British-American Project

Last updated

The British-American Project (BAP) is an organisation intended to strengthen links between the United Kingdom and the United States. [1] BAP operates on a not-for-profit basis, funded through its membership and support from corporate partners. It was originally named the British-American Project for the Successor Generation. [1] [2]

Contents

Goals

Established in 1985, BAP was created to help maintain and enrich the long-standing relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States. The Project was the brainchild of Nick Butler, an economist at BP, who at that time was also a prospective Labour Party parliamentary candidate. [1] Along with others in both countries who viewed the special relationship favorably, he had become concerned about a growing tide of anti-American sentiment among his generation in the UK. Butler's response was to propose a series of conferences, developing relationships between the participants and broadening understanding. [1]

A US BAP organiser describes the BAP network as committed to "grooming leaders" while promoting "the leading global role that [the US and Britain] continue to play". [3]

Organisation

The British-American Project is affiliated with the Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). BAP is a non-profit, funded by its members and donations from corporate partners. [4] [ dubious – discuss ]

Nick Cohen, writing in The Observer in 1999, criticised the scheme on the grounds that it encouraged the adoption in Europe of policy from the United States. [4] [ dubious – discuss ][ better source needed ]

Andy Beckett, writing in The Guardian in 2004, said of the organisation "You won't have heard of the British-American Project, but its members include some of the most powerful men and women in the UK". [1] He writes that in the work of the organisation "a process of political education can be discerned of which J Howard Pew would have approved", and that "American notions such as less regulated capitalism, a smaller 'enabling state' and a world kept safe by the Pentagon came to be regarded as sensible, inevitable". [1] He notes that people with military experience are important in BAP. [1]

Notable current and former members

Fellows

Politicians

Journalists

Arts and media

Other

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bilderberg Meeting</span> Annual private conference

The Bilderberg Meeting is an annual off-the-record forum established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally to prevent another world war, is now defined as bolstering a consensus around free market Western capitalism and its interests around the globe. Participants include political leaders, experts, captains of industry, finance, academia, numbering between 120 and 150. Attendees are entitled to use information gained at meetings, but not attribute it to a named speaker. The group states that the purpose of this is to encourage candid debate while at the same time maintaining privacy, but critics from a wide range of viewpoints have called it into question, and it has provoked conspiracy theories from both the left and right.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Mandelson</span> British Labour politician

Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson is a British Labour Party politician who served as First Secretary of State from 2009 to 2010. He was President of the Board of Trade in 1998 and from 2008 to 2010. He is the president of international think tank Policy Network, honorary president of the Great Britain–China Centre, and chairman of strategic advisory firm Global Counsel. Mandelson is often referred to as a Blairite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Byers</span> British Labour Party politician

Stephen John Byers is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wallsend between 1992 and 1997, and North Tyneside from 1997 to 2010. He served in the Cabinet from 1998 to 2002, and was implicated in the MP expenses scandal and retired from politics in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blairism</span> Political ideology of Tony Blair

In British politics, Blairism is the political ideology of Tony Blair, the former leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007, and those that support him, known as Blairites. It entered the New Penguin English Dictionary in 2000. Elements of the ideology include investment in public services, expansionary efforts in education to encourage social mobility, and increased actions in terms of mass surveillance alongside a ramping up of law enforcement powers, both of these latter changes advocated in the context of fighting organized crime and terrorism. Blairites have additionally been known for their contrast with the traditional support for socialism by those believing in left-wing politics, with Blair himself and others speaking out against the nationalisation of major industries and against also heavy regulations of business operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Symons, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean</span>

Elizabeth Conway Symons, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean is a British politician and trade unionist. A member of the Labour Party, she was Minister of State for the Middle East from 2001 to 2005. She is former General Secretary of the FDA Trade Union and has served as the Chair of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) since 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey Robinson (politician)</span> British politician

Geoffrey Robinson is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry North West for 43 years, from 1976 to 2019. He was Paymaster General from May 1997 to December 1998, resigning after it was revealed that he had lent his government colleague Peter Mandelson £373,000 to buy a house. From 1996 to 2008 he was the owner of the New Statesman, a centre-left weekly political magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giles Radice</span> British politician and author (1936–2022)

Giles Heneage Radice, Baron Radice, was a British Labour Party politician and author. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1973 to 2001, representing part of County Durham, and then as a life peer in the House of Lords from 2001 until shortly before his death in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iain Wright</span> British Labour politician

