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][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]
Douglas Alexander, former Labour MP[3] 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[3] Peter Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, former Labour MP, life peer[3] Mo Mowlam, former Labour MP[1] Geoff Mulgan, academic and former Director of the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit[3] Jonathan Powell (Tony Blair's chief of staff)[3] George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, former Labour MP[3] Patricia Scotland, diplomat, barrister and Labour life peer[1][3] 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][3] Matthew Taylor (political strategist), former head of the Number 10 Policy Unit, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation[1][3] 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[3] Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, The Independent, The London Evening Standard[1][3][5] George Brock, The Times[7] Diane Coyle, The Independent[7] Evan Davis, BBC[3] Daniel Drezner, The Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The New York Times, Slate, Tech Central Station, among others[8] Daniel Franklin, The Economist[7] Jane Hill, BBC[9] Isabel Hilton, The Independent, The Guardian, BBC[7] Frederick Kempe, The Wall Street Journal[7] Charles Moore, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, The Spectator[1] James Naughtie, BBC[3] Jeremy Paxman, BBC[3] Rowan Pelling, The Daily Telegraph[10] Trevor Phillips, BBC[7][dubious – discuss] Caroline St John-Brooks, The Times Educational Supplement, The Sunday Times[7] Joel Stein, LA Times[11] Margaret Hill, BBC current affairs producer[7] Benjamin Zephaniah, poet[1] Janet Bloomfield, peace and disarmament campaigner[12] Shami Chakrabarti, Former director, Liberty[13][dubious – discuss] Caroline, Lady Dalmeny, former defence policy analyst[14] Julia Hobsbawm, writer and public speaker[1] Hardeep Singh Kohli British presenter and comedian[15]
