Henry Jackson Society

File:HenryJackson.jpg, a Democratic US Senator, after whom the think tank is named|226x226px|left]]

The Society was founded on 11 March 2005 by academics and students at Cambridge, including Brendan Simms, Alan Mendoza, Gideon Mailer, James Rogers and Matthew Jamison.{{Cite web|url= http://zope06.v.servelocity.net/hjs/principles_html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060430054251/http://zope06.v.servelocity.net/hjs/principles_html |archive-date=30 April 2006 |title=The Henry Jackson Society Is Now Launched! |publisher=Henry Jackson Society |date=11 March 2005 |url-status= dead }} It was named after Henry M. Jackson, an American senator (Democratic party) who tried to run in the 1976 United States presidential election.{{sfn|Dodds|2008|p=351-352}} Jackson supported "New Deal" type politics at home and advocated for a strong anti-communist policy abroad. He opposed a detente with the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Dodds|2008|p=351-352}} Jackson was widely respected by Republicans,{{Cite web|title=Celebrating the 19th Amendment/Closure Notices|url=https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/research/speeches/62684c|access-date=2020-06-26|work=Ronald Reagan Presidential Library - National Archives and Records Administration}} and thus served as a symbol of bipartisanship. Republicans like Paul Wolfowitz prefer to call themselves a "Jackson Republican" as a substitute for the term neoconservative.{{sfn|Dodds|2008|p=351-352}} It organises meetings with speakers in the House of Commons. By 2017, the society was described as promoting interventionist foreign policy to protect democracy and human rights.{{Cite news |last1=Sheridan |first1=Michael |last2=Kerbaj |first2=Richard |date=29 January 2017 |title=Rifkind a stooge in secret PR war on China |language=en |work=The Times |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/rifkind-a-stooge-in-secret-pr-war-on-china-xfq2qp2br |access-date=2023-11-15 |issn=0140-0460}}

In 2006, the Society worked to raise the profile of the Ahwazi Arabs of Iran, who it claimed were being oppressed by the Iranian government.{{cite web|url= http://www.unpo.org/article/3968|title=Ahwazi: Iran Slammed for 'Barbarian' Treatment of Ahwazi Arabs|date=2 November 2009 |publisher=UNPO |access-date=4 April 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160419014744/http://www.unpo.org/article/3968|archive-date=19 April 2016|url-status=live}}

In 2011, HJS merged with the Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC), a think tank deemed by some to have anti-Muslim views.{{sfn|Griffin|Aked|Miller|Marusek|2015|p=5}}{{cite web|title=FACTSHEET: HENRY JACKSON SOCIETY|url=https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/factsheet-henry-jackson-society/|date=2018-06-13|publisher=Georgetown University}} Douglas Murray also joined HJS in 2011. Both the merger and Murray's views were opposed by some HJS members like Marko Attila Hoare.{{sfn|Griffin|Aked|Miller|Marusek|2015|p=37|ps=I consider many of the political positions upheld by Murray and the CSC to be antithetical to my own positions and to those for which, I believed, the HJS stood. I am referring to

Murray’s frequently stated views on Muslims and Islam.}} Hoare left HJS in 2012, over, what he called, Murray's anti-Muslim and anti-immigration views.{{cite news|author=James Bloodworth|title=Labour should cut its ties with the illiberal Henry Jackson Society|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/20/labour-cut-ties-henry-jackson-society|quote=Marko Attila Hoare, a former senior member of the Henry Jackson Society who left the organisation in 2012, told me that his opposition to Murray's anti-Muslim and anti-immigration views saw him driven out of the organisation.}}

After the merger, individuals who had donated to the CSC, became a significant source of income for the HJS.{{sfn|Griffin|Aked|Miller|Marusek|2015|p=64|}}

In 2013, the president of HJS submitted to the UK Parliament that Britain should consider militarily intervening in conflicts early (as opposed to "last resort") and that intervention "is what we do and who we are".{{Cite web | publisher = Parliament |title=House of Commons - Defence Committee: Written evidence from the Henry Jackson Society |url= https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmdfence/952/952vw06.htm |access-date=26 June 2020|website= Publications}}

In 2014, when far right news outlet Breitbart expanded into the UK, its managing editor was Henry Jackson Society member Raheem Kassam.{{cite news|title=James Delingpole and Raheem Kassam head Breitbart's new London team|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/feb/17/digital-media-dailytelegraph|work=The Guardian|date=2014-02-17}}

