Chatham House

Chatham House, formally the Royal Institute of International Affairs, was founded in 1920 and is based at 10 St James's Square in London. It is an Independent, non-governmental institute working on Foreign Policy, energy security and international law. It publishes the journal International Affairs and gave its name to the Chatham House Rule, introduced in 1927, under which participants may use what is said at a meeting without identifying the speaker.

In 2026 its analysts were a running reference on the Iran war. In March they assessed that Brent could reach $130 a barrel and the Eurozone would contract if the conflict persisted, published legal analysis on the UK's decision to let US forces use British bases, and judged that the war exposed the limits of Russia's leverage. In April a Chatham House director assessed that Iran was unlikely to surrender its Highly Enriched Uranium. On 17 May its analysts tracked a 79-day gap between US statements and any signed instrument as strike preparations peaked. By August they assessed that the war had not met US objectives.

The institute's convening role also makes it a lure. Microsoft tied at least 13 phishing waves in 2026 to Star Blizzard, a unit of Russia's FSB, using emails posing as invitations from groups such as Chatham House; malware followed only after a target replied.