From: ur-valhalla!pta6000.pld.com!litz
Subject: USA! CFR: Imperial Brain Trust for New World Order!
Message-ID: <199510130641.XAA17231@ix5.ix.netcom.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 23:47:42 -0700

A-albionic Research Weekly Up-date of 9-9-95
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  Too often, discussions of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and
its plans for a New World Order are seen as "right-wing" or "Bircher"
paranoia.  However, if "paranoia" is defined as disconnection from
reality, it is those who fail to recognize the power of the ruling
class/conspiracy as exercised through the CFR who are the real
"paranoids"!

  What follows is an excerpt from a "Marxist", left-wing analysis of
the power and influence of the CFR:

           THE IMPERIAL BRAIN TRUST: The Council on Foreign
               Relations & United States Foreign Policy

                By Laurence H. Shoup and William Minter


An Excerpt from the Introduction {pages 3-7}
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  Over fifty years ago, in the wake of the First World War, a group of
wealthy and influential Americans decided to form an organization. The
Council on Foreign Relations, as it was subsequently named, was
designed to equip the United States of America for an imperial role on
the world scene. Great Britain had dominated world politics during the
nineteenth century, not only through its colonial empire, but also
through an even wider informal sphere of influence. In a similar
fashion, so felt these American leaders, would the United States play
a dominant role in the years following the war.

  But in 1919 the United States was not yet adequately prepared for
world leadership, as was well illustrated by the conclusion
surrounding the issue of United States membership in th League of
Nations. Even the leaders of opinion had been unable to arrive at a
common understanding of the part the United States should take in
world affairs. The Council on Foreign Relations would help remedy this
defect. By keeping "its members in touch with the international situa-
ton"{l} and devoting itself to a continuous study of the "in-
ternational aspects of America s political, economic and financial
problems,"{2} it would develop a "reasoned American foreign
policy."{3} As one early statement of aims ambitiously noted, the
Council on Foreign Relations "plans to co-operate with the Government
and all existing international agencies, and to bring all of them into
constructive accord."{4}

  The Council on Foreign Relations still exists today, more than half
a century later. Yet it is hardly a household word. Even many of those
Americans who are relatively well in-formed about foreign policy
recognize it, if at all, only as the organization which publishes
Foreign Affairs magazine.  The Council is rarely mentioned in the
press or on television. The number of articles, scholarly or
otherwise, devoted to its ac-tivities is minuscule, even if one adds
together the output of over fifty years. The lack of public attention
might suggest that the Council's importance does not match its
original ambitious goals. One might conclude that it had become simply
another discussion group, or a specialized research organization, of
little interest except to its own members, and not particularly
important to the overall picture of United States foreign policy
formation.

  But such a conclusion would be profoundly mistaken. Reading the
occasional references to the Council that do ap-pear from time to
time, one gets quite a different picture:

     New York Times: "The Council's membership includes some
  of the most influential men in government, business, education
  and the press."{5} The CFR "for nearly half a century has made
  substantial contributions to the basic concepts of American
  foreign policy."{6}

    Newsweek: The Council's leadership is the "foreign-policy es-
  tablishment of the U.S."{7}

     Peter Schrag: The Council is "the ultimate organization of the
  Eastern Establishment."{8}

     Theodore White: "The Council counts among its members
  probably more important names in American life than any other
  private group in the country."{9}

    Marvin and Bernard Kalb: The Council is "an extremely influ-
  ential private group that is sometimes called the real State Depart-
  ment." {10}

    Richard Barnet: Membership in the Council is "a rite of pas-
  sage for an aspiring national security manager."{ll}

  As several of the quotes imply, just the names of members give an
impressive picture of Council importance. The current Council chairman
is David Rockefeller of Chase Manhattan Bank {circa 1977}, a man with
incredible personal wealth and financial power. Wall Street lawyer
Allen W. Dulles, a Council director for over forty years, helped
establish the CIA and directed it while his brother John Foster (also
a Council member) ran the Department of State. Diplomatic superstar
Henry A. Kis-singer was a Council protege who began his career in
foreign affairs as a rapporteur for a Council study group. Kissinger
later told Council leader Hamilton Fish Armstrong, who had played a
key role in Kissinger's rise to power, "You invented me."{l2} The list
could easily be prolonged with eminent finan-ciers, Wall Street
lawyers, Ivy League scholars, and high gov-ernment officials--in
short, a galaxy of "establishment" figures.{l3}

  It is such intriguing indications of the Council's sig-nificance
that led us to a more detailed investigation of this little-known
organization. Our results show that the Council on Foreign Relations,
despite its relative public obscurity, plays a key part in molding
United States foreign policy. In the Council, the leading sectors of
big business get together with the corporate world's academic experts
to work out a general framework for foreign policy.

