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| − | http://www.umds.ac.uk/lhcma/cats/menaul/mn010.shtml
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| − | http://www.umds.ac.uk/lhcma/cats/menaul/mn09.shtml
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| − | InterNation story: the Heritage Foundation goes abroad.
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| − |
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| − | From:
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| − | The Nation
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| − | Date:
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| − | June 6, 1987
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| − |
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| − | The Nation
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| − |
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| − | AN INTERNATION STORY
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| − |
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| − | THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION GOES ABROAD
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| − |
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| − | Since 1982 the Heritage Foundation, the mostinfluential conservative
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| − | think
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| − | tank in the United States, has channeled as much as $1 million to
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| − | right-wing organizations in Britain and other Western European
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| − | countries,
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| − | with the aim of influencing domestic political affairs. In one case
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| − | large
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| − | sums have been paid through a former Central Intelligence Agency
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| − | contract
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| − | employee to undisclosed third parties. The transfer of Heritage funds
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| − | is
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| − | detailed in documents obtained by InterNation from the United States
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| − | Internal Revenue Service and has been confirmed in interviews with
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| − | officials of the Heritage Foundation and like-minded think tanks in
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| − | Europe.
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| − |
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| − | The Heritage Foundation has established itselfas a major political
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| − | presence
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| − | in Ronald Reagan's Washington since 1980, when it produced its "Mandate
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| − | for
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| − | Leadership,' a 1,093-page compendium of conservative policy proposals.
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| − | But
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| − | although its domestic activities have attracted widespread attention,
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| − | the
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| − | foundation's effort to expand its influence beyond the United States
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| − | has
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| − | had a much lower profile. The first opportunity to measure the scope of
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| − | its
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| − | international activities may come in Britain, which is preparing for a
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| − | general election on June 11. The British groups financed by Heritage
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| − | are
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| − | closely linked to senior figures in Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's
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| − | Conservative Party. In one case, where the foundation provided start-up
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| − |
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| − | capital and the overwhelming bulk of continued financial support, the
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| − | result is a virtual Heritage satellite.
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| − |
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| − | In recent years conservatives have increasinglybanded together across
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| − | borders. The International Democratic Union, for example, a collection
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| − | of
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| − | conservative party leaders from thirty countries, was set up in 1983 to
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| − |
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| − | hold biannual gatherings to coordinate strategies, particularly in
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| − | foreign
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| − | policy. Jeffrey Gayner, Heritage's counsel for international relations,
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| − | who
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| − | is described in the organization's 1985 annual report as its
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| − | "ambassador to
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| − | the world,' says Heritage has led the effort to shape a "common
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| − | international agenda' for the right, developing "a cooperative
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| − | relationship' with more than 200 foreign groups and individuals,
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| − | including
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| − | political parties, think tanks, academics and media. Programs include
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| − | information exchanges and visits, Heritage's periodic appointment of
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| − | non-Americans to specific assignments and fellowships.
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| − |
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| − | Heritage's international activities have been helped by itseasy entree
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| − | to
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| − | Reagan Administration circles. In 1982 President Reagan appointed the
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| − | foundation's president, Edwin Feulner Jr., as chair of the U.S.
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| − | Advisory
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| − | Commission on Public Diplomacy. That commission evaluates programs of
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| − | the
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| − | U.S. Information Agency, including Voice of America, Radio Marti,
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| − | Fulbright
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| − | scholarships and the National Endowment for Democracy. Heritage's 1986
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| − | annual report boasted that in his work for the foundation, Feulner had
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| − | "again logged over 100,000 miles of air travel . . . visiting numerous
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| − | world capitals, and meeting with countless government officials.'
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| − | Gayner,
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| − | as a member of the Board of Foreign Scholarships, which supervises the
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| − | U.S.I.A.'s academic exchange programs, has found the doors of foreign
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| − | governments and universities wide open to him.
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| − |
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| − | Nowhere have the associations been closer than with Britain.Feulner,
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| − | who
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| − | attended the London School of Economics and the University of
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| − | Edinburgh,
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| − | maintains close personal links to British conservatives. Gerald Frost,
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| − | executive director of the Institute for European Defense and Strategic
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| − | Studies (I.E.D.S.S.), a beneficiary of the Heritage Foundation's
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| − | largesse,
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| − | told InterNation, "I'm helped in some ways that Ed Feulner is an
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| − | Anglophile
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| − | and an admirer of English institutions.' Feulner's enthusiasm is
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| − | reciprocated: in October 1983, Prime Minister Thatcher sent Heritage an
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| − |
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| − | effusive personal message of congratulations on its tanth anniversary.
