The Trilateral Commission is a

nongovernmental A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

international organization An international organization, also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is an organization that is established by a treaty or other type of instrument governed by international law and possesses its own le ...

aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973, principally by American banker and philanthropist

David Rockefeller David Rockefeller (June 12, 1915 – March 20, 2017) was an American economist and investment banker who served as chairman and chief executive of Chase Bank, Chase Manhattan Corporation. He was the oldest living member of the third generation of ...

, an internationalist who sought to address the challenges posed by the growing economic and political interdependence between the U.S. and its allies in North America, Western Europe, and Japan. The leadership of the organization has since focused on returning to "our roots as a group of countries sharing common values and a commitment to the rule of law, open economies and societies, and democratic principles". The Trilateral Commission is headed by an executive committee and three regional chairs representing Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region, with headquarters in Paris, Washington, D.C., and Tokyo, respectively. Meetings are held annually at locations that rotate among the three regions; regional and national meetings are held throughout the year. Most gatherings focus on discussing reports and debating strategy to meet the commission's aims. The Trilateral Commission represents influential commercial and political interests. As of 2021, there were roughly 400 members, including leading figures in politics, business, media, and academia. Each country within the three regions is assigned a quota of members reflecting its relative political and economic strength.

History

Founding

The Trilateral Commission was formed in 1973 by private citizens of Japan, North American nations (the U.S. and Canada), and Western European nations to foster substantive political and economic dialogue across the world. The idea of the commission was developed in the early 1970s, a time of considerable discord among the United States and its allies in Western Europe, Japan, and Canada. To quote its founding declaration: * "Growing interdependence is a fact of life of the contemporary world. It transcends and influences national systems... While it is important to develop greater cooperation among all the countries of the world, Japan, Western Europe, and North America, in view of their great weight in the world economy and their massive relations with one another, bear a special responsibility for developing effective cooperation, both in their own interests and in those of the rest of the world." * "To be effective in meeting common problems, Japan, Western Europe, and North America will have to consult and cooperate more closely, on the basis of equality, to develop and carry out coordinated policies on matters affecting their common interests... refrain from unilateral actions incompatible with their interdependence and from actions detrimental to other regions... ndtake advantage of existing international and regional organizations and further enhance their role." * "The Commission hopes to play a creative role as a channel of free exchange of opinions with other countries and regions. Further progress of the developing countries and greater improvement of East-West relations will be a major concern."

Zbigniew Brzezinski Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński (, ; March 28, 1928 – May 26, 2017), known as Zbig, was a Polish-American diplomat and political scientist. He served as a counselor to Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1968 and was Jimmy Carter's National Securi ...

, a Rockefeller advisor who was a specialist on international affairs (and later

President Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, Carter served from 1971 to 1975 ...

's National Security Advisor from 1977 to 1981), left

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

to organize the group, along with:“The Trilateral Commission (North America) Records“
''Rockefeller Archives''. rockarch.org * Edwin Reischauer, professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and

United States Ambassador to Japan The is the Ambassadors of the United States, ambassador from the United States of America to Japan. History Beginning in 1854 with the Convention of Kanagawa, use of gunboat diplomacy by Commodore (United States), Commodore Matthew C. Perry, ...

, 19611966 * George S. Franklin, executive director of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

1953–1971Historical Roster of Directors and Officers
Council on Foreign RelationsDavid Stout (March 7, 1996)

''The New York Times:'' "From 1945 to 1971, he worked for the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, serving as executive director from 1953 to 1971. He served on the group's board for another decade." * Gerard C. Smith, SALT I negotiator and its first North American chairman * Henry D. Owen, foreign policy studies director at the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...