In 2015, American politician Bobby Jindal spoke at an HJS event alleging that Muslims had established "no-go zones" where they enforce Sharia.{{cite news|title="Complete nonsense": London mayor slams Bobby Jindal's Islamophobic "no-go zones" claim|url=https://www.salon.com/2015/02/13/complete_nonsense_london_mayor_slams_bobby_jindals_islamophobic_no_go_zones_claim/|work=Salon.com|date=2015-02-13}} (See Bobby_Jindal#No-go_zones for further information)

Having been founded at the University of Cambridge, the organisation was later moved to London.

In 2017, Hannah Stuart, one of the Society's Research Fellows, released Islamist Terrorism: Analysis of Offences and Attacks in the UK (1998–2015), which profiled every individual convicted under terrorism legislation in the UK between those dates with an Islamist connection.{{Cite web |url= http://henryjacksonsociety.org/2017/03/05/islamist-terrorism-analysis-of-offences-and-attacks-in-the-uk-1998-2015/ |title= Islamist Terrorism: Analysis of Offences and Attacks in the UK (1998–2015) |date= 5 March 2017 |website=Henry Jackson Society |access-date= 2 May 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170503055534/http://henryjacksonsociety.org/2017/03/05/islamist-terrorism-analysis-of-offences-and-attacks-in-the-uk-1998-2015/|archive-date=3 May 2017|url-status=live}}

In June 2020, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the UK's Department for International Development would be merged into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.{{cite news |title= International development and Foreign Office to merge |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53062858 |access-date=18 June 2020 |publisher= BBC News |date=16 June 2020}} The plan had first been proposed in a report published by the Henry Jackson Society in 2019, for which Johnson had authored the foreword.{{cite news |last1=Hope |first1=Christopher |title= Analysis: Why there is nothing new about scrapping the Dfid |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/06/16/analysis-nothing-new-scrapping-dfid/ |access-date=18 June 2020 | work = Daily Telegraph |date=16 June 2020}}{{cite book |last1=Rogers |first1= James |last2=Seely MP |first2=Bob |title=Global Britain: A 21st Century Vision |date=11 February 2019 |publisher= Henry Jackson Society |isbn= 978-1-909035-51-5 |page=5 |url= https://henryjacksonsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/HJS-Global-Britain-%C2%AD-A-Twenty-first-Century-Vision-Report-A4-web.pdf |access-date=18 June 2020}}

The Henry Jackson Society was founded on the belief that Britain needed to take a more active and assertive role on the world stage. It was critical of the Clinton administration for, in HJS' view, not using its military and economic power to change the behavior of others.{{sfn|Dodds|2008|p=352}} As the HJS believed that "only modern liberal democratic states are truly legitimate", the HJS was critical of the UN and other multinational organizations that allowed membership to non-"modern liberal democratic" countries.{{sfn|Dodds|2008|p=353}} The HJS believed that if EU was to operate militarily, it should be within NATO, as that would allow the US a veto, something a purely EU force would not.{{sfn|Dodds|2008|p=353}}

{{sfn|Dodds|2008|p=351-352}}

Among the HJS' early members and supporters were Brendan Simms and Conservative MPs Michael Gove and Ed Vaizey. Simms had written a prominent critique of the British policy in Bosnia.{{sfn|Dodds|2008|p=354}} Michael Gove had written pro-Israel documents, arguing Israel was legitimate to seize Arab territory. Gove also did not believe that the UK needed UN approval to invade Iraq, given the UK is a democracy while the UNSC gives the veto to non-democratic countries.{{sfn|Dodds|2008|p=355}}

File:Boris Johnson speaking at Henry Jackson Society IPU Room Palace of Westminster 11 February 2019 - seated behind l-r James Rogers Bob Seely MP and Alan Mendoza.jpg speaking on Global Britain and foreign aid at the Henry Jackson Society on 11 February 2019|180x180px]]

File:Jeremy Wright MP speaking at the Henry Jackson Society paper "Free to be Extreme" in January 2020 Nikita Malik and Dr Paul Stott (both HJS) - 1.jpg speaking at the launch of the Henry Jackson Society paper "Free to be Extreme" in January 2020 with Nikita Malik and Paul Stott|180x180px]]

