The Henry Jackson Society

The Henry Jackson Society was founded in Cambridge in 2005. We are a think tank and policy-shaping force that fights for the principles and alliances which keep societies free. We work across borders and party lines to combat extremism, advance democracy and real human rights. We are dedicated to researching and debating these issues around these guiding principles.

Our research centres cover Asia, Russia and Eurasia, as well as research on radicalisation and terrorism, social and political risk, global Britain, and student rights.

The Henry Jackson Society:

• Believes that modern liberal democracies set an example for the rest of the world.
• Supports a ‘forward strategy’ – involving diplomatic, economic, cultural, and/or political means — to assist those countries to become liberal and democratic.
• Supports the maintenance of a strong military by the United Kingdom, 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.
• Believes that only modern liberal democratic states are truly legitimate; and that the political or human rights pronouncements of any international or regional organisations which admits undemocratic states lack legitimacy.
• Promotes capitalism- there are limits to the market, which needs to serve the Democratic Community and these should be reconciled to the environment.
• Accepts that we must 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.