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| − | Heritage also led the attack on Unesco, which culminated when the
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| − | United
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| − | States withdrew from the organization, in 1984, followed by Britain a
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| − | year
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| − | later. This year, the Heritage alumnus John O'Sullivan, editor of the
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| − | foundation's journal, Policy Review, from 1979 to 1983 and now a policy
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| − |
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| − | adviser to Thatcher, wrote key sections of the Conservative Party's
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| − | election manifesto, "The Next Moves Forward.'
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| − |
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| − | Heritage funding of British projects was evident as earlyas 1979, and
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| − | became more systematic in 1982, when U.S. and British conservatives
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| − | were
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| − | alarmed by the growing influence of the peace movement. That May,
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| − | Heritage
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| − | disseminated a so-called backgrounder titled "Moscow and the Peace
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| − | Offensive,' in which it called on the North Atlantic Treaty
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| − | Organization
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| − | and "its affiliated public support organizations' to spread
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| − | "information
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| − | concerning the links . . . between known Communist front groups and the
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| − |
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| − | "independent' peace groups.'
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| − |
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| − | The campaign to prevent the deployment of cruisemissiles on British
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| − | soil
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| − | was accompanied by a steady acceleration of Heritage funding. According
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| − | to
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| − | the I.R.S.'s schedules, the foundation's donations to a range of
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| − | British
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| − | institutions rose from $106,000 in 1982 to $254,000 in 1985. Although
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| − | 1986
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| − | figures are not yet available, total Heritage contributions over a
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| − | five-year period appear to be in the neighborhood of $1 million. During
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| − | the
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| − | three years for which records could be obtained, Britain was the target
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| − | of
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| − | more than 95 percent of Heritage's international funding operations.
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| − |
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| − | Three main recipients were identified in the I.R.S.schedules for 1982,
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| − | 1983
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| − | and 1985: the I.E.D.S.S., which received a total of $427,809, more than
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| − | any
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| − | other group, U.S. or foreign; the International Freedom Fund
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| − | Establishment
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| − | (I.F.F.E.), which took in $140,000; and the Coalition for Peace through
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| − |
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| − | Security (C.P.S.), which accepted a $10,000 grant in 1982 and,
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| − | according to
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| − | some evidence, may have received additional funds that were never
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| − | declared.
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| − | BBC television's untransmitted Secret Society series [see Christopher
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| − | Hitchens, "New Statesman Downed by Law,' The Nation, February 21]
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| − | obtained
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| − | a letter from the C.P.S. thanking Heritage for a further grant of
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| − | $50,000
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| − | in October 1982. (The I.R.S. says the 1984 schedule is unavailable, and
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| − |
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| − | returns for 1986 had not been filed by the time this article went to
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| − | press.)
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| − |
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| − | Three other British groups were given token amounts: theSocial Affairs
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| − | Unit, the International Symposium of the Open Society and an
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| − | organization
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| − | listed simply as Aneks.
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| − |
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| − | "This is the age of the think tank,' said I.E.D.S.S. executivedirector
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| − | Frost in an interview with InterNation. Nongovernmental think tanks
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| − | have
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| − | already transformed the political landscape of the United States; Frost
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| − | is
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| − | a pioneer of the trend in Britain. Before moving to the I.E.D.S.S., he
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| − | was
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| − | secretary of one of the country's first think tanks, the Center for
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| − | Policy
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| − | Studies, which was founded in 1974 by, among others, Margaret Thatcher,
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| − | who
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| − | served as its first president.
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| − |
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| − | The institute is a registered charity under British law and,as such, is
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| − |
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| − | barred from political lobbying. Founded in 1979, the year Thatcher came
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| − | to
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| − | power, it stated its goals thus: "To assess the impact of political
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| − | change
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| − | in Europe and North America on defense and strategic issues. In
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| − | particular,
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| − | to study the domestic political situation in NATO countries and how
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| − | this
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| − | affects the NATO posture.' It declared that it would put most of its
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| − | effort
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| − | into publications, seminars and conferences.
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| − |
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| − | In an interview in February with InterNation, Gaynerdenied that there
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| − | is
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| − | any formal connection between Heritage and the institute. But the
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| − | I.E.D.S.S. was, in fact, set up with foundation funds. The connection
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| − | runs
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| − | deeper than money alone. Heritage president Feulner chairs the
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| − | institute's
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| − | board. Richard V. Allen, Reagan's first national security adviser, a
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| − | Heritage distinguished fellow and head of the foundation's Asian
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| − | Studies
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| − | Center advisory council, is also a board member. Frank Shakespeare,
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| − | chair
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| − | of the foundation's board of trustees and the Reagan Administration's
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| − | Ambassador to the Vatican, was a founding member of the I.E.D.S.S.'s
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| − | advisory council.