George S. Franklin Jr., 82, Foreign Policy Expert
David Stout. New York Times. March 7, 1996. Retrieved May 12, 2016 * Max Kohnstamm, European Policy Centre * Robert R. Bowie, the Foreign Policy Association and director of the Harvard Center for International Affairs * Marshall Hornblower, former partner at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering * Tadashi Yamamoto, Japan Center for International Exchange *

William Scranton William Warren Scranton (July 19, 1917 – July 28, 2013) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician and diplomat. Scranton served as the 38th governor of Pennsylvania from 1963 to 1967, and as United States Am ...

, former

governor of Pennsylvania The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

Other founding members included

Alan Greenspan Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926) is an American economist who served as the 13th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. He worked as a private adviser and provided consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates L ...

and

Paul Volcker Paul Adolph Volcker Jr. (September 5, 1927 – December 8, 2019) was an American economist who served as the 12th chair of the Federal Reserve, chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979 to 1987. During his tenure as chairman, Volcker was widely ...

, both later heads of the

Federal Reserve System The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

. The organization's records are stored at the Rockefeller Archive Center in North Tarrytown, NY.

Meetings

The Trilateral Commission initiated its biannual meetings in October 1973 in Tokyo, Japan. In May 1976 the first plenary meeting of all of the commission's regional groups took place in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, Japan. Since the ninth meeting in 1978, plenary meetings have taken place annually. Besides annual plenary meetings, regional meetings have also taken place in each of the Asia Pacific Group, the European Group and the North American Group. Since its founding, the discussion group has produced an official journal, ''Trialogue''.

Membership

Membership is divided into numbers proportionate to each of the think tank's three regional areas. North America is represented by 120 members: 20 Canadian, 13 Mexican and 87 American. The European group has reached its limit of 170 members from almost every country on the continent; the ceilings for individual countries are 20 for Germany, 18 for France, Italy and the United Kingdom, 12 for Spain and 1–6 for the rest. At first Asia and Oceania were represented only by Japan, but in 2000 the Japanese group of 85 members became the Pacific Asia group, comprising 117 members: 75 Japanese, 11 South Koreans, seven Australian and New Zealand citizens, and 15 members from the

ASEAN The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its member states r ...

nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand). The Pacific Asia group also included 9 members from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The commission now claims "more than 100" Pacific Asian members. The Trilateral Commission's bylaws apparently deny membership to public officials. It draws its members from politics, business, and academia, and has three chairpersons, one from each region. The current chairs are former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Joseph S. Nye, Jr., former head of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet, and Yasuchika Hasegawa, chair of

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company The is a Japanese multinational pharmaceutical company. It is the third largest pharmaceutical company in Asia, behind Sinopharm and Shanghai Pharmaceuticals, and one of the top 20 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world by revenue (t ...

Leadership

As of September 2021

Notable members

* Graham Allison, Director of the

Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs The Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, also known as the Belfer Center, is a research center located at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. From 2 ...

and Dean of the

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

Alyssa Ayres Alyssa Ayres is the Dean of The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, the first woman to hold the post. She was also a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations for India, Pakistan, and Southeast Asia fr ...

, Dean of the

Elliott School of International Affairs The Elliott School of International Affairs (known as the Elliott School or ESIA) is the professional school of international relations, foreign policy, and international development of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. It is ...

, George Washington University * Catherine Bertini, Professor,

Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs (Maxwell School) is the professional public policy school of Syracuse University, a private research university in Syracuse, New York. The school is organized in 11 academic departments and 1 ...

Antony Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 71st United States secretary of state from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as Deputy National Security Advisor, deputy national security advisor ...

, U.S. Secretary of State 2021–2025, son of Donald Mayer Blinken, stepson of Samuel Pisar * Michael R. Bloomberg, founder/CEO of

Bloomberg L.P. Bloomberg L.P. is an American privately-held financial, software, data, and media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was co-founded by Michael Bloomberg in 1981, with Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan, Charles Ze ...

mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The Mayoralty in the United States, mayor's office administers all ...

2002–2013, namesake of largest U.S. school of public health at

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained for mos ...