The Society has produced a breadth of research reports and papers, with a recent focus on the impact of COVID-19 on civil liberties, critiques of far-right extremism in western democracies and the possible legal response to China's COVID-19 culpability.{{Cite web|title=Publications|url=https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publication/|access-date=30 June 2020|website=Henry Jackson Society|language=en-GB}} Other areas of research include Islamic extremism and Islamist terrorism, crackdowns on human rights and democracy, and various facets of foreign policy and defence.{{Cite web|url=http://henryjacksonsociety.org/2015/11/12/india-security-challenges-and-national-responses/|title=India: Security Challenges and National Responses|date=12 November 2015|website=Henry Jackson Society|access-date=4 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608191834/http://henryjacksonsociety.org/2015/11/12/india-security-challenges-and-national-responses/|archive-date=8 June 2017|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://henryjacksonsociety.org/2015/10/12/close-encounters-russian-military-intrusions-into-uk-air-and-sea-space-since-2005/|title=Close Encounters: Russian Military Intrusions into UK Air- and Sea Space Since 2005|date=12 October 2015|website=Henry Jackson Society|access-date=4 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313091656/http://henryjacksonsociety.org/2015/10/12/close-encounters-russian-military-intrusions-into-uk-air-and-sea-space-since-2005/|archive-date=13 March 2017|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://henryjacksonsociety.org/2017/01/04/fighting-corruption-with-con-tricks-romanias-assault-on-the-rule-of-law/|title=Fighting Corruption with Con Tricks: Romania's Assault on the Rule of Law|date=4 January 2017|website=Henry Jackson Society|access-date=4 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425104427/http://henryjacksonsociety.org/2017/01/04/fighting-corruption-with-con-tricks-romanias-assault-on-the-rule-of-law/|archive-date=25 April 2017|url-status=live}} Its current workstreams include:

• Asia Studies Centre. This Centre seeks to provide "an in-depth understanding of the structural shifts, regional complexities and historic tensions that exist alongside the tremendous economic and social growth that traditionally characterise the 'rise of Asia{{'"}}.{{Cite web|url=https://henryjacksonsociety.org/asia-studies-centre/|title=Asia Studies Centre |publisher=Henry Jackson Society|language=en-GB|access-date=25 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920201008/https://henryjacksonsociety.org/asia-studies-centre/|archive-date=20 September 2018|url-status=live}} Publications include a paper on the possible outcomes of the negotiations with North Korea,{{Cite web|url=https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/negotiating-the-peace-diplomacy-on-the-korean-peninsula/|title=Negotiating the Peace: Diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula |date=12 September 2018 |publisher=Henry Jackson Society

|language=en-GB|access-date=25 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920201010/https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/negotiating-the-peace-diplomacy-on-the-korean-peninsula/|archive-date=20 September 2018|url-status=live}} and the need to safeguard critical national infrastructure in the West from vulnerabilities which may be built in by China.{{Cite web|url=https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/safeguarding-our-systems/|title=Safeguarding Our Systems: Managing Chinese Investment into the UK's Digital and Critical National Infrastructure |date=18 July 2017 |publisher=Henry Jackson Society|language=en-GB|access-date=25 September 2018}}