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| − |
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| − | Frost says that Stephen Haseler came up with the idea forthe I.E.D.S.S.
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| − | One
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| − | of the earliest prominent defectors to Britain's Social Democratic
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| − | Party,
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| − | which broke away from the Labor Party in 1981, Haseler was also a
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| − | Heritage
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| − | scholar and a member of the editorial board of Policy Review. According
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| − | to
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| − | Frost, Haseler "saw the need for a broad-based international institute'
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| − | and
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| − | "persuaded Ed Fuelner that this was a good idea.' Feulner then agreed
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| − | to
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| − | support the good idea, to the tune of 60,000 pounds, then $132,870.
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| − |
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| − | The second crucial participant in setting I.E.D.S.S.priorities was Sir
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| − | Peter Blaker, a senior Tory who, according to Frost, "saw the
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| − | implications
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| − | of an upsurge in peace movement activity, which was a movement of
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| − | concern
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| − | to him.' Blaker is an important figure in British defense circles. From
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| − |
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| − | 1979 to 1983 he was a junior official in Thatcher's Defense Ministry,
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| − | and
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| − | in 1983 he headed a secret ministerial group on Nuclear Weapons and
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| − | Public
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| − | Opinion, which generated films and literature against Britain's
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| − | Campaign
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| − | for Nuclear Disarmament (C.N.D.). He is currently chair of the
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| − | Conservatives' Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Committee.
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| − |
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| − | Another senior Tory Member of Parliament involved withthe I.E.D.S.S. is
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| − | Ray
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| − | Whitney, who served on the institute's board from 1979 to 1984. Whitney
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| − | is
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| − | also a junior minister in the Thatcher government and preceded Blaker
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| − | as
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| − | chair of the Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Committee in Parliament.
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| − | In
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| − | the late 1970s Whitney headed a secret Foreign Office body called the
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| − | Information Research Department, which conducted covert propaganda
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| − | activities, including some directed against British leftists. He
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| − | appears to
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| − | have taken a more direct role than Blaker in the smear campaign against
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| − | the
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| − | peace movement. In April 1983, as preparations began for a general
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| − | election, Tory Defense Minister Michael Heseltine released a letter
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| − | purporting to prove communist domination of the C.N.D. and of the Labor
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| − |
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| − | Party. One of Heseltine's chief sources was Whitney. "Our colleague Ray
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| − |
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| − | Whitney,' he commented at the time, "has added a valuable contribution
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| − | to
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| − | our knowledge of the political motivations of C.N.D.'
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| − |
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| − | I.E.D.S.S. publications also regularly attacked the C.N.D.Its first
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| − | monograph, Protest and Perish, an assault on E.P. Thompson's Protest
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| − | and
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| − | Survive, accused Thompson of "furthering the arms race' by
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| − | destabilizing
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| − | NATO and the bloc system. Great Britain and NATO: A Parting of the
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| − | Ways?,
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| − | also published in 1982, declared that Britain could face civil war if a
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| − |
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| − | Labor government took office, and warned that NATO could not entrust
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| − | secrets to a governing party under the sway of a "pro-Soviet faction.'
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| − | Further publications assailed the presence of the churches in the peace
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| − |
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| − | movement and the teaching of peace studies in British universities.
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| − | Co-author of the last of those was Caroline Cox, a former director of
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| − | the
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| − | Center for Policy Studies and, since becoming a baroness, in 1982, a
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| − | leading spokeswoman for the Conservative Party in the House of Lords.
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| − |
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| − | Most of this propaganda was made possible by grantsfrom the Heritage
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| − | Foundation. Although both Gayner and Frost downplayed the connection in
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| − |
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| − | interviews, there is little likelihood that the I.E.D.S.S., whose 1986
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| − | budget, according to Frost, was 125,000 pounds, then $184,000, could
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| − | survive without Heritage backing. According to its year-end financial
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| − | report for 1985, the institute's total income from donations in 1984
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| − | and
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| − | 1985 amounted to $185,611 at year-end exchange rates. Figures logged
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| − | with
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| − | the I.R.S. show that Heritage gave I.E.D.S.S. $91,165 in 1982; $185,371
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| − | in
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| − | 1983; and $151,273 in 1985.
