foreign Policy A country's foreign policy, called the international relations policy, consists of strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals in international relations. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries. In recent times, due to the deepening level of globalization and magazine. Chatham House was also listed 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.[1]

Distinguished people have served as President of Chatham House, including Baroness Shirley Williams, professor of electoral politics at Harvard University and leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords (2001–2004).[citation needed]

Contents

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 puppet 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 [2] (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 35.

Chatham House Rule

Main article: 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 Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak without censorship or limitation, or both. The synonymous term freedom of expression is sometimes used to indicate not only freedom of verbal speech but any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used. In practice, the right to freedom of speech is not. However, most Chatham House meetings are held 'on the record In journalism, a source is a person, publication, or other record or document that gives information. Outside journalism, sources are sometimes known as a "news source". Examples of sources include official records, publications or broadcasts, officials in government or business, organizations or corporations, witnesses of crime,', and not under the Chatham House Rule.

Research

Research is core to all Chatham House activities. Chatham House undertakes independent and rigorous analysis with the aim of setting the agenda and shaping policy by encouraging new ideas and forward thinking in international affairs.

Chatham House research is structured around three areas: Energy, Environment and Resource Governance; International Economics; and Regional and Security Studies. The full range of Programmes includes: Africa; the Americas; Asia; Energy, Environment and Development; Europe; Global Health Security; International Economics; International Law; International Security; Middle East and North Africa; and Russia and Eurasia.

In July 2005 Chatham House published a major report on terrorism in the UK. A key problem for the UK in preventing terrorism in Britain is the government's position as 'pillion passenger' to the United States' war on terror. Formulating counter-terrorism policy in this way has left the 'ally in the driving seat' to do the steering. This was one of the key findings of Security, Terrorism and the UK, which received unprecedented media coverage.

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 UK 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 UK too closely to the U.S. at the expense of closer ties with Europe.

In October 2008 Chatham House published a paper, Piracy in Somalia: Threatening Global Trade, Feeding Local Wars, by Roger Middleton. The briefing paper warned of the escalating dangers of piracy in the region and how at the root of the issue was the collapse of the Somali state and over a decade of failed international engagement. The paper featured widely in the UK and international press.

Briefing Papers were also published on Iraq and Yemen, amongs others.

Chatham House also houses the key scholarly and policy journal International Afffairs.

In addition to undertaking wide-ranging research, Chatham House hosts high-profile speakers from around the world. Recent speakers include Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before becoming Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he graduated from university, accepting his first post in New, Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban government in late 2001. During the International Conference on Afghanistan in Bonn, Germany, on 5 December 2001, Karzai was selected by prominent Afghan political figures to serve, Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Rice is an American professor, politician, diplomat and author. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush. Rice was the first African-American woman secretary of state, as well as the second African American (after Colin Powell), and, Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician, who has been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1983, currently for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. He served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. Brown became Prime Minister in June 2007, after the resignation of Tony Blair and three and David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (pronounced /ˈkæmrən/; born 9 October 1966) is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, and Leader of the Conservative Party. He is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Witney.

History

U.S. President Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in 1937. He began a career as an actor, first in films and later television, appearing in 52 movie productions and gaining enough success to become a delivers an address to the Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1988; first lady Nancy Reagan Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and served as an influential First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was born in New York; her parents divorced soon after her birth and she grew up in Maryland, living with an aunt and uncle while her mother pursued acting jobs. As Nancy Davis, she was and U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She is the only woman to have held either post are at right

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 Historians debate whether or not the terms imposed on Germany helped the rise of the Nazis and cause World War II, or whether the terms were the best that could be expected, given the mood of the victors. The first chairman was Robert Cecil Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood CH, PC, QC , known as Lord Robert Cecil from 1868 to 1923, was a lawyer, politician and diplomat in the United Kingdom. He was one of the architects of the League of Nations and a defender of it, whose service to the organisation saw him awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1937, while Lionel Curtis served as honorary secretary. Arnold J. Toynbee Arnold Joseph Toynbee CH was a British historian whose twelve-volume analysis of the rise and fall of civilizations, A Study of History, 1934-1961, was a synthesis of world history, a metahistory based on universal rhythms of rise, flowering and decline, which examined history from a global perspective later became director. The Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit and bipartisan membership organization dedicated to improving the understanding of U.S. foreign policy and international affairs. Founded in 1921 and headquartered at 58 East 68th Street (Park Avenue) in New York City, with an additional office in Washington, D.C., CFR is considered to be ', its American sister institute, was established the following year. Chatham House's well-known headquarters at 10 St. James's Square, London London is a leading global city being the world's largest financial centre alongside New York City, and has the largest city GDP in Europe. Central London is home to the headquarters of most of the UK's top 100 listed companies and more than 100 of Europe's 500 largest. London's influence in politics, finance, education, entertainment, media,, was gifted to the institute in 1923, having previously been the home of three British Prime Ministers The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom and the Head of Her Majesty's Government. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party, and ultimately to the electorate - Pitt the Elder, Edward Stanley and William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone was a British Liberal Party statesman and four times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1868–74, 1880–85, 1886 and 1892–94). He was also Chancellor of the Exchequer and a champion of the Home Rule Bill which would have established self-government in Ireland - 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.

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 Condoleezza Rice is an American professor, politician, diplomat and author. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush. Rice was the first African-American woman secretary of state, as well as the second African American (after Colin Powell), and defended the U.S. decision to go to war with Iraq.

Chatham House Prize

Main article: Chatham House Prize

The Chatham House Prize is an annual award presented to the statesperson deemed by members of the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year.

See also

References

  1. ^ McGann, James (2009-02-01). "Foreign Policy: The Think Tank Index". Foreign Policy. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4598&page=0. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
  2. ^ Tesfamariam, Sophia (2007-02-06). "Scholarly or Sophistry? A take on Chatham House’s “Ethiopia and Eritrea: Allergic to Persuasion”". American Chronicle. http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=20292. Retrieved 2007-05-17.

External links

Coordinates A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified in three coordinates, using mainly a spherical coordinate system: 51°30′28″N 0°08′10″W / 51.5077°N 0.1360°W

Categories: Organizations established in 1920 | Political and economic think tanks based in the United Kingdom | Charities based in the United Kingdom | Grade I listed buildings in London | Grade I listed houses Categories: Grade I listed buildings | Grade I listed residential buildings | Houses in the United Kingdom | Listed buildings by function | Houses in Westminster

 

The above information uses material from Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other functional and useful document "free" in the sense of freedom: to assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it, with or without modifying it, either commercially or noncommercially. Secondarily, this License preserves for the author and publisher a.
Some facts may not have been fully verified for accuracy. [Disclaimers Wikipedia is an online open-content collaborative encyclopedia, that is, a voluntary association of individuals and groups working to develop a common resource of human knowledge. The structure of the project allows anyone with an Internet connection to alter its content. Please be advised that nothing found here has necessarily been reviewed by]
This page was last archived by our server on Mon Jul 26 00:18:55 2010. [ refresh local cache ]
Displaying this page or its contents does not use any Wikimedia Foundation's resources.
The owners of this site proudly support the Wikimedia Foundation.

[Hide]▼
[Hide]▲