(September 2021)
Membership List
, Trilateral Commission *Sophie Boissard, Chief Executive Officer, Korian Group * Robert R. Bowie,

Director of Policy Planning The director of policy planning is the United States Department of State official in charge of the department's internal think tank, the policy planning staff, with a rank equivalent to assistant secretary. The position has traditionally been he ...

1953–1957, Foreign Policy Association, co-founder with

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...

of Harvard Center for International Affairs 1958, Counselor of the State Department 1966–1968, CFR, CIA Chief National Intelligence Officer 1977–1979“Who's Who on the Trilateral Commission”. ''Trilateralism: The Trilateral Commission and Elite Planning for World Management''. Boston, MA:

South End Press South End Press was a non-profit book publisher run on a model of participatory economics. It was founded in 1977 in Boston's South End. It published books written by political activists, notably Arundhati Roy, Noam Chomsky, bell hooks, Win ...

, 1980. (pp. 90-122). * Lael Brainard, Chairman of the U.S. National Economic Council; member of U.S. Federal Reserve's Board of Governors; former Under Secretary

U.S. Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

Ian Bremmer Ian Arthur Bremmer (born November 12, 1969) is an American political scientist, author, and entrepreneur focused on global political risk. He is the founder and president of Eurasia Group, a political risk research and consulting firm. He is al ...

, president of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media * Nicola Brewer, British diplomat, British High Commissioner to South Africa, DCMG * Esther Brimmer, executive director/CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators,

Atlantic Council The Atlantic Council is an American think tank in the field of international affairs, favoring Atlanticism, founded in 1961. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic prosp ...

board; former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs"Board of Directors"
The Atlantic Council * Mark Brzezinski, president and CEO of Brzezinski Strategies LLC, son of

, and U.S. Ambassador to Sweden 2011–2015 *

, U.S. National Security Advisor in

Carter administration Jimmy Carter's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 39th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Jimmy Carter, his inauguration on January 20, 1977, and ended on January 20, 1981. Carter, a Democratic Party ...

*Steve Bunnell, partner in O’Melveny & Myers LLP, former General Counsel at DHS *

R. Nicholas Burns Robert Nicholas Burns (born January 28, 1956) is an American diplomat and international relations scholar. He served as the United States ambassador to China from 2022 to 2025. Burns has had a 25-year career in the State Department and has serv ...

, U.S. Ambassador to China since 2021, professor and board member of the

, director of the Aspen Strategy Group, senior counselor at The Cohen Group, board member of Entegris Inc., CFR member, the

Rockefeller Brothers Fund The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) is a philanthropic foundation created and run by members of the Rockefeller family. It was founded in New York City in 1940 as the primary philanthropic vehicle for the five third-generation Rockefeller brothe ...

Fulbright scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

2020, vice chair of the American Ditchley Foundation, senior advisor at

Chatham House The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs The under secretary of state for political affairs is currently the fourth-ranking position in the United States Department of State, after the United States Secretary of State, secretary, the United States Deputy Secretary of State, deputy secre ...

2005–2008,

board *

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

1989–1993,

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

1981-1989 * Richard Cannings (British Columbia politician) Canadian Member of Parliament *

Ash Carter Ashton Baldwin Carter (September 24, 1954 – October 24, 2022) was an American government official and academic who served as the 25th United States secretary of defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He later served as director of the B ...

, director of the

, U.S. Secretary of Defense 2015–2017, CFR board, Aspen Strategy Group,

honorary director"Board of Directors"
Council on Foreign Relations *

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

1977–1981 * Jean Charest, partner in

McCarthy Tétrault McCarthy Tétrault LLP is a Canadian law firm specializing in business law, litigation services, tax law, real property law, labour and employment law, with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montréal, Québec City, London (UK), as well ...

LLP, former Premier of Québec, member of the

Queen's Privy Council for Canada The King's Privy Council for Canada (), sometimes called His Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council (PC), is the full group of personal advisors to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs. Practically, ...

