Henry Jackson Society
Encyclopedia
The Henry Jackson Society is a non-partisan association
. The society's goals include the promotion of "democratic
geopolitics
". The society is named after after Henry M. Jackson
, the late Democratic
Senator
from Washington State. Besides favoring labor unions, full employment
, and welfare
in domestic policy
, Jackson was in foreign policy
known for his opposition
to communism and support of a strong military.
Inspired by Jackson, the society sponsors research on democratization
and advocates the support of democracy movement
s internationally by democracies. The society supports the intelligent and proportional use of military power in specific situations: to end ethnic cleansing
, to remove dictator
s after non-military methods have failed, and to prevent the breakdown of the rule of law
. Its perspective has been described as Atlanticist
. It supports the European Union
and advocates a European Security and Defence Policy
called "military interoperability".
Originating within the University of Cambridge
, the organisation is now based in London
. It is a registered charity in the United Kingdom
.
), including Brendan Simms
, Dr. Alan Mendoza, Marko Attila Hoare
, Gideon Mailer, James Rogers and Matthew Jamison. It organises meeetings with speakers in the House of Commons
. The society advocates for an interventionist foreign-policy that promotes human rights and reduces suffering, by both non-military and military methods, when appropriate. .
In 2006, the society worked to raise the profile of the Ahwazi Arabs of Iran
, who it claims are presently being oppressed by the Iranian regime.
The organisation is a registered charity, The Henry Jackson Society: Project for Democratic Geopolitics and fundraises via private donations and from grant-making organisations which support its work.
The society's statement of principles have been changed from those first signed by supporters in Cambridge on 11th March 2005, to de-emphasise military methods and to more recognise the legitimacy of international organisations. The original versions were:
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
. The society's goals include the promotion of "democratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
geopolitics
Geopolitics
Geopolitics, from Greek Γη and Πολιτική in broad terms, is a theory that describes the relation between politics and territory whether on local or international scale....
". The society is named after after Henry M. Jackson
Henry M. Jackson
Henry Martin "Scoop" Jackson was a U.S. Congressman and Senator from the state of Washington from 1941 until his death...
, the late Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from Washington State. Besides favoring labor unions, full employment
Full employment
In macroeconomics, full employment is a condition of the national economy, where all or nearly all persons willing and able to work at the prevailing wages and working conditions are able to do so....
, and welfare
Welfare state
A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
in domestic policy
Domestic policy
Domestic policy, also known as public policy, presents decisions, laws, and programs made by the government which are directly related to all issues and activity within the country....
, Jackson was in foreign policy
Foreign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
known for his opposition
Containment
Containment was a United States policy using military, economic, and diplomatic strategies to stall the spread of communism, enhance America’s security and influence abroad, and prevent a "domino effect". A component of the Cold War, this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet...
to communism and support of a strong military.
Inspired by Jackson, the society sponsors research on democratization
Democratization
Democratization is the transition to a more democratic political regime. It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy, a transition from an authoritarian political system to a semi-democracy or transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a democratic...
and advocates the support of democracy movement
Democracy Movement
The Democracy Movement is a crossparty Eurosceptic pressure group in the UK with around 150 local branches.-History:The Democracy Movement was founded by Lady Annabel Goldsmith in January 1999. She became its President and her son, businessman Robin Birley, served as the organisation's chairman...
s internationally by democracies. The society supports the intelligent and proportional use of military power in specific situations: to end ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
, to remove dictator
Dictator
A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power but without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...
s after non-military methods have failed, and to prevent the breakdown of the rule of law
Rule of law
The rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...
. Its perspective has been described as Atlanticist
Atlanticism
Atlanticism is a philosophy of cooperation among Western European and North American nations regarding political, economic, and defense issues, with the purpose to maintain the security of the participating countries, and to protect the values that unite them: "democracy, individual liberty and...
. It supports the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and advocates a European Security and Defence Policy
European Security and Defence Policy
The Common Security and Defence Policy , formerly known as the European Security and Defence Policy , is a major element of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union and is the domain of EU policy covering defence and military aspects...
called "military interoperability".
Originating within the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, the organisation is now based in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It is a registered charity in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
History and political aims
The society was founded in March 2005 by academics and students at Cambridge (mostly affiliated with the Centre for International StudiesFaculty of Politics, Psychology, Sociology and International Studies
The Faculty of Politics, Psychology, Sociology and International Studies at the University of Cambridge was created in January 2009 out of a merger of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences and the Centre of International Studies....
), including Brendan Simms
Brendan Simms
Brendan Peter Simms, Ph.D is Professor of the History of International Relations in the Centre of International Studies at the University of Cambridge. Simms, a Newton-Sheehy Teaching Fellow, completed his doctoral dissertation, Anglo-Prussian relations, 1804-1806: The Napoleonic Threat, at...