• Global Britain Programme. Focuses on "the need for an open, confident and expansive British geostrategic policy in the twenty-first century – drawing on the United Kingdom’s unique strengths not only as an advocate for liberalism and national democracy, but also as a custodian of both the European and international orders".{{Cite web|url=https://henryjacksonsociety.org/global-britain-programme/|title=Global Britain Programme |publisher=Henry Jackson Society|website=henryjacksonsociety.org|language=en-GB|access-date=25 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920201004/https://henryjacksonsociety.org/global-britain-programme/|archive-date=20 September 2018|url-status=live}} This programme has published papers on what the European Union 'owes' the United Kingdom,{{Cite web|url=https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/what-the-european-union-owes-the-united-kingdom/|title=What the European Union owes the United Kingdom |date=13 December 2017 |publisher=Henry Jackson Society|language=en-GB|access-date=25 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920201006/https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/what-the-european-union-owes-the-united-kingdom/|archive-date=20 September 2018|url-status=live}} and has advocated for increased military spending by NATO members.{{Cite web|url=https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/after-the-nato-summit-towards-the-normalisation-of-british-military-spending/|title=After the NATO Summit: Towards the 'Normalisation' of British Military Spending? |date=19 July 2018 |publisher=Henry Jackson Society|language=en-GB|access-date=25 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920195601/https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/after-the-nato-summit-towards-the-normalisation-of-british-military-spending/|archive-date=20 September 2018|url-status=live}}
• Russia & Eurasia Studies Centre. Researches domestic and foreign policy issues in Russia and the former Soviet states. In 2018, the Conservative MP Bob Seely published a paper through this Centre which sought to define 'Contemporary Russian Conflict', and in which he accused the government of Vladimir Putin of pursuing KGB-style tactics.{{Cite web|url=https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/a-definition-of-contemporary-russian-conflict-how-does-the-kremlin-wage-war/|title=A Definition of Contemporary Russian Conflict: How Does the Kremlin Wage War? |date=3 June 2018 |publisher=Henry Jackson Society|language=en-GB|access-date=25 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920195830/https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/a-definition-of-contemporary-russian-conflict-how-does-the-kremlin-wage-war/|archive-date=20 September 2018|url-status=live}}
• Centre for the New Middle East. Established following the Arab Spring, the Society describes this Centre as "dedicated to monitoring political, ideological, and military and security developments across the Middle East and providing informed assessments of their wide-ranging implications".{{Cite web|url=https://henryjacksonsociety.org/centre-for-new-middle-east/|title=Centre for the New Middle East |publisher=Henry Jackson Society|language=en-GB|access-date=25 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920201016/https://henryjacksonsociety.org/centre-for-new-middle-east/|archive-date=20 September 2018|url-status=live}} The Centre has released reports highly critical of Iran.{{Cite web|url=https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/going-ballistic-responding-to-iranian-missile-advances/|title=Going Ballistic: Responding to Iranian Missile Advances |date=8 May 2018 |publisher=Henry Jackson Society|language=en-GB|access-date=25 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920195537/https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/going-ballistic-responding-to-iranian-missile-advances/|archive-date=20 September 2018|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/beyond-compliance-iran-and-the-jcpoa/|title=Beyond Compliance: Iran and the JCPOA |date=13 July 2017 |publisher=Henry Jackson Society|language=en-GB|access-date=25 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920195911/https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/beyond-compliance-iran-and-the-jcpoa/|archive-date=20 September 2018|url-status=live}}
• Centre on Radicalisation & Terrorism. Focuses on the threat to the UK and elsewhere from Islamist terrorism. Reports have ranged from analyses of the UK charitable sector{{Cite web|url=https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/wolves-in-sheeps-clothing-how-islamist-extremists-exploit-the-uk-charitable-sector/|title=Wolves in Sheep's Clothing: How Islamist Extremists Exploit the UK Charitable Sector |date=25 February 2018 |publisher=Henry Jackson Society|language=en-GB|access-date=25 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920195615/https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/wolves-in-sheeps-clothing-how-islamist-extremists-exploit-the-uk-charitable-sector/|archive-date=20 September 2018|url-status=live}} to the way in which criminals utilise the darknet.{{Cite web|url=https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/terror-in-the-dark-how-terrorists-use-encryption-the-darknet-and-cryptocurrencies/|title=Terror in The Dark: How Terrorists use Encryption, the Darknet and Cryptocurrencies |date=7 April 2018 |publisher=Henry Jackson Society|language=en-GB|access-date=25 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920195756/https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/terror-in-the-dark-how-terrorists-use-encryption-the-darknet-and-cryptocurrencies/|archive-date=20 September 2018|url-status=live}}
• Student Rights. Created in 2009 "as a reaction to increasing political extremism and marginalisation of vulnerable students on campus".{{Cite web|url=https://henryjacksonsociety.org/student-rights-2/|title=Student Rights |publisher=Henry Jackson Society|language=en-GB|access-date=25 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920234400/https://henryjacksonsociety.org/student-rights-2/|archive-date=20 September 2018|url-status=live}} This project has tracked what it describes as "extreme" speakers on British university campuses. {{Cite web|url=https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/extreme-speakers-and-events-in-the-2016-17-academic-year/|title=Extreme Speakers and Events in the 2016-17 Academic Year |date=28 September 2017 |publisher=Henry Jackson Society|language=en-GB|access-date=25 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920234342/https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/extreme-speakers-and-events-in-the-2016-17-academic-year/|archive-date=20 September 2018|url-status=live}} Nafeez Ahmed accused the project "Student Rights" of having far-right sympathies after the project defended the fascist British National Party.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/apr/29/climate-denial-oil-addiction-xenophobia-neocons|title=What climate denial, oil addiction and xenophobia have in common: Neocons|author=Nafeez Ahmed|work=The Guardian|date=2014-04-29}}
• Critics say that "Student Rights" attempted to discredit Muslims groups on campus via misleading claims. For example, Student Rights failed to determine whether the gender segregation at Muslim student events was voluntary or enforced, but instead sought to link it to extremism. In 2014, the National Union of Students condemned Student Rights and said the accused it of "demonising Muslims".{{cite news|author=Reyhana Patel