Michael Chertoff Michael Chertoff (born November 28, 1953) is an American attorney who was the second United States Secretary of Homeland Security to serve under President George W. Bush. Chertoff also served for one additional day under President Barack Obama. ...

, chairman/co-founder of The Chertoff Group,

Secretary of Homeland Security The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the U ...

2005–2009, judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit 2001–2003, Assistant Attorney General for the DoJ Criminal Division 2003–2005,

board * Raymond Chrétien, strategic adviser at Fasken, former chair of the Montréal Council on Foreign Relations, former Associate Under Secretary of State of External Affairs, former Canadian Ambassador to the Congo, Belgium, Mexico, the United States, and France, nephew of

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a retired Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. He served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, leader of t ...

* Heidi Crebo-Rediker, former Chief Economist, U.S.

Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

and Assistant Secretary of State; Senior Fellow,

*Helima Croft, Managing Director,

RBC Capital Markets RBC Capital Markets is a global investment bank providing services in banking, finance, and capital markets to corporations, institutional investors, asset managers, and governments globally. Locations span 58 offices in 14 countries across North ...

* Lee Cullum, Journalist, PBS * Caroline Daniel, British journalist, ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' * John M. Deutch, Director of CIA 1995–1996, Aspen Strategy Group) * Paula Dobriansky, Senior Fellow, Harvard Belfer Center; former U.S. Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs *Wendy Dobson, Professor Emerita, Roman School of Management, University of Toronto * Hedley Donovan, former editor-in-chief of ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' * Nina Easton, Co-CEO, SellerEaston, former Washington Editor of ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fate * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (19 ...

'' *

Jeffrey Epstein Jeffrey Edward Epstein ( , ; January 20, 1953August 10, 2019) was an American financier and child sex offender. Born and raised in New York City, Epstein began his professional career as a teacher at the Dalton School, despite lacking a col ...

, former

hedge fund A hedge fund is a Pooling (resource management), pooled investment fund that holds Market liquidity, liquid assets and that makes use of complex trader (finance), trading and risk management techniques to aim to improve investment performance and ...

manager convicted of sex trafficking in 2008, described as "an enthusiastic member of the Trilateral Commission" in 2002 *Dawn Farrell, President and CEO, TransAlta Corporation * Diana Farrell, former CEO and President, JP Morgan Institute, former Head of McKinsey Global Institute, former Deputy Director, U.S. National Economic Council * Laurence "Larry" Fink, CFR board member,

BlackRock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...

CEO since 1988, WEF trustee"Leadership and Governance , Board of Trustees"
World Economic Forum *George S. Franklin, executive director of the

1953–1971 Antony C. Sutton and Patrick M. Wood (1978)
''Trilaterals Over Washington'', Vol. 1
(pp. 155–165), Appendix A: Trilateral Commission Membership List, as of Oct. 15, 1978. The August Corporation . * Richard Gardner, Columbia law professor, U.S. Ambassador to Spain 1993–1997, U.S. Ambassador to Italy 1977–1981 * David Gergen,

professor, adviser to

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...

, Ford, Reagan, Clinton, commentator for

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

* Jamie S. Gorelick, partner at WilmerHale, U.S. Deputy Attorney General 1994–1997, General Counsel of DoD 1993–1994, defended BP after 2010 oil spill, 9/11 Commission member,

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

board member * Donald E. Graham,

Graham Holdings Graham Holdings Company (formerly The Washington Post Company) is a diversified American conglomerate holding company. Headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia, and incorporated in Delaware, it was formerly the owner of ''The Washington Po ...

chair since 2013, ''Washington Post'' publisher 1979–2000,

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

board 1999–2008,

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

board 2009–2015,

Bilderberg meeting The Bilderberg Meeting (also known as the "Bilderberg Group", "Bilderberg Conference" or "Bilderberg Club") is an annual off-the-record forum established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally ...

attendee in 2009 and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

*Kelly Grier, former U.S. Chair and Managing Partner, EY *

Jane Harman Jane Margaret Harman (née Lakes, June 28, 1945) is an American former politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1993 to 1999 and again from 2001 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the ranking member on the ...