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| − |
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| − | At least one other private U.S. foundation specializingin
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| − | ultraconservative
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| − | causes has also funded I.E.D.S.S. A spokesman for the John M. Olin
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| − | Foundation, where Heritage trustee William E. Simon is in charge of
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| − | grants,
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| − | confirmed that it had given I.E.D.S.S. $20,000 in 1986. Frost declined
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| − | to
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| − | reveal how much the institute had received from Heritage last year, but
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| − | did
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| − | say, "O.K., in 1986 they were still our biggest source of funds.' He is
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| − |
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| − | visibly rattled by the topic of Heritage funds: "If you're seen as
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| − | having
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| − | this connection,' he told InterNation, "people might take less notice
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| − | of
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| − | you.' And, he added, "the media becomes suspicious.'
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| − |
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| − | The Coalition for Peace through Security was also createdby Heritage
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| − | dollars, with the declared intention of making "one-sided disarmament a
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| − |
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| − | millstone around the neck of any politician advocating such a course of
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| − |
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| − | action for Britain.' The Heritage-C.P.S. relationship was cemented in
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| − | the
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| − | fall of 1981, when the group's three founders visited Washington and
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| − | agreed
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| − | to embark on the task of "educating public opinion' in Britain. For its
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| − |
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| − | founding conference in London, in March 1982, the C.P.S. brought over
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| − | assorted luminaries of the New Right in the United States, including
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| − | Paul
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| − | Weyrich, co-founder of Heritage and president of the Free Congress
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| − | Foundation; and Morton Blackwell, then a White House aide and assistant
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| − | to
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| − | direct-mail wizard Richard Viguerie. They discussed ways in which U.S.
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| − | conservative fund-raising and opinion-forming techniques could be used
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| − | in
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| − | Britain. Thatcher sent a message of welcome, telling the organization,
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| − | "I
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| − | wish every success to your efforts, as I consider this a matter vital
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| − | to
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| − | our security and the preservation of peace.'
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| − |
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| − | Links between the C.P.S. and the I.E.D.S.S. are close.Sir Peter Blaker
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| − | is
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| − | involved with both groups, and the two cooperated in the publication
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| − | and
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| − | distribution of Protest and Perish. Their methods differ, however.
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| − | Although
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| − | its literature claims the C.P.S. is committed to "the spirit of our
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| − | British
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| − | tradition of fair play,' the group plays dirty in its campaign to smear
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| − |
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| − | nuclear disarmers as Soviet puppets, according to C.N.D. vice chair
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| − | Bruce
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| − | Kent. Among its tactics, Kent claims, are heckling and disruption of
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| − | C.N.D.
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| − | meetings, often by flying a blimp or banner reading "C.N.D. = K.G.B.'
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| − | In
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| − | one characteristic action last August, C.P.S. activists shattered a
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| − | two-minute silence at a rally commemorating the bombing of Hiroshima by
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| − |
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| − | playing "God Save the Queen' full blast over loudspeakers.
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| − |
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| − | The third and most enigmatic of the British groups fundedby Heritage is
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| − | the
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| − | International Freedom Fund Establishment, which is not registered in
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| − | Britain either as a company or a charity. I.R.S. schedules show that
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| − | Heritage has sent at least $140,000 earmarked for this group to Brian
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| − | Crozier, a fixture on the far right of British politics, who was
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| − | identified
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| − | as a C.I.A. contract employee by The New York Times in December 1977.
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| − | Crozier is the former head of the Institute for the Study of Conflict,
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| − | which was heavily endowed by the ultraconservative U.S. funder Richard
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| − | Mellon Scaife in the 1970s. In 1981 an aide to Scaife reported that the
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| − |
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| − | institute had set up solid working relationships with the Heritage
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| − | Foundation and that its "research into political and psychological
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| − | warfare,
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| − | revolutionary activities, insurgency operations and terrorism is
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| − | consistently used by the Thatcher government.' More recently Crozier
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| − | has
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| − | taken up the cause of the Nicaraguan contras. Last December he shared a
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| − |
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| − | platform in London with contra leader Arturo Cruz and former U.S.
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| − | ambassador to the United Nations Charles M. Lichenstein, who is also a
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| − | Heritage senior fellow.
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| − |
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| − | There are no public records of the ultimate recipients ofthe money
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| − | Heritage
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| − | sent to Crozier. In an April 28 telephone interview with InterNation,
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| − | Crozier insisted that his only connection with Heritage was as an
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| − | adjunct
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| − | scholar. He described himself as a freelance risk analyst, and the
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| − | I.F.F.E.
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| − | as "a contact or checking point' that handles funds for a number of
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| − | organizations, which he declined to name. In a second conversation, two
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| − |
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| − | days later, Crozier said, "The I.F.F.E. is a clearinghouse, and that is
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| − |
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| − | all.' He then acknowledged arranging for the transfer of Heritage funds
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| − | but
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| − | again refused to respond to questions about the eventual beneficiaries.
