Institute for Statecraft
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The Institute for Statecraft is a UK deep state propaganda outfit that was disguised as a charity based in a disused mill in Fife, Scotland. It was exposed by the 2018 Integrity Initiative leak, as a multi-million pounds UK/FCO disinformation operation run out of a basement in London close to and paid for by the UK Ministry of Defence.[1] It has been involved in disinformation operations and promoting Russophobia. David Miller stated that it "appears to be a military-directed push."[2]
Contents
Official Narrative
The group's about page stated in January 2019 that "The Institute for Statecraft is an independent body dedicated to refreshing the practice of statecraft, to improving governance and to enhancing national security."[3] Its registration at the Scottish Charity Register stated that its objects were: "(1) To advance education in the fields of governance and statecraft, and in particular focussing on the leadership, direction, management and administration of public and private institutions, major organisations and other bodies (whether incorporated or otherwise), and the skills needed by those in authority within such institutions, organisations or bodies to enable them to deal effectively with current and future challenges particularly in respect of security (2) To advance human rights, conflict resolution and/or reconciliation and religious/racial/ethnic harmony, to promote equality and diversity, citizenship and community development, and to advance national and international security; and in particular through assisting governments (including emerging democracies and countries in transition) and other institutions, organisations or bodies (whether in the UK or abroad) to respond to the challenges posed by new developments in the world (whether social, political, economic or technological) and to develop and embed structures and institutions that reflect principles of best practice in governance and statecraft."[4]
Headquarters
Craig Murray notes that it didn't take much detective work to locate the operational HQ. This seems to be the basement of the rather more stately 2 Temple Place, the former London mansion of William Waldorf Astor. Murray reports that "the rent is paid by the Ministry of Defence".[5]
Staff
The II was founded in November 2006.[6] It had 3 directors:
- Chris Donnelly, who appears to be the leading light. A former adviser to figures including Margaret Thatcher and four secretaries general of NATO, he also appears to be a UK deep state operative.[7]
- Daniel Lafayeedney (resigned 2011-11-08)[6]
- Lesley Simm (resigned 2012-08-08)[6]
The IfS staff list can be gleaned from combining the leaked documents with archived copies of the list of IfS fellows from their own website.
The older members in particular have various connections to NATO, the Atlantic Council and to multiple deep state milieux[8] or have held senior positions in the UK government,[9], UK Army[10], NATO[11] and the Atlantic Council[12]. At least one has been convicted of fraud.[13]
Activities
The group manages the Integrity Initiative, which Dan Kaszeta described as “Not just a “think tank” offering yet another discussion forum but also a “do tank”.” [14]
Members of the IfS have set up private businesses together, including Samantha de Bendern and Alan Riley who co-directed Temple Strategic Advisory Ltd.
Exposure
The Institute for Statecraft attracted a lot of interest in late 2018 after documents from the Integrity Initiative were leaked online by 'Anonymous'.[15] The first set of documents was published on 5 November 2018.[16] It was subsequently the subjects of questions in the UK parliament and widely reported by independent media.
Cover up
On 22 January 2019, the Integrity Initiative "temporarily" deleted the entire contents of their website.[17] The Institute for Statecraft followed suit shortly afterwards. By 5 February 2019, the site content had been replaced by a coverpage which stated that "The website will be relaunched shortly. In the meantime, we expect to be able to publish an analysis of the hack and its significance in the near future." It also opened up the way to plausible deniability by claiming that some (unspecified) parts of the leaked data had been falsified.[18]
Media reporting
In March 2019 Sky News carried a brief article headlined What is the Institute for Statecraft thought to have been hacked by Russia? reported that "[t]he organisation, which describes itself as a think-tank and a do-tank, employs a small staff of about a dozen people. It also has about 90 Fellows, including a handful of individuals who have a background in British intelligence or the military so are experts in security and defence." It made no mention of the Integrity Initiative's member Simon Bracey-Lane working for the Bernie Sanders campaign or the smears against Jeremy Corbyn. It MENTIONED THAT THE ii "established a network in countries across Europe" but did not mention how it used that network to mount of a secretly coordinated social media campaign to prevent the appointment of Pedro Baños as Director of the Spanish Department of Homeland Security.[19]
