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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]

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

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]

Journalists

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]