  Since the Second Worl War at the latest, the Council has had
remarkable success in getting its point of view across to The
government, regardless of the administration in of office. As
government officials, Council members have implemented policies. As
"experts," they have generally succeeded in keep-public debate in line
with "respectable" views. But they are by no means omnipotent. The
decline of United States power faces them with new problems: defeat in
Indochina, and the new independence shown by Japan, Western Europe,
and the oil-producing countries. They are resourceful, how-ever, and
are presently busy thinking up new ways to main-tain United States
predominance and to convince the Ameri-can people that such a role is
best for everyone.

  That the Council is little known is thus not a sign of in-
significance, but rather points to its mode of operation. The men at
the top meet and work out together the general direct-tion of policy--
the limits of respectable debate. Through a complex network of
channels, the content and tone of their discussion reach the
policymakers and the leaders of opinion. Eventually they may reach
those of us who take an interest in what our country is doing in the
world, but we may have little idea that what comes to be a natural
"climate of opin-ion" was carefully fostered and guided. For the
process is not public. Council members are selected by the Council's
leader-ship and the meetings are confidential. As the New York Times
expressed it, "Except for its annual public Elihu Root Lectures, the
Council's talks and seminars are strictly off the record. An
indiscretion can be grounds for termination or suspension of
membership.''{14}

   Despite this conscious secrecy, it is possible to find out
something about what the Council is and does. Putting to-gether bits
and pieces from many sources and searching out references to Council
activities in government archives, we have put together a picture of
the inner workings and sig-nificance of the Council. Our conclusions
challenge the con-ventinal interpretations of policy formation as
dispersed among a wide variety of groups or elites. In contrast to
this view, we will show, in the pages to follow, the leading role
played by the Council on Foreign Relations and the sector of society
it represents, the corporate upper class.

   We believe that the process itself is not only undemocratic, but
that the results have been and are against the interests of both the
majority of the American people and of the people of the world.

Notes:

 1. Shepardson, 1960:3.
 2. CFR, 1922:1.
 3. Ibid.
 4. CFR, 1919:5.
 5. New York Times, January 14, 1975:18.
 6. New York Times, May 15, 1966:34.
 7. Newsweek, September 6, 1971:74.
 8. Schrag, 1974:130.
 9. White, 1965:87.
10. Kalb and Kalb, 1974:51.
11. Barnet, ]972:49. White, Marvin Kalb, and Barnet are all Council
    members
l2. Newsweek, October 2, 1972:40.
13. For journalistic commentaries on the Council and its prominent
    members, see Kraft (1958), Campbell (1971), and Lukas (1971).
    Far the only previous systematic scholarly treatment of the Coun-
    cil and its membership, see Domhoff (1970), Chapter 5.
14. New York Times, May 15, 1966:34. Quoted in Domhoff, 1970:
    120.


     CONTENTS


Forward by G. William Domhoff

Preface

Introduction

            I: A Portrait of the
         Council on Foreign Relations

1. A Brief History of the Council

2. The Council Network

3. The Council and the New York
   Financial Oligarchy

       II: The Council on Foreign Relations
         and United States Foreign Policy,
                   1939-1975

4. Shaping a New World Order:
   The Council's Blueprint for Global Hegemony, 1939-1944

5. Implementing the Council's World View:
   Case Studies in United States Foreign Policy

6. The Council and American Policy in
   Southeast Asia, 1940-1975

7. Toward the 1980s: The Council's Plans
   for a New World Order

Postscript

Appendices
   1 Key Leaders of the Council, 1921-1972
   2 Trilateral Commission Membership, 1975
   3 Council Directors, 1921-1975

Bibliography
Index

--------------------------------------------------------------
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important, but now out-of-print book.

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due to the rarity of this book, has trouble meeting demand from eager
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