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| − |
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| − | "This is a private matter,' he said.
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| − |
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| − | Heritage vice president Herb Berkowitz, when asked tocomment, described
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| − | the
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| − | I.F.F.E. as a "networking' operation. "We support them, and he
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| − | [Crozier]
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| − | does the work.' He also acknowledged that Heritage had sent Crozier an
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| − | additional $50,000 last year. The money, Berkowitz said, "goes to
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| − | scholars,
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| − | writers and research institutes; some might be affiliated with
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| − | political
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| − | parties . . . he makes the decision.' When asked if Crozier told
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| − | Heritage
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| − | who they were, Berkowitz replied, "I do not think he reports back to us
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| − | in
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| − | detail.'
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| − |
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| − | He should. Tax-exempt organizations such as the HeritageFoundation,
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| − | says
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| − | and I.R.S. spokesman, "have to keep control over their funds and know
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| − | where
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| − | the funds are being ultimately spent.' Even if transfer to a third
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| − | party is
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| − | prearranged, "the grantor has to keep control and records. They have to
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| − |
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| − | know where the money goes.'
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| − |
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| − | Britain is only the most dramatic instance of a growinginternational
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| − | effort
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| − | by the Heritage Foundation. Smaller amounts of money fund other
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| − | European
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| − | groups and individuals, including economist Friedrich von Hayeck of the
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| − |
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| − | University of Freiburg, in West Germany, and conservative economic
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| − | research
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| − | institutes in Paris and Rome. Heritage works closely with such
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| − | conservative
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| − | groups as the Hans Seidel Foundation in West Germany, the international
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| − | arm
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| − | of Franz-Josef Strauss's Christian Social Union; and the Club de
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| − | l'Horloge
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| − | in France, with which it co-sponsored a May 1986 conference in Nice
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| − | called
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| − | La Deculpabilisation de l'Occident--getting rid of the West's guilt.
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| − |
| |
| − | The foundation has also reached into Africa and Asia.According to the
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| − | foundation's 1985 annual report, Stuart Butler, director of domestic
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| − | policy
| |
| − | studies, twice visited South Africa that year "to advise the business
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| − | community how to use the free market to dismantle racial apartheid.'
| |
| − | Heritage has tried to rally support for Zulu Chief Gatsha Buthelezi,
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| − | for
| |
| − | whom it hosted a dinner in Washington last November.
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| − |
| |
| − | It used the same approach with spectacular success whenJonas Savimbi,
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| − | leader of Angola's Unita rebels, visited Washington in January 1986. On
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| − |
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| − | Savimbi's itinerary were a lecture and a dinner at Heritage, attended
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| − | by
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| − | Secretary of State George Shultz, Director of Central Intelligence
| |
| − | William
| |
| − | Casey, national security adviser Vice Adm. John Poindexter and other
| |
| − | senior
| |
| − | Administration officials. "We brought the key policy people together,'
| |
| − | Gayner recalled with satisfaction. "Savimbi had the audience he
| |
| − | needed.'
| |
| − | Gayner also acknowledged that Heritage is giving the same kind of help
| |
| − | to
| |
| − | the Renamo rebels in Mozambique.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Heritage's Asian Studies Center is in fact its largest regionalprogram.
| |
| − | On
| |
| − | recent Asian tours, Feulner met with conservative think tanks in
| |
| − | several
| |
| − | countries and with the heads of government of Japan, South Korea and
| |
| − | Taiwan. In 1985, the foundation reports, Japanese Prime Minister
| |
| − | Yasuhiro
| |
| − | Nakasone "agreed to consider additional measures spelled out in a
| |
| − | series of
| |
| − | Heritage papers.'
| |
| − |
| |
| − | In an interview with InterNation, Heritage's vice president,Burton Yale
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Pines, predicted, "Maybe the next step will be to organize some kind of
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Conservative International.' He suggested this could take the form of
| |
| − | an
| |
| − | alliance of as many as twenty like-minded goups in the United States,
| |
| − | Britain, France, West Germany, Japan and other countries. In the past
| |
| − | six
| |
| − | years the Heritage Foundation has been a major force behind the "Reagan
| |
| − |
| |
| − | revolution.' The Administration comes to an end in 1989, but the
| |
| − | Heritage
| |
| − | Foundation will do its best to see that the principles of Reaganism
| |
| − | have a
| |
| − | continuing effect on politics far beyond the borders of the United
| |
| − | States.
| |