, Dr. Alan Mendoza, Marko Attila Hoare
Marko Attila Hoare
Marko Attila Hoare is a British historian of the former Yugoslavia who also writes about the current affairs of Southeast Europe, especially the Balkans including Turkey and the Caucasus.-Biography:...
, Gideon Mailer, James Rogers and Matthew Jamison. It organises meeetings with speakers in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
. The society advocates for an interventionist foreign-policy that promotes human rights and reduces suffering, by both non-military and military methods, when appropriate. .
In 2006, the society worked to raise the profile of the Ahwazi Arabs of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, who it claims are presently being oppressed by the Iranian regime.
The organisation is a registered charity, The Henry Jackson Society: Project for Democratic Geopolitics and fundraises via private donations and from grant-making organisations which support its work.
Supporters and influence
Its statement of principles has been publicly signed by- Members of ParliamentMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Michael AncramMichael AncramMichael Andrew Foster Jude Kerr, 13th Marquess of Lothian, PC, QC , known as Michael Ancram, is a United Kingdom Conservative Party politician. He is a member of the House of Lords, former Member of Parliament, and a former member of the Shadow Cabinet...
, Michael GoveMichael GoveMichael Andrew Gove, MP is a British politician, who currently serves as the Secretary of State for Education and as the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the Surrey Heath constituency. He is also a published author and former journalist.Born in Edinburgh, Gove was raised in Aberdeen...
, Edward VaizeyEdward VaizeyEdward Henry Butler Vaizey is the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries in the UK, a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State post with responsibilities in both the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills .He was elected...
, David WillettsDavid WillettsDavid Linsay Willetts is a British Conservative Party politician and the Minister of State for Universities and Science. He is the Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Havant in Hampshire.-Education:...
, Denis MacShaneDenis MacShaneDenis MacShane is a British politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Rotherham since the 1994 by-election and served as the Minister for Europe from 2002 until 2005, as well as being a current Policy Council member for Labour Friends of Israel.On 14 October 2010, it was announced...
, Fabian HamiltonFabian HamiltonFabian Uziell-Hamilton is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Leeds North East since 1997.- Education and professional career :...
, Gisela StuartGisela StuartGisela Gschaider Stuart is a German born, British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Edgbaston since 1997.-Early life:...
, - former MPs David TrimbleDavid TrimbleWilliam David Trimble, Baron Trimble, PC , is a politician from Northern Ireland. He served as Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party , was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland , and was a Member of the British Parliament . He is currently a life peer for the Conservative Party...
, Jackie Lawrence, Greg PopeGreg PopeGregory James "Greg" Pope is a former British Labour Party politician, who served as Member of Parliament for Hyndburn from 1992 until retiring at the 2010 general election. He was a government whip until the reshuffle following the 2001 general election.-Early life:He went to St Marys College R.C...
, - former soldiers Tim Collins and Jonny Gray,
- as well as Sir Richard DearloveRichard DearloveSir Richard Billing Dearlove, KCMG, OBE was head of the British Secret Intelligence Service from 1999 until 6 May 2004.-Career:...
— former head of the British Secret Intelligence ServiceSecret Intelligence ServiceThe Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
, and presently Master of Pembroke College, CambridgePembroke College, CambridgePembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...
- and the American economist Irwin StelzerIrwin StelzerIrwin M. Stelzer is an American economist who is the U.S. economic and business columnist for the Sunday Times, the Courier-Mail, the Guardian and a contributing editor of the Weekly Standard. He is also an occasional contributor to the Daily Telegraph and the New Statesman...
. Its patrons include Richard PerleRichard PerleRichard Norman Perle is an American political advisor, consultant, and lobbyist who began his career in government, a senior staff member to Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson on the Senate Armed Services Committee in the 1970’s...
, William KristolWilliam KristolWilliam Kristol is an American neoconservative political analyst and commentator. He is the founder and editor of the political magazine The Weekly Standard and a regular commentator on the Fox News Channel....
, James Woolsey (former DirectorDirector of Central IntelligenceThe Office of United States Director of Central Intelligence was the head of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, the principal intelligence advisor to the President and the National Security Council, and the coordinator of intelligence activities among and between the various United...
of the Central Intelligence AgencyCentral Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
), and Tsakhiagiyn ElbegdorjTsakhiagiyn ElbegdorjTsakhiagiin Elbegdorj is the President of Mongolia. He won the election on May 24, 2009. The candidate of the Democratic Party, he became Mongolia's first president to never have been a member of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party and the first to obtain a Western education...