Related Quotations
| Page | Quote | Author | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Integrity Initiative | “We've temporarily removed all content from our website, pending an investigation into the theft of data from the Institute for Statecraft and the Integrity Initiative. The website will be relaunched shortly. https://bit.ly/2sES9wM” | 22 January 2019 | |
| Greg Rowett | “spoke well and hit all the IfS points: peacetime mentality during war/Russian vocab all based on warfare/rate of change in society dramatic/need for universal glossary. Algorithms key – we need to start gaming these algorithms and put pressure onto the companies hosting these disinformation campaigns. Deliver message that we're willing and able to push back.” | Simon Bracey-Lane Greg Rowett | December 2017 |
| University of Leicester | ““Following discussions in Leicester and London, the School of History, Politics and International Relations has concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with the Institute for Statecraft, an independent body dedicated to refreshing the practice of statecraft, improving governance and enhancing national security. Head of School, Dr George Lewis, said “This development is yet another example of the skill and standing of colleagues involved in our Distance Learning programmes, and is further recognition of the School's strengths in teaching, research and research-led teaching in the field of international politics and security.” In warmly welcoming the collaboration, Chris Donnelly and Dan Lafayeedney, the founding (sic)<a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a> co-Directors of the Institute for Statecraft, stated that “it recognises the significant standing in which the Institute is held internationally by policy makers and decision takers of governments, development and security agencies, and private sector clients, and it reflects the unique blend of practice and authoritative research that the Institute’s Fellows and Associates are able to contribute”. Building upon the University’s links with UNITAR and both party’s links with NATO, this Memorandum of Understanding demonstrates the potential for the University of Leicester and the Institute for Statecraft to collaborate, share experience and develop opportunities that will have a direct impact on national and international policy-making.” | Unknown | December 2018 |
| Zinc Network | “Bringing together organisations including Zinc Network, the Institute for Statecraft, Aktis Strategy, Bellingcat, DFR Lab, the Media Diversity Institute, Toro Risk Solutions and Ecorys, our Consortium combines recognised market leaders in understanding, monitoring, and countering Kremlin-backed disinformation... This ecosystem of credible voices will continue to grow, exposing the actors and networks behind Kremlin-backed disinformation, reducing unwitting multipliers of disinformation, and building resilience amongst key target audiences across Europe.
We will mobilise a Network Hub based in London, led by an experienced Project Director, consisting of an agile team with core competencies augmented by a wider pool of vetted experts. Our approach is highly localised, based around regional clusters of actors who can collaborate to effectively undermine the disinformation ecosystem in their respective areas and engage audiences most vulnerable to disinformation... It is a highly complex project involving coordination of many independent actors, and thus risk must be carefully managed and risk profiles constantly adapted, serving as the basis for all activity. The approach we propose is based on the identification, monitoring and management of risks as they materialise, allowing members to continue taking smart risks as they increase the scale and impact of their activities.” |
Group
| Group | Start | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Integrity Initiative | 2015 | "Military-directed" "extremely shady covert disinformation and anti-democratic deep state outfit" that promotes Russophobic propaganda. Exposed by a set of 7 caches of documents, posted online. Later deleted its website. |
Employees on Wikispooks
| Employee | Job | Appointed | End | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eduard Abrahamyan | Senior Associate Fellow | April 2019 | ||
| James Austin | Research Fellow | March 2017 | November 2017 | |
| James Austin | Project Support officer | July 2018 | July 2019 | |
| Francis Ghilès | As of February 2020 | |||
| Maria de Goeij | Academic | April 2018 | Deleted this piece of history from her LinkedIn. Now called "thinktank" and having no resignation date. | |
| Tom Lloyd | Head of Security | 2007 | 2010 | |
| John Lough | Senior Research Fellow | 2008 | ||
| Johanna Möhring | Academic | November 2013 | Also programme director | |
| Ben Nimmo | 2015 | |||
| Chris Scheurweghs | Senior fellow | January 2016 |
Known members