, former Member,

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

; President Emerita, Wilson Center *

Linda Hasenfratz Linda Hasenfratz (born June 1966) is a Canadian businesswoman, the president, chairman, and CEO of Linamar since 2002, when she succeeded her father Frank Hasenfratz. Early life Linda Hasenfratz is the daughter of Frank Hasenfratz, the foun ...

, CEO,

Linamar Linamar Corporation (TSX: LNR) is a manufacturing company serving the mobility, access, agriculture, and MedTech industries. The company has three operating segments: Industrial, Mobility, and eLIN. The company has several groups. The eLIN Pr ...

Corporation * Anniken Hauglie, former Director General, Norwegian Oil and Gas Association, former Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Norway * Kerry Healey, President of the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream; former Lieutenant Governor of

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

* Marillyn A. Hewson, Former Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Lockheed Martin Corporation * Fiona Hill, '' The Globalist'' writer, former Senior Director for Europe and Russia of the

NSC NSC may refer to: Banking and investment * National Sort Code, an Irish bank code * Nomura Securities Co, an investment bank Computing * National Software Centre, an Irish organization * National Supercomputer Centre in Sweden * NetShow Channe ...

Carla Anderson Hills Carla Anderson Hills (born January 3, 1934) is an American lawyer and former government official. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, she previously served as the 5th United States secretary of housing and urban dev ...

, CFR co-chair 2007–2017, U.S. HUD Secretary 1975–1977, U.S. Trade Representative 1989–1993 * Melody Hobson, Co-CEO and President, Ariel Investments *Gerda Holzinger-Burgstaller, Chief Executive Officer, Erste Bank, Austria * Karen Elliott House, Former Publisher, The ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

''; former Senior Vice President, Dow Jones & Company. * Christopher B. Howard,

Robert Morris University Robert Morris University (RMU) is a private university in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1921 and is named after Robert Morris (financier), Robert Morris, known as the "financier of the American Revolution". It enr ...

president since 2016, CFR,

Rhodes scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

Harvard Board of Overseers The Harvard Board of Overseers (more formally The Honorable and Reverend the Board of Overseers) is an advisory board of alumni at Harvard University. Unlike the Harvard Corporation, the Board of Overseers is not a fiduciary governing board, but in ...

, Aspen Strategy Group * Vivian Hunt, British businesswoman and Managing Partner at McKinsey, London * Samuel P. Huntington, former director of

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

’s Center for International Affairs, former

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

Coordinator of Security Planning for the U.S. National Security Council *

David Ignatius David Reynolds Ignatius (born May 26, 1950) is an American journalist and novelist. He is an associate editor and columnist for ''The Washington Post''. He has written eleven novels, including ''Body of Lies (novel), Body of Lies'', which direct ...

, ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' journalist, '' Body of Lies'' author, Aspen Strategy Group * Ken Juster, U.S. Ambassador to India * Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy, JFK School of Government,

; former Assistant Secretary,

U.S. Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions involv ...

* John Kingman, British businessman and chairman at

Legal & General Legal & General Group plc, commonly known as Legal & General, is a British multinational financial services and asset management company headquartered in London, England. Its products and services include investment management, lifetime mortg ...