Iain David Wright is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hartlepool from 2004 to 2017, and served also as the Chairman of Business Innovation and Skills Committee. He was previously Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State with responsibility for apprenticeships, and 14 to 19 reform in the Department for Children, Schools and Families until 11 May 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yasmin Alibhai-Brown</span> British journalist and author

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is a British journalist and author. A columnist for the i newspaper and the Evening Standard, she is a commentator on immigration, diversity, and multiculturalism issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pat McFadden</span> British Labour politician

Patrick Bosco McFadden is a British politician serving as Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Labour National Campaign Coordinator since September 2023. He served as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2021 and 2023. A member of the Labour Party, he has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South East since 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hardeep Singh Kohli</span> British broadcaster (born 1969)

Hardeep Singh Kohli is a British presenter, writer and director of Sikh heritage who has appeared on various radio and television programmes. Having moved to Scotland at a young age he has had a long association with the arts in Scotland, he is known more widely across the United Kingdom as a presenter on the BBC across television and radio, and Channel 4. He was also a finalist on Celebrity MasterChef in 2006 and a contestant in Celebrity Big Brother in 2018. Kohli was arrested and charged in 2023, in connection with alleged non-recent sexual offences and is awaiting a trial date.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony's Cronies</span> Pejorative phrase against Tony Blair

"Tony's Cronies" was a term in British politics and media given to people who were viewed as being given positions of power because of their personal friendships with Prime Minister Tony Blair, during his premiership between 1997 and 2007. These included those granted life peerages and public positions based on their friendship with Blair rather than their individual merits. The phrase was created by the Conservative Party after the 1997 United Kingdom general election and was continually used in the media throughout Blair's premiership.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shami Chakrabarti</span> British politician (born 1969)

SharmishtaChakrabarti, Baroness Chakrabarti, is a British politician, barrister, and human rights activist. A member of the Labour Party, she served as the director of Liberty, a major advocacy group which promotes civil liberties and human rights, from 2003 to 2016. From 2016 to 2020, she served as Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales.

<i>A Journey</i> Book by Tony Blair

A Journey is a memoir by Tony Blair of his tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Published in the UK on 1 September 2010, it covers events from when he became leader of the Labour Party in 1994 and transformed it into "New Labour", holding power for a party record three successive terms, to his resignation and replacement as prime minister by his Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown. Blair donated his £4.6-million advance, and all subsequent royalties, to the British Armed Forces charity the Royal British Legion. It became the fastest-selling autobiography of all time at the bookstore chain Waterstones. Promotional events were marked by anti-war protests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Bilderberg Conference</span>

The 2013 Bilderberg Conference took place June 6–9, 2013, at The Grove hotel in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. It was the first Bilderberg Group conference to be held in the United Kingdom since the 1998 meeting in Turnberry, Scotland.

The Future Britain Group was a group of over 150 Labour parliamentarians set up in March 2019 by then-Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Tom Watson, comprising those on the centre, centre-left and soft left of the party. The first meeting of the grouping is believed to have been attended by almost a third of Labour MPs. Its convener was MP Darren Jones.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Beckett, Andy (6 November 2004). "Friends in high places". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  2. ↑ "History of the Project". British-American Project. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pilger, John (13 December 2007). "Tainted hands across the water". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
  4. 1 2 Nick Cohen - Without Prejudice: "Cry freedom... and order a Big Mac - BAP conference", The Observer, 31 October 1999, hosted at Bilderberg website, accessed 17 June 2013.
  5. 1 2 Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (17 March 2008). "This unhealthy strain of left-wing McCarthyism". The Independent . Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  6. ↑ "British American Project - SourceWatch". www.sourcewatch.org.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Transatlantic Elite - BAP - British American Project for the successor generation - Peter Mandelson". www.bilderberg.org.
  8. ↑ Daniel Drezner (November 12, 2003). "I'm off to join another secret cabal".
  9. ↑ "Welcome to the British-American Project". archive.is. 16 March 2015. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015.
  10. ↑ Rowan Pelling (13 Nov 2007). "Subversive politics and honey traps never pall". The Telegraph.
  11. ↑ Joel Stein (November 30, 2007). "Changing the world a drink at a time". Los Angeles Times.
  12. ↑ Elworthy, Scilla (30 April 2007). "Obituary: Janet Bloomfield". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  13. ↑ "The Governors". Ditchley Foundation. Archived from the original on 26 September 2006.
  14. ↑ Royal United Services Institute Fellows and Associates Archived March 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ Rayner, Gordon (2023-09-01). "British-American Project at war after Hardeep Singh Kohli appointment". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 2023-10-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.