109 of the 137 of the members already have pages here:
| Member | Description |
|---|---|
| Kevin Abraham | Institute for Statecraft businessman |
| Eduard Abrahamyan | Institute for Statecraft, whose PhD supervisor was also a Institute for Statecraft member. |
| Jack Agazarian | Institute for Statecraft businessman whose name was gone by 10 January 2019. |
| Jamal Al-Tahat | Senior fellow of the Institute for Statecraft who was paid £1000 for setting up Integrity Jordan. |
| Kamal Alam | Fellow of the Institute for Statecraft, |
| Diane Allen | One of the first women in the Sandhurst, an Institute for Statecraft senior spook with DV (developed vetting) |
| David Allfrey | Former head of the UK Army's head of recruitment strategy, Institute for Statecraft |
| Josh Arnold-Foster | Member of the Institute for Statecraft. Posts include "special adviser" to the UK defence secretary. |
| Barrie Axford | UK Academic specialist "linking universities into the [Institute for Statecraft] network" |
| Anne Bader | Senior Associate Fellow of the Institute for Statecraft |
| Quique Badia-Masoni | Spanish journalist member of the Integrity Initiative and the Institute for Statecraft. |
| Samantha de Bendern | UK deep state-connected polyglot "international civil servant" with a masters degree in Wealth Management, fellow of the Institute for Statecraft, associate fellow of Chatham House |
| William Bortrick | Institute for Statecraft senior fellow whose name was removed from their website before 10 January 2019. Drafted a letter which claimed that Charles Windsor was "100% behind" a cash for citizenship and CBE case. |
| Simon Bracey-Lane | A "highly improbable left wing firebrand" who worked for the Institute for Statecraft and whom they denied was a spook. |
| Robin Brims | Major General, fellow of the Institute for Statecraft |
| Audrius Butkevičius | Lithuanian politician and fellow of the Institute for Statecraft |
| Nicholas Chance | On the advisory Board of the Institute of Statecraft, an affiliation he continued to display in January 2020 |
| David Clark | Senior fellow and project director at the Institute for Statecraft. UK MP. |
| Sean Cronin | A little known spook and member of the Institute for Statecraft |
| Constance Cunningham | Institute for Statecraft, Active Change Foundation |
| Oleksandr Danylyuk | Ukrainian member of the Institute for Statecraft |
| Kingsley Donaldson | "Senior Associate Fellow" of the Institute for Statecraft. His specialism was listed as "Security Sector Reform, Conflict Resolution". |
| Robert Dover | UK academic with a special interest in UK/Western intelligence agencies. Institute for Statecraft, as is at least one of his graduate students. His name had been removed from the IfS website by 10 January 2019. |
| Martin Dubbey | A member of the Institute for Statecraft with years of experience involving "corruption enquiries at the highest level". |
| Martin Edmonds | Senior Associate Fellow of the Institute for Statecraft whose name was removed after the Integrity Initiative Leak |
| Stewart Eldon | UK DSO interested in "counter-corruption" and "National Security". Former UK/Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Council, Institute for Statecraft |
| Harold Elletson | MI6, MP, Integrity Initiative, New Society Foundation |
| Dair Farrar-Hockley | A retired Major General who joined the Institute for Statecraft. |
| Perry Fawcett | UK businessman, ex-policeman, and member of the Institute for Statecraft |
| Irene Martínez Fernández | Joined the Institute for Statecraft as an associate researcher in July 2019 |
| Maria Luisa Fichera | Former member of the Institute for Statecraft, worked at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology |
| Alexander Finnen | Spooky UK deep state operative, Chris Donnelly's "right hand man" |
| Anthony Fitzherbert | Institute for Statecraft member and former FAO Programme manager in Afghanistan who co-authored research on crop yields. |
| Mark Galeotti | Institute for Statecraft propagandist |
| Babak Ganji | "Strategic analysis education, with the job description as "Russia-MENA influence and infowar strategy and tactics" at the Institute for Statecraft |
| Francis Ghilès | Trilingual journalist who has been published since the 1990s on topics including "terrorism". He wrote in 2016 that "we are nowhere close to the end of the War on Terror". A member of the Institute for Statecraft. |
| David Gilbertson | UK policeman who joined the Institute for Statecraft in his returement. Director of the Active Change Foundation from 2015-2017 |
| Keir Giles | Russophobic UK deep state operative, member of Integrity Initiative. |
| Maria de Goeij | Integrity Initiative/Institute for Statecraft polyglot |
| Roger Golland | UK Diplomat and IfS member |
| David Gordon-Macleod | UK deep state connected diplomat |
| Euan Grant | Spooky journalist/propagandist who worked for the Integrity Initiative interested in financial fraud. "His main forte is thinking strategically and has experience working in many countries around the world." |
