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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
Douglas Alexander, former Labour MP Rushanara Ali, Labour MP[5] Stephen Dorrell, former Conservative MP and Liberal Democrat[1] Steve Hilton, political commentator and former political adviser[1] David Miliband, former Labour MP Peter Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, former Labour MP, life peer Mo Mowlam, former Labour MP[1] Geoff Mulgan, academic and former Director of the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit Jonathan Powell (Tony Blair's chief of staff) George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, former Labour MP Patricia Scotland, diplomat, barrister and Labour life peer[1] Alan Sked, founder of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP)[1] [6] Elizabeth Symons, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, trade unionist and Labour life peer[1] Matthew Taylor (political strategist), former head of the Number 10 Policy Unit, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation[1] David Willetts, former Conservative MP, life peer[1] Kate Forbes, Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Scottish National Party MSP Anas Sarwar, Scottish Labour Party Leader
Diana Villiers Negroponte, trade lawyer and academic Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, The Independent, The London Evening Standard[1] [5] George Brock, The Times Diane Coyle, The Independent Evan Davis, BBC Daniel Drezner, The Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The New York Times, Slate, Tech Central Station, among others[7] Daniel Franklin, The Economist Jane Hill, BBC[8] Isabel Hilton, The Independent, The Guardian, BBC Frederick Kempe, The Wall Street Journal Charles Moore, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, The Spectator[1] James Naughtie, BBC Jeremy Paxman, BBC Rowan Pelling, The Daily Telegraph[9] Trevor Phillips, BBC[10] Caroline St John-Brooks, The Times Educational Supplement, The Sunday Times Joel Stein, LA Times[11] Margaret Hill, BBC current affairs producer Benjamin Zephaniah, poet[1] Janet Bloomfield, peace and disarmament campaigner[12] Shami Chakrabarti, Former director, Liberty[13] Caroline, Lady Dalmeny, former defence policy analyst[14] Julia Hobsbawm, writer and public speaker[1] Hardeep Singh Kohli British presenter and comedian[15]