|title=NUS condemns 'anti-Islam' group Student Rights|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/student/istudents/nus-condemns-antiislam-group-student-rights-9369023.html|date=2014-05-14}}

• Centre for Social and Political Risk. In September 2018, the Society announced the creation of a new centre, which would "identify, diagnose and propose solutions to threats to governance in liberal Western democracies",{{Cite web|url=https://henryjacksonsociety.org/news/hjs-welcomes-sophia-gaston-and-launch-centre-for-social-and-political-risk/|title=HJS welcomes Sophia Gaston and launches Centre for Social and Political Risk |publisher=Henry Jackson Society|language=en-GB|access-date=25 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920195823/https://henryjacksonsociety.org/news/hjs-welcomes-sophia-gaston-and-launch-centre-for-social-and-political-risk/|archive-date=20 September 2018|url-status=live}} focusing on social cohesion and integration; freedom of speech and political correctness; demographic change; and other issues.
• Henry Jackson Initiative for Inclusive Capitalism. In 2012, the Society started a transatlantic conversation about growing income inequalities and their threat to the capitalist system.[https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey%20offices/united%20kingdom/pdfs/towards_a_more_inclusive_capitalism.ashx Towards a more inclusive capitalism]. McKinsey, 2012

Recent projects by the think tank include studying the discrepancy between jail terms in the UK for Islamic extremists and far-right offenders. The Director of the Centre on Radicalisation and Terrorism found that Islamist extremists are sentenced to "an average 73.4 months compared with 24.5 months for far-right offenders, despite the government's ambition to treat both strains of extremism in the same way".{{Cite web|last=Townsend|first=Mark|date=18 January 2020|title=Islamists get longer jail terms than far-right extremists|url=http://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/jan/18/islamist-offenders-get-longer-jail-terms-than-far-right-online-extremists|access-date=26 June 2020|website=The Observer|language=en}}

The think tank has been described by The Herald as having right-wing and neoconservative leanings, though it positions itself as non-partisan.{{cite news|author=Gordon, Tom|date=4 January 2015|title=Scottish Labour leader urged to cut links with right-wing think tank|work=The Herald|location=Glasgow|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13195771.Scottish_Labour_leader_urged_to_cut_links_with_right_wing_think_tank/|url-status=live|access-date=24 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406231046/http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13195771.Scottish_Labour_leader_urged_to_cut_links_with_right_wing_think_tank/|archive-date=6 April 2017}} It was described in the Australian Financial Review as neoliberal.{{Cite web|date=2019-02-11|title=Britain, Australia should forge post-Brexit free-movement pact: Boris Johnson|url=https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/britain-australia-should-forge-postbrexit-freemovement-pact-boris-johnson-20190212-h1b4zo|access-date=2020-12-27|website=Australian Financial Review|language=en}}

Think-tank discussions on the Middle East and Islam have led to some media organisations criticising the Society for a perceived anti-Muslim agenda. Marko Attila Hoare, a former senior member, cited related reasons for leaving the think tank and Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy was urged, in 2015, to sever his links with the Society.{{cite news|author=Bloodworth, James|date=20 May 2013|title=Labour should cut its ties with the illiberal Henry Jackson Society|work=The Guardian|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/20/labour-cut-ties-henry-jackson-society|url-status=live|access-date=24 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812183140/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/20/labour-cut-ties-henry-jackson-society|archive-date=12 August 2016}}

