 | |
| Formation | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Founders | |
| Type | Company limited by guarantee |
| Purpose | Renewing Western culture |
| Headquarters | Pall Mall, London |
CEO | Baroness Stroud |
| Website | arcforum |
TheAlliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) is an international organisation whose stated aim is to "unite conservative voices and propose policy based ontraditional Western values."[citation needed] It is associated with psychologist and political commentatorJordan Peterson. It was founded in June 2023, with a London conference held in October of that year. It was funded with £1 million from hedge fund manager andGB News co-ownerPaul Marshall in 2023,[2] and a further $500,000 from pharmaceuticals CEO Derick Cooper in 2025.[3]
In an interview withThe Sydney Morning Herald, former Australian deputy prime ministerJohn Anderson, who helped initiate the conference, said the group emerged as a response to a "civilisational" moment in which theWestern world "is plagued by self-doubt and confusion" regarding its values and beliefs.[4] The "shaky ground" of depleted social institutions, such as theChristian Church, and the breakdown of cohesivesocial norms could be seen as part of this crisis.[4] The founders believe the West no longer has a binding narrative, as this has been "picked apart"; leaving it with a geostrategic vulnerability.[5] In the face of this crisis, Anderson characterised the goal of ARC was to "regroup, and put forward a positive agenda"[4] by providing a better narrative than one of inevitable doom and decline.
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Others described ARC as being a response to problems in contemporary conservatism itself. They suggest that the conservative movement, at least in theEnglish-speaking world, was "scrambling to define itself by what it opposes rather than what it believes". A report inThe Telegraph saw the group as a corrective to the "chaos" and "excesses" in American conservatism during the rise ofDonald Trump; the "muddle" of conservative beliefs in the UK; and the lack of a clear cause for conservatives in Australia.[6][7] TheFinancial Times said that the organisation's conference "included discussion of fringe, right-leaning ideology".[8]
It is associated with psychologist and political commentatorJordan Peterson.[4][9] One Australian journalist identified the purpose of ARC as follows: "to replace a sense of division and drift within conservatism, and Western society at large, with a renewed cohesion and purpose".[7]
Company records in the UK show ARC has two shareholders – theDubai-based investment management groupLegatum and the British investor andBrexit advocate SirPaul Marshall.[10] Advisory board members included the following:[4][11][12][13]
The group's first conference was held in Greenwich, London, 30 October – 1 November 2023.[6][10][13] The platform had 100 speakers, with delegates from 71 nations said to number between 1,000 and 1,500.[6][7][14] The journalistFraser Nelson ofThe Daily Telegraph described it as one of the "largest gatherings of the global centre Right in recent British history".[6] A ticket to the conference costed £1,500.[15]
Among the speakers wereKevin McCarthy, former speaker of theUS House of Representatives;John Anderson, formerDeputy Prime Minister of Australia;Fraser Nelson, editor ofThe Spectator; and former Dutch politician and writerAyaan Hirsi Ali.[16] BishopRobert Barron gave a talk on "What is the True Nature of Freedom".[17] The English author and social criticOs Guinness was on a panel discussion with Jordan Peterson, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and John Anderson.[18]
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An evening event held atthe O2 Arena was headlined by Jordan Peterson, with several authors and commentators, such asDouglas Murray,Ben Shapiro, global warming scepticBjørn Lomborg andJonathan Pageau, and attracted a crowd near to its capacity of 20,000.[19][20] It was reviewed byPremier Christianity as "high-brow thought and unscripted conversation",[21] while some media were more critical, withThe Guardian writing that, in a year of floods and heatwaves and likely to be the hottest on record, attendees were offered "a grab-bag of cherrypicked talking points that ignored the risks from climate change".[22]
The organisation held its second conference from 15 to 19 February 2025 atExCeL London[23][24] with about 4000 attendees.[25]