, President of MongoliaMongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
.
Statement of principles
The Henry Jackson Society:- Believes that modern liberal democraciesLiberal democracyLiberal democracy, also known as constitutional democracy, is a common form of representative democracy. According to the principles of liberal democracy, elections should be free and fair, and the political process should be competitive...
set an example to which the rest of the world should aspire. - Supports a ‘forward strategy’ – involving diplomatic, economic, cultural, and/or political means -- to assist those countries that are not yet liberal and democratic to become so.
- Supports the maintenance of a strong military, by the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the countries of the European UnionEuropean UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and other democratic powers, armed with expeditionary capabilities with a global reach, that can protect our homelands from strategic threats, forestall terrorist attacks, and prevent genocide or massive ethnic cleansing. - Supports the necessary furtherance of European military modernisation and integration under British leadership, preferably within NATO.
- Stresses the importance of unity between the world’s great democracies, represented by institutions such as NATO, the European Union and the OECD, amongst many others.
- Believes that only modern liberal democratic states are truly legitimate, and that the political or human rights pronouncements of any international or regional organisation which admits undemocratic states lack the legitimacy to which they would be entitled if all their members were democracies.
- Gives two cheers for capitalismCapitalismCapitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
. There are limits to the marketFree marketA free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
, which needs to serve the Democratic Community and should be reconciled to the environmentEnvironmentalismEnvironmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
. - Accepts that we have to set priorities and that sometimes we have to compromise, but insists that we should never lose sight of our fundamental values. This means that alliances with repressive regimes can only be temporary. It also means a strong commitment to individualHuman rightsHuman rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and civil libertiesCivil libertiesCivil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
in democratic states, even and especially when we are under attack.
The society's statement of principles have been changed from those first signed by supporters in Cambridge on 11th March 2005, to de-emphasise military methods and to more recognise the legitimacy of international organisations. The original versions were:
- Supports a ‘forward strategy’ to assist those countries that are not yet liberal and democratic to become so. This would involve the full spectrum of ‘carrotCarrot and stickCarrot and stick is an idiom that refers to a policy of offering a combination of rewards and punishment to induce behavior. It is named in reference to a cart driver dangling a carrot in front of a mule and holding a stick behind it...
’ capacities, be they diplomatic, economic, cultural or political, but also, when necessary, those ‘sticksCarrot and stickCarrot and stick is an idiom that refers to a policy of offering a combination of rewards and punishment to induce behavior. It is named in reference to a cart driver dangling a carrot in front of a mule and holding a stick behind it...
’ of the military domain.
- Supports the maintenance of a strong military, by the United States, the countries of the European Union and other democratic powers, armed with expeditionary capabilities with a global reach.
- Believes that only modern liberal democratic states are truly legitimate, and that any international organisation which admits undemocratic states on an equal basis is fundamentally flawed.
Media coverage
- The Henry Jackson Society, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
. - Beth B. Alexander, 'Crying Wolf' over the neoconservatives, The Washington Times, November 22, 2004.
- David Clark, The neconservative temptation beckoning Britain's bitter liberals. For leftists divided by Iraq, tomorrow's launch of a rightwing political society could be a transforming moment, The Guardian, November 21, 2005.
- Ros Taylor, Inside the hawks' nest, The Guardian, November 22, 2005.
- Don't blame 'Scoop' for the neocons, The Guardian, November 23, 2005.
- Stephen Pollard, What’s left, right, centre and neocon all over. A new group shows that the old party political divides have broken down, The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times (UK)The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
, November 27, 2005. (NB: Pollard is one of the signatories of the HJS's principles although this is not noted in the article.) - James Heartfield, Humanitarian interventionists dig in, Spiked OnlineSpiked (magazine)Spiked is a British Internet magazine focusing on politics, culture and society from a humanist and libertarian viewpoint.- Editors and contributors :...
, December 16, 2005. - Fran Kelly, New Life for Neoconservatism?, ABC Radio News (Australia), January 6, 2006.
- Gisela Stuart, Finding Neo. Gisela Stuart argues for a robust foreign policy, Progress, January/February 2006.
See also
- List of UK think tanks
- Peterhouse school of historyPeterhouse school of historyThe Peterhouse school of history was named after the Cambridge college of the same name where the history taught concentrated on 'high politics'...
- Euston ManifestoEuston ManifestoThe Euston Manifesto is a 2006 declaration of principles by a group of academics, journalists, and activists based in the United Kingdom. The statement is a reaction to what are asserted to be widespread violations of leftist principles by others who are commonly associated with the political Left...
- British MomentBritish MomentThe British Moment is a term, first used by The Henry Jackson Society, to describe the alleged growth of British global influence in recent years....