According to a report by the Cordoba Foundation in 2015, "right-wing politics is apparent not only in the ideas that the Henry Jackson Society promotes, but also emerges distinctly on examination of its funders".{{cite report|title=The Henry Jackson Society |url=https://www.thecordobafoundation.com/attach/spinwatch%20report_web.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171021102706/http://www.thecordobafoundation.com/attach/spinwatch%20report_web.pdf |archive-date=21 October 2017 |access-date=17 August 2017 | isbn = 978-0-9570274-4-2}}

The Muslim Council of Britain criticised the Society in 2017 for making "oblique references to the usual slurs levelled at Muslims: that Muslims do not integrate, are not part and parcel of British society, and are therefore likely to be terrorists".{{Cite web|title=Muslim leaders slam UK police chief ties to 'demonising' think tank|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/muslim-leaders-slam-uk-police-chief-ties-demonising-think-tank|access-date=2020-12-26|website=Middle East Eye|language=en}}

Co-founder Matthew Jamison, who now works for YouGov, wrote in 2017 that he was ashamed of his involvement, having never imagined the Henry Jackson Society "would become a far-right, deeply anti-Muslim racist ... propaganda outfit to smear other cultures, religions and ethnic groups". He claimed that "The HJS for many years has relentlessly demonised Muslims and Islam".{{cite web |last=Jamison |first=Matthew |date=18 February 2017 |title=Brendan Simms and the racist corrupt Henry Jackson Society |url=https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/brendan-simms-racist-corrupt-henry-jackson-society-matthew/ |access-date=12 April 2020 |website=linkedin.com}}

In 2020, the Society paid damages to the UK Muslim educational channel Huda Television Ltd, having confused it in 2018 with the similarly named Egyptian station, Huda TV, which it accused of a "radical agenda" and hosting Islamic extremist content.{{Cite web|date=2020-09-14|title=Henry Jackson Society pays libel damages to Muslim TV channel over false extremism claims|url=https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/henry-jackson-society-think-tank-pays-out-libel-damages-to-muslim-tv-channel-over-false-extremism-claims/|access-date=2020-12-26|website=Press Association|language=en-US|via=Press Gazette}}

Facebook has partnered with the Society and spoken about it publicly. Their spokesperson has said:

{{blockquote|Our work with groups like the Henry Jackson Society is critical to helping the industry understand and make progress on these important issues. It is through collaborations like these and with governments, academics, and others companies, through the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, that we improve our collective ability to prevent terrorists and violent extremists from exploiting digital platforms.{{Cite news|last=Townsend|first=Mark|date=2020-01-18|title=Islamists get longer jail terms than far-right extremists|language=en-GB|work=The Observer|url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/jan/18/islamist-offenders-get-longer-jail-terms-than-far-right-online-extremists|access-date=2020-06-26|issn=0029-7712}}}}

Dr Nafeez Ahmed, executive director of the Institute for Policy Research & Development, criticised the group for hawkishly advocating for regime changes and war-mongering in the Middle East and "hyping up US homeland terror". He wrote in The Guardian that the Society's list of international patrons was like reading a list of 'Who's Who' of American right-wing hawks, and alleged that the think tank was behind Tory foreign policy that serves Anglo-American financial, security and fossil fuel interests in the Arab world.{{Cite web|date=2014-05-07|title=Think tank behind Tory foreign policy promotes Arab world fossil fuel hegemony {{!}} Nafeez Ahmed|url=http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/may/07/henry-jackson-society-neocon-militarism-mideast-oil-gas-energy|access-date=2022-01-11|website=the Guardian|language=en}}

File:US Sec State Mike Pompeo at Henry Jackson Society 21 July 2020.jpg speaking at a Henry Jackson Society event in support of the UK decision to secure data networks, 21 July 2020|alt=|171x171px]]

The Henry Jackson Society first articulated its statement of principles on 11 March 2005, two years after the Iraq War.{{sfn|Dodds|2008|p=352}} Some of the statement of principles were later modified. Both the original and modified versions are given below.{{Cite web |url=http://henryjacksonsociety.org/about-the-society/statement-of-principles/ |title=Statement of Principles |publisher=Henry Jackson Society |access-date=16 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130923013344/http://henryjacksonsociety.org/about-the-society/statement-of-principles/ |archive-date=23 September 2013 |url-status=live }}

• 1. Believes that modern liberal democracies set an example to which the rest of the world should aspire.
• 2 (original). 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 'carrot' capacities, be they diplomatic, economic, cultural or political, but also, when necessary, those 'sticks' of the military domain.
• 2 (updated). 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.
• 3 (original). 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.
• 3 (updated). 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, that can protect our homelands from strategic threats, forestall terrorist attacks, and prevent genocide or massive ethnic cleansing.
• 4. Supports the necessary furtherance of European military modernisation and integration under British leadership, preferably within NATO.
• 5. 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.
• 6 (original). 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.
• 6 (updated). 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.
• 7. Gives two cheers for capitalism. There are limits to the market, which needs to serve the Democratic Community and should be reconciled to the environment.
• 8. 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 individual and civil liberties in democratic states, even and especially when we are under attack.

