page_title: Henry Jackson Society
section_title: Statement of principles
hierarchical_section_title: Henry Jackson Society / Statement of principles
context_page_description: The Henry Jackson Society is a trans-Atlantic foreign policy think tank based in London. Its purpose is the promotion of liberal democracy across the world; it is currently focused primarily on supporting global democracy in the face of threats from China and Russia. The society is named after the American politician Henry M. Jackson, a Democratic Senator from Washington state who was a civil rights advocate and anticommunist liberal hawk. Jackson was respected by conservative leaders like Ronald Reagan who praised him for his bipartisanship:
  Scoop Jackson was convinced that there's no place for partisanship in foreign and defense policy. He used to say, "In matters of national security, the best politics is no politics." His sense of bipartisanship was not only natural and complete; it was courageous.
context_section_description: According to the Henry Jackson Society itself, the society operates along the following principles:
  Believes that modern liberal democracies 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 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.
  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 capitalism. There are limits to the market, which needs to serve the Democratic Community and should be reconciled to the environment.
  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.
  The society's statement of principles have been changed from those first signed by supporters in Cambridge on 11 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 'carrot' capacities, be they diplomatic, economic, cultural or political, but also, when necessary, those 'sticks' 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.
caption: Democratic Senator Henry M. Jackson, after whom the think tank is named.
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