Round Table Group

The Round Table Group, also known as the Milner Group after Lord Alfred Milner, was a network of British imperialists, politicians, and financiers active from the early 1900s through the mid-20th century. The organization was established in accordance with the will and political vision of Cecil Rhodes, who sought to create institutions that would promote British imperial interests and eventual reunion between Britain and the United States.

The group was formally organized around 1909-1910 by Milner and his associates, known as "Milner's Kindergarten," who had worked with him in South Africa during and after the Boer War. Key figures included Lionel Curtis, Philip Kerr (later Lord Lothian), Robert Brand, and Geoffrey Dawson, editor of The Times of London.

The Round Table Group established a network of institutes and publications to promote their vision of Anglo-American cooperation and continued British influence in world affairs. They founded the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London in 1920 and were instrumental in establishing the Council on Foreign Relations in New York in 1921.

Historian Carroll Quigley documented the group's activities and influence in his academic works, particularly "The Anglo-American Establishment" and "Tragedy and Hope." Quigley had access to the group's papers and described how they operated through a network of positions in government, finance, journalism, and education to shape policy and public opinion.

The group's members held significant positions in British government, including roles in the Foreign Office, colonial administration, and wartime planning. They advocated for policies that would maintain British influence while acknowledging the rising power of the United States, promoting the concept of an Anglo-American partnership in global affairs.

While the Round Table Group's existence and activities are historically documented, conspiracy theorists have expanded these factual foundations into broader claims about ongoing secret control of world events. The group's actual influence, while significant within elite British circles, was more limited and transparent than these theories suggest, operating primarily through conventional channels of academic research, policy advocacy, and institutional networking.