Chatham House facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

For the school in Ramsgate, see Chatham House Grammar School. For the mansion in Virginia, United States, see Chatham Manor.

Quick facts for kids
Chatham House

Entrance to Chatham House in 2012
Established	1920; 105 years ago (1920)
Headquarters	10 St James's Square London, England
Membership	6,000 (approx.)
Formerly called	The British Institute of International Affairs

Chatham House, also known as The Royal Institute of International Affairs, is a special group in London, England. It's like a "think tank", which means it's a place where smart people study big world problems. Their main goal is to help countries and people build a safer, richer, and fairer world for everyone. Chatham House is also famous for something called the Chatham House Rule.

What is Chatham House?

Chatham House has its main office in central London at 10 St James's Square. This building is very old and beautiful, built in the 1700s. Three British prime ministers used to live there, including William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. That's how the building got its name, and later the whole organization became known as Chatham House.

In 1923, a kind Canadian helper named Reuben Wells Leonard and his wife Kate bought the building. They gave it to the new institute to be its home.

Many different people can join Chatham House. This includes individuals, companies, universities, and groups that help others (NGOs).

The Chatham House Rule

Chatham House is where a special rule called the Chatham House Rule came from. This rule helps people talk openly about difficult topics.

Here's how it works: If you go to a meeting under this rule, you can tell others what was discussed. But you cannot say who was at the meeting, or who said what specific thing. This allows people to share their honest thoughts without worrying about what others might think later.

Even though this rule is famous, most meetings at Chatham House are held openly. This means what is said can be shared with names attached.

Research and Publications

Chatham House studies many important topics around the world. Their research is divided into different areas. These include:

The environment and society.
The global economy and money.
Keeping people healthy around the world.
International laws.
Global safety and security.

They also have teams that focus on different parts of the world, like Africa, Asia, Europe, and the USA.

Chatham House also has a special group called the Sustainability Accelerator. This group looks at how countries use natural resources and how to do it in a way that helps the planet.

Speakers at Chatham House

Important people from governments and businesses often come to Chatham House to give talks. These speakers share their ideas about what's happening in the world.

Magazines and Journals

Chatham House publishes several important magazines and journals:

International Affairs: This journal has been published since 1922. It shares reports and discussions from the institute with people all over the world.
Journal of Cyber Policy: This journal started in 2016 and focuses on topics related to the internet and technology.
The World Today: This is a monthly magazine about global events, published since 1945.

The Chatham House Prize

The Chatham House Prize is an award given out every year. It goes to a person, group, or organization that has done the most to improve how countries get along in the world. Members of Chatham House vote for the winner.

Winners of the Chatham House Prize

Chatham House's former Director Robin Niblett (left) with Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi

Year	Name	Country
2005	President Viktor Yushchenko	Ukraine
2006	President Joaquim Chissano	Mozambique
2007	Sheikha Mozah Al Missned	Qatar
2008	President John Kufuor	Ghana
2009	President Lula da Silva	Brazil
2010	President Abdullah Gül	Turkey
2011	Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi	Myanmar
2012	President Moncef Marzouki and Rached Ghannouchi	Tunisia
2013	Secretary of State Hillary Clinton	United States
2014	Co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation Melinda French Gates	United States
2015	Médecins Sans Frontières	Switzerland
2016	Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif	Iran
2016	Secretary of State John Kerry	United States
2017	President Juan Manuel Santos	Colombia
2018	Committee to Protect Journalists	United States
2019	Sir David Attenborough and Julian Hector	United Kingdom
2020	Malawi Constitutional Court Justices Healey Potani, Ivy Kamanga, Redson Kapindu, Dingiswayo Madise and Michael Tembo	Malawi
2023	Volodomyr Zelenskyy	Ukraine

History of Chatham House

How it Started

Chatham House began with a meeting in 1919 after World War I. People from America and Britain who had been at a peace conference wanted to keep talking about world issues. Lionel Curtis thought it would be a good idea to have a group that studied international problems.

Lionel Curtis helped start Chatham House.

So, the British and American groups formed their own institutes. The American group became the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

The British group, first called the British Institute of International Affairs, had its first meeting in 1920. Important leaders like Robert Cecil and Edward Grey were involved. They decided to create an institute to study international questions.

By 1922, the group needed a bigger place. That's when Colonel R. W. Leonard gave them Chatham House at 10 St. James's Square. This is still where the institute is today.

Growing in the Early Years

After it started, Chatham House quickly became very active. In 1922, they launched their journal, International Affairs. This helped share their research and discussions with people around the world.