| Glen Grant | 37 year military career. Institute for Statecraft senior fellow. "His key work in the last twenty years has been delivering reform and change for defence and security organisations in Europe." |
| Rafael Gude | Little known member of the Institute for Statecraft. |
| Tom Hardie-Forsyth | A member of the Institute for Statecraft who worked through Chatham House as a senior advisor to the Kurdistan Regional Government |
| Amalyah Hart | A fellow of the Institute for Statecraft whose speciality was listed as "Hybrid Warfare, Indo-Pacific Region" when the group took down their website |
| Harry Hart | Institute for Statecraft director who resigned after the Integrity Initiative leak. Serial company director, son of a spooky adviser to Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. |
| Charlie Hatton | "Brand Development Consultant", was Senior Programme Manager of the Integrity Initiative |
| Jon Hazel | Little known SGMI, Institute for Statecraft operative |
| Chris Hernon | Integrity Initiative |
| ... further results | |
Events Planned
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reframing Russia | 1 June 2017 | 31 May 2020 | University of Manchester | An IfS/II discussed project about "The RT Challenge" which was publicly launched in 2019, not under the II/IfS name. |
| Russia’s Strategy on NATO'S Eastern and Southern Flanks | 27 January 2017 09:30:00 | 27 January 2017 16:30:00 | Barcelona Centre for International Affairs | A CIDOB/The Institute for Statecraft/NATO meeting |
| Strengthening Europe's 'soft' and 'hard' defence | 25 March 2019 13:00:00 | 25 March 2019 17:00:00 | Netherlands The Hague Clingendael Institute | Chatham House rule meeting with organised by the Institute for Statecraft and the Clingendael Institute. |
Sponsors
| Event | Description |
|---|---|
| Answering Russia's Strategic Narratives | Invitation only one day event organised by The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, sponsored by The Institute for Statecraft, about "Russian propaganda" |
| WhistleblowersUK | UK group chaired since November 2015 by the former Institute for Statecraft head of security, Tom Lloyd. |
Related Documents
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:Britain didn’t vote Labour just to get a new iron chancellor | Article | 4 August 2024 | William Keegan | The economic damage wrought by Brexit continues. Our investment and growth prospects would benefit enormously if Starmer and Reeves abandoned this policy of “no return to the customs union, single market or freedom of movement”. I repeat what I have said before: the Labour manifesto commits it to removing unnecessary barriers to trade. But Brexit is the most formidable barrier of all! |
| Document:Speaking notes for meetings in Israel | speaking notes | June 2018 | Dan Kaszeta | Institute for Statecraft wants to build a relationship with the Israeli government |
| Document:The Institute for Statecraft Expert Team v 3 | name list | 13 December 2018 | Chris Donnelly | biographies of core team members with lots of obscure but interesting former and present employers |
Rating
20 April 2019 Robin An overview of this organ of the UK Deep stateA good start for understanding this group which appears to be a UK Deep state effort to promote Russophobia and attempting to kick of a New Cold War.
References
- ↑ https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/integrity-initiative-look-deep-state
- ↑ https://www.mintpressnews.com/the-integrity-initiative-and-the-uks-scandalous-information-war/253014/
- ↑ https://anoniem.org?https://www.statecraft.org.uk/about-us
- ↑ https://www.oscr.org.uk/search/charity-details?number=SC040870
- ↑ a b https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/12/british-security-service-infiltration-the-integrity-initiative-and-the-institute-for-statecraft/
- ↑ a b c http://www.checkcompany.co.uk/company/SC312442/THE-INSTITUTE-FOR-STATECRAFT
- ↑ https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/integrity-initiative-look-deep-state
- ↑ Keir Giles is a member of Chatham House and the Brookings Institute
- ↑ David Clark was Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
- ↑ Major General Jonathan Shaw
- ↑ Ben Nimmo was NATO Press officer
- ↑ Stewart Eldon was the UK Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Council and UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN
- ↑ Audrius Butkevičius
- ↑ Integrity Initiative/Leak/5 Dan%27s%20notes%20for%20Israel%20(003).pdf
- ↑ http://themillenniumreport.com/2018/12/britains-institute-for-statecraft-finally-exposed-top-secret-integrity-initiative-blown-wide-open/
- ↑ http://syriapropagandamedia.org/working-papers/briefing-note-on-the-integrity-initiative#third-tranche-released-13-december-2018
- ↑ https://www.rt.com/news/449451-integrity-initiative-deletes-content/
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20190205061422/https://www.statecraft.org.uk/
- ↑ https://news.sky.com/story/what-is-the-institute-for-statecraft-thought-to-have-been-hacked-by-russia-11657071
