Secretly from the general public, executives and leading journalists of almost all major US news outlets have long remained members of the influential Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
Founded in 1921 as a private organization, “forcing America to fulfill its global responsibilities,” the CFR and its approximately 5,000 elite members have influenced the formation of US foreign policy for decades. As a famous member of the council once explained, the main goal was to create a world empire, however, with a rather benevolent attitude.
Using the official membership lists presented in the following illustration, the extensive CFR media network and its two main international partner organizations are published for the first time: the Bilderberg Club (covering mainly the US and Europe) and the Tripartite Commission (covering North America, Europe and East Asia), created by leaders Council for the development of elite cooperation at the international level.
American Media Structure
In his column, former Washington Post editor and ombudsman Richard Harwood endorsed the council and its members, stating: “The membership of these journalists on the board is a recognition of their active, important role in public affairs and their presence in the American ruling class. They do not just analyze and interpret US foreign policy, they shape it.
They are part of this establishment, whether they like it or not, sharing a large part of its values and world views. ”
However, media leaders make up only 5% of the total CFR network. As can be seen in the following figure, the key members of the private Council on Foreign Relations were:
● a number of US presidents and vice presidents of both parties;
● almost all state secretaries, ministers of defense and finance;
● many senior commanders of the US and NATO Armed Forces;
● Almost all national security advisers, CIA heads, UN ambassadors, Fed chairmen, World Bank presidents, and directors of the National Economic Council;
● some of the most influential members of Congress (especially in matters of foreign policy and security);
● many supreme judges, media executives, and entertainment industry executives;
● many prominent scholars, especially in key areas such as economics, international relations, political science, history and journalism,
many executives from Wall Street, think tanks, universities and NGOs;
● Key members of the 9/11 Commission and the Warren Commission.
Renowned Kennedy economist and supporter John Galbraith reaffirmed the influence of the council: «All of us who worked to elect Kennedy had a good attitude in the government, we had the right to vote, but foreign policy continued to depend on people from the Council on Foreign Relations.»
John J. McCloy, a longtime chairman and adviser to 9 US presidents, spoke about his time in Washington: “Whenever we needed a person, we looked at the list of council members and called New York.”
The German publication Der Spiegel once described the CFR as «the most influential private institution in the United States and the Western world» and the «Politburo of capitalism.» The logo of the council and its slogan once again emphasize these ambitions.
Political commentator Richard R. Rover once said: “CFR leaders are a kind of presidium for the part of the establishment that directs our destiny as a nation. It’s rare to fail to meet any member, or at least one of his allies, in the White House. ”
Until recently, such a perception was really justified. Thus, in 1993, former CFR chief George W. Bush was succeeded by CFR member Bill Clinton, followed by CFR member George W. Bush.
In 2008, CFR member John McCain lost to CFR presidential candidate Barack Obama, who received the names of his entire cabinet a month before he was elected CFR senior fellow (and Citigroup banker) Michael Frohman. Frohman later negotiated the TTP and TTIP Free Trade Agreements before returning to CFR as a Distinguished Employee.
Apparently, before the 2016 election, the council could not prevail. In any case, not yet.