File:GiselaStuartOct2008.jpg MP, is one of the signatories to the Henry Jackson Society statement and has served on its board.]]

According to the Henry Jackson Society, initial signatories of the statement of principles included:{{Cite web |url=http://zope06.v.servelocity.net/hjs/principles_html |title=Statement of Principles |publisher=Henry Jackson Society |date=11 March 2005 |access-date=30 April 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060430054251/http://zope06.v.servelocity.net/hjs/principles_html |archive-date=30 April 2006}}

• Members of Parliament Michael Ancram, Michael Gove, Edward Vaizey, David Willetts, Denis MacShane, Fabian Hamilton, Gisela Stuart
• former MPs David Trimble, Jackie Lawrence, Greg Pope
• former soldier Tim Collins
• Richard Dearlove, former head of the British Secret Intelligence Service, and formerly Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge
• American economist Irwin Stelzer
• Oliver Kamm, journalist at The Times

International patrons included Richard Perle, William Kristol, former CIA Director R. James Woolsey Jr., and former Lithuanian leader Vytautas Landsbergis.{{Cite web |url=http://zope06.v.servelocity.net/hjs/patrons_html |title=International Patrons of The Henry Jackson Society |publisher=Henry Jackson Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060430054221/http://zope06.v.servelocity.net/hjs/patrons_html |archive-date=30 April 2006}}

The Henry Jackson Society is a registered charity in England and Wales and receives financial backing from private donations and grant-making organisations which support its work.{{EW charity|1140489|The Henry Jackson Society}}

The income of the Society increased significantly from 2009 to 2014, from £98,000 to £1.6 million per year.{{cite news|last= Ramesh |first=Randeep|date=30 December 2014 |title=Rightwing thinktank pulls funds for Commons groups after disclosure row |newspaper= The Guardian|url= https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/dec/30/rightwing-thinktank-pulls-funds-commons-groups-disclosure-rules|url-status= live|access-date=30 May 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150527004621/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/dec/30/rightwing-thinktank-pulls-funds-commons-groups-disclosure-rules |archive-date= 27 May 2015}} It is reported that Edward Atkin, the retired baby care entrepreneur, made donations through his charity totalling £375,000 between 2011 and 2013. The philanthropist Stanley Kalms has given the Society £100,000. Nina Rosenwald, an activist who supported Henry M. Jackson's Democratic Party campaigns in the 1970s, donated US$10,000 through American Friends of the Henry Jackson Society. In July 2014 Lynn Forester de Rothschild claimed that she had financed the Caring Capitalism summit and that the Society and its executive director Alan Mendoza were holding £137,000 of "surplus funds" from the conference that should be returned to the couple's investment company EL Rothschild, and so moved to civil proceedings.{{cite web |date= 24 July 2014|title= Lady de Rothschild sues think-tank over funds from 'caring capitalism summit' |url= http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/lady-de-rothschild-sues-think-tank-over-funds-from-caring-capitalism-summit-9625722.html |url-status=live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181220110300/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/lady-de-rothschild-sues-think-tank-over-funds-from-caring-capitalism-summit-9625722.html |archive-date=20 December 2018 |access-date=26 February 2019|website= Evening Standard}} In 2017, The Times