KCMG, National Security Adviser 1969–1975, U.S. Secretary of State 1973–1977, first chair of the 9/11 Commission Nov.–Dec. 2002, author of NSS Memo 200, Bilderberg attendee, subject of '' The Trials of Henry Kissinger,''

mentor Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

Klaus Schwab Klaus Martin Schwab (; born 30 March 1938) is a German mechanical engineer, economist, and founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF). He acted as the WEF's chairman since founding the organisation from 1971 until 2025 when he was replaced by P ...

board * Max Kohnstamm, European Policy Centre *Jovan Kovacic, East West Bridge founder and president *

Nicholas D. Kristof Nicholas Donabet Kristof (born April 27, 1959) is an American journalist and political commentator. A winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he is a regular CNN contributor and an op-ed columnist for ''The New York Times''. Born in Chicago, Kristof was ...

, ''New York Times'' columnist, Aspen Strategy Group member,

Stephanie Kusie __NOTOC__ Stephanie L. Kusie (born 1973) is a Canadians, Canadian politician and former diplomat who was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in a 2017 Calgary Midnapore federal by-election, by-election on April 3, 2017.

, Canadian Member of Parliament * Monique Leroux, Former Chair of the Board and CEO,

Desjardins Group The Desjardins Group (, ) is a Canadian financial service cooperative and the largest federation of credit unions () in North America. It was founded in 1900 in Lévis, Quebec by Alphonse Desjardins. While its legal headquarters remains in Lé ...

* Tove Lifvendahl, political editor-in-chief of

Svenska Dagbladet (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the 1900s the pap ...

* Cecilia Malmstrom, former European Commissioner for Trade, European Commission * Heather McPherson, Canadian Member of Parliament * Judith A. "Jami" Miscik, CFR vice chair, CIA Deputy Director for Intelligence 2002–2005, Global Head of Sovereign Risk at

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...

2005–2008, PIAB chair 2014–2017, president/vice-chair of

Kissinger Associates Kissinger Associates, Inc. is a New York Citybased international geopolitical consulting firm, founded and run by Henry Kissinger from 1982 until his death in 2023. The firm assists its clients in identifying strategic partners and investment opp ...

since 2009 *

Andrea Mitchell Andrea Mitchell (born October 30, 1946) is an American television journalist, anchor and commentator for NBC News, based in Washington, D.C. She is NBC News' chief foreign affairs & chief Washington correspondent, reporting on the 2008 presid ...

, Chief Foreign Affairs & Chief Washington Correspondent

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

, Anchor '' Andrea Mitchell Reports,'' MSNBC; spouse of

* Susan Molinari, former Member,

Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928April 19, 2021) was the 42nd vice president of the United States serving from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Minnesota from 1964 to 1976. ...

, VPOTUS 1977–1981, candidate in 1984 presidential election *

Mario Monti Mario Monti (; born 19 March 1943) is an Italian politician, economist and academic who served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013, leading a Technocratic government (Italy), technocratic government in the wake of the European sov ...

, prime minister of Italy 2011–2013 * Heather Munroe-Blum, Chair, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board *

John Negroponte John Dimitri Negroponte (; born July 21, 1939) is an American diplomat. In 2018, he was a James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor at the Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. He is a former J.B. and Maurice C. Shapi ...

, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State 2007–2009, UN Ambassador 2001–2004, first

Director of National Intelligence The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a Cabinet of the United States#Current Cabinet and Cabinet-rank officials, cabinet-level Federal government of the United States, United States government intelligence and security official. The p ...

2005–2007, subject of ''The Ambassador,'' brother of

MIT Media Lab The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the MIT School of Architecture and Planning, School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fi ...

founder

Nicholas Negroponte Nicholas Negroponte (born December 1, 1943) is a Greek American architect. He is the founder and chairman Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, and also founded the One Laptop per Child Association (OLPC). Negroponte ...

* Michelle Nunn, President and CEO,

CARE Care may refer to: Organizations and projects * CARE (New Zealand), Citizens Association for Racial Equality, a former New Zealand organisation * CARE (England) West Midlands, Central Accident Resuscitation Emergency team, a team of doctors & ...

