page_title: Henry Jackson Society
section_title: Structure and projects
hierarchical_section_title: Henry Jackson Society / Structure and projects
caption_attribution_description: English: Official portrait of Sarah Champion MP 3×4 portrait of Sarah Champion
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: 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. Other areas of research include Islamic extremism and Islamist terrorism, crackdowns on human rights and democracy and various facets of foreign policy and defence. 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'". Publications include a paper on the possible outcomes of the negotiations with North Korea, and the need to safeguard critical national infrastructure in the West from vulnerabilities which may be built in by China.
  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". This centre has published papers on what the European Union 'owes' the United Kingdom, as well as advocated for increased military spending by NATO members.
  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.
  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". The Centre has released reports highly critical of Iran.
  Centre on Radicalisation & Terrorism. Focuses on the threat to the United Kingdom and elsewhere by Islamist terrorism. Reports have ranged from analyses of the UK charitable sector to the way in which criminals utilise the darknet.
  Student Rights. Created in 2009 "as a reaction to increasing political extremism and marginalisation of vulnerable students on campus". This project has tracked what it describes as "extreme" speakers on British university campuses.
  Centre for Social and Political Risk. In September 2018, the Society announced the creation of a new centre, which will "identify, diagnose and propose solutions to threats to governance in liberal Western democracies", focusing on social cohesion and integration; freedom of speech and political correctness; demographic change; and other issues.
  Recent projects by the think tank include studying the discrepancy between gaol terms in the UK for Islamic extremists and far-right offenders. The Director of the Centre on Radicalisation and Terrorism found 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".
caption: Sarah Champion, Labour MP and Chair of the UK's International Development Select Committee, has been a panellist for Henry Jackson Society events.
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