wrote that the Society was paid £10,000 a month by the Japanese embassy in London to conduct an anti-China propaganda campaign.{{cite news |last1=Kerbaj|first1=Richard|author-link1=Richard Kerbaj |last2= Sheridan |first2=Michael|date=29 January 2017 |title=Rifkind a stooge in secret PR war on China|newspaper=The Sunday Times |location=London|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/rifkind-a-stooge-in-secret-pr-war-on-china-xfq2qp2br|url-status=live|access-date=13 February 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170214002553/http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rifkind-a-stooge-in-secret-pr-war-on-china-xfq2qp2br |archive-date=14 February 2017}}{{subscription required}} The campaign was said to be aimed at planting Japan's issues about China in British newspapers The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and The Economist.{{cite news |last= Connelly |first=Tony|date=29 January 2017 |title=British think tank funded by Japan pushing anti-China campaign into mainstream UK media|newspaper=The Drum |url=http://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/01/29/british-think-tank-funded-japan-pushing-anti-china-campaign-mainstream-uk-media|url-status=live|access-date=13 February 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170214002342/http://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/01/29/british-think-tank-funded-japan-pushing-anti-china-campaign-mainstream-uk-media |archive-date=14 February 2017}}

The UK Home Office paid the Society over £83,000 between 2015 and 2017 to produce a report on UK connections to Islamist terrorism.{{cite web |last1=Curtis |first1=Mark |last2=Kennard |first2=Matt |title=Declassified UK: Revealed: UK Home Office paid £80,000 to a lobby group which has funded Conservative MPs |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-07-14-revealed-uk-home-office-paid-80000-to-a-lobby-group-which-has-funded-conservative-mps/ |website=Daily Maverick |access-date=29 August 2020 |language=en |date=14 July 2020}}

In 2009 the Society became the secretariat of two all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs), for Transatlantic and International Security, chaired by Gisela Stuart, and for Homeland Security, chaired by Bernard Jenkin. A transparency requirement upon non-profit organisations acting as secretariat at that time was that they must reveal any corporate donors who gave £5,000 or more to the organisation. In 2014, following a query, the Society refused to disclose this information and resigned its position, so as to comply with the rules. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Hudson, upheld a complaint against these APPGs, but noted that the Society had already resigned, and its non-provision of secretariat services therefore "appears to have taken effect" as the rules intended.{{cite report |url= http://www.parliament.uk/documents/pcfs/rectifications/Transatlantic%20and%20International%20Security%20APG.pdf |title=The Transatlantic and International Security APG: Report|date=8 December 2014 |publisher= UK Parliament|access-date=30 May 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150530074601/http://www.parliament.uk/documents/pcfs/rectifications/Transatlantic%20and%20International%20Security%20APG.pdf |work= Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards |archive-date=30 May 2015|url-status= live}}{{cite report|url= http://www.parliament.uk/documents/pcfs/rectifications/Homeland%20Security%20APG.pdf|title=The Homeland Security APG: Report |date=8 December 2014| publisher= UK Parliament|access-date=30 May 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150530073910/http://www.parliament.uk/documents/pcfs/rectifications/Homeland%20Security%20APG.pdf |work=Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards|archive-date=30 May 2015|url-status=live}} The case was closed with no further action taken, and the APPGs themselves dissolved with the dissolution of Parliament in March 2015. The APPG Rules were subsequently changed so that only non-profit organisations providing services to APPGs of more than £12,500 in value need to declare corporate donors.{{cite report|url= http://www.parliament.uk/documents/pcfs/all-party-groups/guide-to-the-rules-on-apgs.pdf |title=Guide to the Rules on APGs |date= March 2015 |publisher= UK Parliament |access-date=17 June 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150620061805/http://www.parliament.uk/documents/pcfs/all-party-groups/guide-to-the-rules-on-apgs.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date= 20 June 2015}}

{{Reflist}}

;Sources

• {{cite journal|first1=Klaus|last1=Dodds|title=Thinking Ahead: David Cameron, the Henry Jackson Society and British Neo-conservatism|journal=British Journal of Politics and International Relations|year=2008|volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=347–363 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-856x.2008.00327.x |url=https://dro.dur.ac.uk/5048/1/5048.pdf }}
• {{cite book |title=The Henry Jackson Society and the degeneration of British neoconservatism: Liberal interventionism, Islamophobia and the 'War on Terror'|last1=Griffin|first1=Tom|last2=Aked|first2=Hilary|author3-link=David Miller (sociologist) |last3=Miller|first3=David|last4=Marusek|first4=Sarah|publisher=University of Bath|url=https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/publications/the-henry-jackson-society-and-the-degeneration-of-british-neocons|year=2015|isbn=978-0-9570274-4-2 }}

• {{official website}}
• {{ProPublicaNonprofitExplorer|461190785}}

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