* Joseph Nye, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs,

board * Claudia Olsson, founder and chair, Stellar Capacity * Meghan O'Sullivan, Trilateral Commission North American chair, CFR board, Aspen Strategy Group"Aspen Strategy Group" members
The Aspen Institute * Henry D. Owen, foreign policy studies director at the

* Stephen Peel, British private equity investor *Martin J. Munsch III, U.S. United Nations Deputy Communications Pakistan Mission Relations 2003-2010 under Bush, Clinton 2003 - 2010 * Edwin Reischauer,

professor and U.S. Ambassador to Japan, 1961–1966 * Ginni Rometty, former President and CEO of

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

* David Rubenstein, CFR chair,

Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group Inc. is an American multinational company with operations in private equity, alternative asset management and financial services. As of 2023, the company had $426 billion of assets under management. Carlyle specializes in ...

founder, namesake of HKS building, WEF trustee, Aspen Strategy Group *

Indira Samarasekera Indira Vasanti Samarasekera (née Arulpragasam; April 11, 1952) is the former president and former vice-chancellor of the University of Alberta. She has been a member of the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments, which advises o ...

, Bennett Jones, former president and former vice-chancellor of the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

* David E. Sanger, ''New York Times'' White House correspondent, Aspen Strategy Group * Eric E. Schmidt, ex-CEO of

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

, Bilderberg attendee * Susan C. Schwab, Former U.S. Trade Representative *

, former governor of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

* Kristen Silverberg, President and COO, Business Roundtable; former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union * Gerard C. Smith, lead

SALT In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

1 negotiator * Rajiv Shah,

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

president,

board * Wendy Sherman, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State since 2021; former professor of the practice of public leadership and director of the Center for Public Leadership at the

; former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, U.S. Department of State *

Olympia Snowe Olympia Jean Snowe (; born February 21, 1947) is an American businesswoman and politician who was a United States Senate, United States Senator, representing Maine for three terms from 1995 to 2013. A lifelong member of the Republican Party (Unit ...

, U.S. senator from

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

1995–2013 *

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...

, British Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party * James B. Steinberg, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State 2009–2011 under Obama,

Deputy National Security Advisor The United States Deputy National Security Advisor is a member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and the United States National Security Council, serving under the President's National Security Advisor (United States), N ...

1997–2001 under Clinton, CFR member, Aspen Strategy Group, Bilderberg attendee * Jake Sullivan, U.S. National Security Advisor since 2021 * Carole Taylor, former Chair CBC/Radio Canada, former Chair, Canadian Ports * Frances Townsend, Homeland Security Advisor 2004–2008, CFR board, Aspen Strategy Group,

board *Philip H. Trezise, Center for Law and Social Policy * Cyrus Vance Sr., U.S. Secretary of State 1977–1980 * Jacob Wallenberg, Bilderberg attendee, "prince in Sweden's royal family of finance" * Marcus "Husky" Wallenberg, Swedish banker formerly at

Citibank Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for "National bank (United States), National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation, multinational corporation. Ci ...

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

, S. G. Warburg & Co.,

Citicorp Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, t ...

and the

SEB Group Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (; lit. "Scandinavian Private Bank"), abbreviated SEB, is a Swedish bank headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. In Sweden and the Baltic countries, SEB has a full financial service offering. In Denmark, Finland, Nor ...

* Paul C. Warnke, Center for Law and Social Policy, Clifford, Warnke, Glass, McIlwain & Finney *

David Willetts David Linsay Willetts, Baron Willetts, (born 9 March 1956) is a British politician and life peer. From 1992 to 2015, he was the Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Havant in Hampshire. He served as Minister of State for Uni ...

