British-American Project

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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

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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.
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