The Chatham House Rule

I had a set routine on Christmas mornings when I was a little girl. I woke up at 4am and stared, shook, and organized the presents until my siblings and I were finally able to drag our parents out of bed at around 6am.

The wonder and anticipation of those two hours still lingers in my memory more than any of the actual presents. The toys were always fun, but the endless potential of what could be under the wrapping paper riveted my imagination.

Growing up in America, education is just something kids do until that pinnacle moment of freedom known as high school graduation. Of course, in my case, scholarly emancipation was at my college graduation. I probably had my parent’s “You WILL go to college” speech memorized back when I was separating the “clothes” presents from the “toys” presents under the Christmas tree. Education, though valued, was not considered precious since school was just something that you had to do.

Now that I’m older and spent some time doing something other than trying to retain facts for an upcoming test, I’ve realized the immense importance of knowledge.

The same little-girl-anticipation for what presents might be under the tree hit me as I attended a lecture last night by Lieutenant Colonel John A. Nagl, who is considered an expert on counterinsurgency and assisted two of the current great military thinkers in writing the Counterinsurgency Field Manual. My wonder was intensified since the speech was under the Chatham House Rule.

The Rule takes into account the importance of workers and researchers in the field of international relations need for the most current and “on-the-ground” information while still protecting the identity and affiliation of the speaker…in other words, don’t start quoting verbatim in dissertations what gets said, who says it, or even who else is in the room listening.

Suddenly, all those mysteries hidden behind official lines and press releases are obtainable to be unwrapped. The excitement of real knowledge and not just the fragments and filtered pieces from journals and newspapers is available. I was hearing it from an expert…in person…under the Chatham House Rule so neither uniform nor loyalties would not keep him from speaking his honest opinion…

While the Lt. Colonel didn’t actually say anything that commonsense and basic reading between the lines could not also provide, the possibility filled me with the same excitement as when I was a little girl.

In fact, I’ve applied to be a member of the actual Chatham House here in London. Who knew it could be so exciting to be a student.