, British Conservative Party

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

* Tadashi Yamamoto, Japan Center for International Exchange * Robert Zoellick,

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

president 2007–2012, CFR member, Bilderberg attendee *Nigel Higgins, Chairman of Barclays Bank

Assessments

Social critic and academic

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...

has criticized the commission as undemocratic, pointing to its key publication '' The Crisis of Democracy'', which describes the strong popular interest in politics during the 1970s as an "excess of democracy". He has cited it as one of the most interesting and insightful books showing the modern democratic system not to really be a democracy at all, but controlled by elites who seek to keep the general public disengaged from genuine democratic participation by subtle and mostly non-violent methods and to redefine democracy itself in operative terms that enshrine their own interests as a tiny privileged minority. Chomsky adds that as it was an internal discussion, they felt free to "let their hair down" and to talk openly about the need for an increasingly active and defiant public to be reduced back to its proper state of apathy and obedience lest it continue to use democratic means to deprive them of their power. Critics accuse the Commission of promoting a global consensus among the international ruling classes in order to manage international affairs in the interest of the financial and industrial elites under the Trilateral umbrella. In his 1980 book ''With No Apologies'', Republican Senator

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...

suggested that the discussion group was "a skillful, coordinated effort to seize control and consolidate the four centers of power: political, monetary, intellectual, and ecclesiastical... nthe creation of a worldwide economic power superior to the political governments of the nation-states involved."

Conspiracy theories involving the Trilateral Commission

Some conspiracy theorists believe the organization to be a central plotter of a

world government World government is the concept of a single political authority governing all of Earth and humanity. It is conceived in a variety of forms, from tyrannical to democratic, which reflects its wide array of proponents and detractors. There has ...

or synarchy. In his book ''Among the Truthers: A Journey Through America's Growing Conspiracist Underground'', Jonathan Kay wrote that Luke Rudkowski interrupted a lecture by former Trilateral Commission director

in April 2007 and accused the organization and a few others of having orchestrated the 9/11 attacks to initiate a new world order. Kay, Jonathan. Among the Truthers: A Journey Through America's Growing Conspiracist Underground. New York: Harpers, 2011. . pp. 200–201 Economist Anthony C. Sutton was critical of the Trilateral Commission's goals and methods, characterizing them as a "rich man's club." Yet he also wrote: "The Trilateral Commission is not a conspiracy. Its membership list is completely public - it costs a postage stamp to get one" and characterized the group as "completely above ground" in promoting their agenda. Furthermore, Sutton noted he had debated a high-ranking member of the group on a radio broadcast and concluded: "Conspirators just don't appear on radio talk shows to debate their objectives." Neo-conservative pundit Charles Krauthammer mockingly alluded to the conspiracy theories about the commission when he was asked in 2012 who makes up the "Republican establishment", saying, " Karl Rove is the president. We meet every month on the full moon... tthe Masonic Temple. We have the ritual: Karl brings the incense, I bring the live lamb and the long knife, and we began... with a pledge of allegiance to the Trilateral Commission."

Publications

Books * * *

References

External links

* ''The Crisis of Democracy'' (1975). A Report on the Governability of Democracies to the Trilateral Commission.

New York University Press New York University Press (or NYU Press) is a university press that is part of New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 ...

External links

*
Membership as of August 2011

Membership as of April 2015

Membership as of December 2016

Membership as of September 2021

Membership as of March 2022

(Fact check against conspiracy theories from ''

The Straight Dope ''The Straight Dope'' was a question-and-answer newspaper column written under the pseudonym Cecil Adams. Contributions were made by multiple authors, and it was illustrated (also pseudonymously) by Slug Signorino. It was first published in 197 ...

'', 1987) {{authority control 1973 establishments in Washington, D.C. Conspiracy theories Foreign policy and strategy think tanks in the United States Institutions founded by the Rockefeller family Organizations established in 1973 Japan–United States relations France–Japan relations France–United States relations Trilateral relations Organizations based in Washington, D.C. Organizations based in Paris Organizations based in Tokyo

History

Founding

Meetings

Membership

Leadership

Notable members

Assessments

Conspiracy theories involving the Trilateral Commission

Publications

See also

References

External links

Further reading

External links