A professor named Arnold J. Toynbee started writing an annual "Survey of International Affairs." This survey looked at world events each year and helped people understand international history.

In 1926, the institute received a special honor called a royal charter. This meant it was officially recognized by the King or Queen, and it became known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs. The charter explained that the institute's goals were to study international politics and share knowledge about world affairs.

More Growth and Famous Visitors

In 1929, Ivison Macadam became the first full-time director. He helped the institute grow a lot, getting more space and money. They bought more buildings next to Chatham House to have enough room for all their activities.

Around this time, Chatham House became a place where important world leaders would visit when they were in London. For example, Mahatma Gandhi visited in 1931 and gave a talk about the future of India. About 750 people came to hear him speak!

In 1933, Norman Angell, who worked with Chatham House, won the Nobel Peace Prize. He won it for his book The Great Illusion, which was about how war is not good for anyone.

Chatham House also started the first Commonwealth Relations Conference in Canada in 1933. This was a meeting for leaders from different parts of the British Commonwealth to talk about foreign policy and work together.

During World War II (1939–1945)

Helping with the War Effort

When World War II started, Chatham House moved some of its staff to Balliol College, Oxford for safety. There, a special group called the Foreign Press and Research Service worked closely with the government. They helped by reviewing news from other countries and providing information about the war.

Many smart historians worked with this group, helping to understand what was happening in the world during the war.

Committee of Post-War Reconstruction meeting in the institute's Common Room, 1943.

Planning for After the War

Chatham House also helped scholars and soldiers at its London building. They opened their research areas to academics who had to leave their homes because of the war. They also offered courses to soldiers to help them understand international affairs and plan for rebuilding the world after the war.

After the War

After World War II, Chatham House continued to be very important. Many of its members went on to work for new international groups like the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund. Chatham House played a big part in helping to rebuild the world's politics and economy.

Margaret Thatcher leaving Chatham House in 1993.

The world was changing, with many countries gaining independence from colonial rule and the start of the Cold War. Chatham House began new studies about Britain's role in this new world. In 1953, they started a group to study race relations, which later became its own charity called the Institute of Race Relations.

Chatham House also became involved in "Track II diplomacy". This is when unofficial people, like researchers, talk to each other from different countries to help improve relations. For example, in 1975, they held meetings with a similar institute in Moscow to help improve communication between Britain and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

In the 1980s, Chatham House started new research programs. These included studies on energy and the global economy. They also worked to build stronger connections with other countries, especially economically strong ones like Japan.

Nelson Mandela speaking at Chatham House in 1996.

Recent History

In 1998, Chatham House started the Angola Forum to discuss the future of Angola. In 2002, they created a wider Africa Programme, which studies different regions of the world.

The Chatham House Prize was launched in 2005. The Queen of England presented the first award to the President of Ukraine, Victor Yushchenko.

In 2013, Chatham House started the Academy for Leadership in International Affairs. This program helps train future world leaders. In 2014, Queen Elizabeth II officially launched it as the "Queen Elizabeth II Academy."

In 2020, Chatham House celebrated its 100th birthday! They had special events and gave awards to people like Sir David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg.

In 2022, Russia called Chatham House an "undesirable organisation."

Chatham House continues to publish important reports on global issues. These reports cover topics like trade, climate change, health, and how countries get along. For example, they've published reports on how to reduce meat consumption to help the climate, and how to improve anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria.

Awards and Recognition

Chatham House has received many awards for its work. In 2016, Prospect magazine named it the "Think-Tank of the Year."

In 2017, the University of Pennsylvania ranked Chatham House as the second most influential think tank in the world, after the Brookings Institution in the US. It was also named the most influential non-U.S. think tank.

Leaders of Chatham House

Robin Niblett meeting with China's State Councillor Dai Bingguo

The current chairman of Chatham House is Sir Nigel Sheinwald. The director and CEO is Bronwen Maddox, who took over in 2022 from Sir Robin Niblett.

Chatham House also has three presidents: Lord Darling of Roulanish (a former government minister), Baroness Manningham-Buller (a former head of MI5), and Helen Clark (a former prime minister of New Zealand).

How Chatham House is Funded

Chatham House gets money from different places to do its work. In 2020/2021, some of its biggest supporters included the MAVA Foundation and the UK government's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. They also received money from the Robert Bosch Stiftung (a charity) and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In 2022, a website that checks how groups are funded gave Chatham House a "C" grade for how clear they are about their money.

Images for kids

Committee of Post-War Reconstruction meeting in the institute's Common Room, 1943.