�
�
�
The 'Foundations' of the Bilderberg Group
The Bilderberg Group, formed in 1954, was founded in the Netherlands as a
secretive meeting held once a year, drawing roughly 130 of the
political-financial-military-academic-media elites from North America and
Western Europe as,
"an informal network of
influential people who could consult each other privately and
confidentially." [2]
Regular participants
include the CEOs or Chairman of some of the largest corporations in the
world, oil companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, British Petroleum, and Total
SA, as well as various European monarchs, international bankers such as
David Rockefeller, major politicians, presidents, prime ministers, and
central bankers of the world.[3]
�
The Bilderberg Group acts as a,
"secretive
global think-tank," with an original intent to "to link governments and
economies in Europe and North America amid the Cold War." [4]
In the early 1950s, top European elites worked with selected American elites
to form the Bilderberg Group in an effort to bring together the most
influential people from both sides of the Atlantic to advance the cause of
'Atlanticism' and 'globalism.'
�
The list of attendees were the usual
suspects:
-
top politicians
-
international businessmen
-
bankers
-
leaders of
think tanks and foundations
-
top academics and university leaders
-
diplomats
-
media moguls
-
military officials,
...and Bilderberg also included
several heads of state, monarchs, as well as senior intelligence officials,
including top officials of the CIA, which was the main financier for the
first meeting in 1954.[5]
The European founders of the Bilderberg Group included Joseph Retinger and
Prince
Bernhard of the Netherlands.
�
Prince Bernhard had, incidentally, been
a member of the Nazi Party until 1934, three years prior to his marrying the
Dutch Queen Juliana, and had also worked for the German industrial giant,
I.G. Farben, the maker of
Zyklon B, the gas used in concentration camps.[6]
�
On the American side, those who were most prominent in the formation of the Bilderberg Group were,
-
David Rockefeller
-
Dean Rusk (a top official with the
Council on Foreign Relations who was then the head of the Rockefeller
Foundation)
-
Joseph Johnson (another Council leader who was head of the
Carnegie Endowment)
-
John J. McCloy (a top Council leader who became
Chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank in 1953 and was also Chairman of the Board
of the Ford Foundation).[7]
The fact that the major American foundations - Rockefeller, Carnegie, and
Ford - were so pivotal in the origins of the Bilderberg Group is not a mere
coincidence.
�
The foundations have, since their founding at the beginning of
the 20th century, been the central institutions in constructing consensus
among elites, and creating consent to power.
�
They are, in short, the engines
of social engineering: both for elite circles specifically, and society as a
whole, more generally.
�
As Professor of Education Robert F. Arnove wrote in
his book
Philanthropy and Cultural Imperialism:
Foundations like Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Ford have a corrosive influence
on a democratic society; they represent relatively unregulated and
unaccountable concentrations of power and wealth which buy talent, promote
causes, and, in effect, establish an agenda of what merits society's
attention.
�
They serve as "cooling-out" agencies, delaying and preventing
more radical, structural change.
�
They help maintain an economic and
political order, international in scope, which benefits the ruling-class
interests of philanthropists and philanthropoids - a system which... has
worked against the interests of minorities, the working class, and Third
World peoples.[8]
These foundations had been central in promoting the ideology of
'globalism'
that laid the groundwork for organizations such as the
Council on Foreign
Relations and the Bilderberg Group to exist.
�
The Rockefeller Foundation, in
particular, supported several organizations that promoted a 'liberal
internationalist' philosophy, the aim of which:
was to support a foreign policy within a new world order that was to feature
the United States as the leading power - a program defined by the
Rockefeller Foundation as 'disinterested', 'objective' and even 'non-political'...
�
The construction of a new internationalist consensus
required the conscious, targeted funding of individuals and organizations
who questioned and undermined the supporters of the 'old order' while
simultaneously promoting the 'new'.[9]
The major foundations funded and created not only policy-oriented institutes
such as think tanks, but they were also pivotal in the organization and
construction of
universities and education itself, in particular, the study
of 'international relations.' [10]
�
The influence of foundations over
education and universities and thus, 'knowledge' itself, is unparalleled.
�
As
noted in the book, Philanthropy and Cultural Imperialism:
The power of the foundation is not that of dictating what will be studied.
�
Its power consists in defining professional and intellectual parameters, in
determining who will receive support to study what subjects in what
settings. And the foundation's power resides in suggesting certain types of
activities it favors and is willing to support.
�
As [political theorist and
economist Harold] Laski noted,
"the foundations do not control, simply
because, in the direct and simple sense of the word, there is no need for
them to do so. They have only to indicate the immediate direction of
their minds for the whole university world to discover that it
always meant to gravitate to that angle of the intellectual
compass." [11]
The major philanthropic foundations created by America's
'robber baron'
industrialists and bankers were established not to benefit mankind, as was
their stated purpose, but to benefit the bankers and industrialist elites in
order to engage in social engineering.
-
through banks, these powerful
families controlled the global economy
-
through think tanks, they manage the
political and foreign policy establishments
-
through foundations, they
engineer society itself according to their own designs and interests
Through these foundations,
elites have come to shape the
processes, ideas
and institutions of education, thus ensuring their continued hegemony over
society through the production and control of knowledge.
�
The educational
institutions train future elites for government, economics, sciences, and
other professional environments, as well as producing the academics that
make up the principle component of think tanks, such as the Bilderberg
Group.
Foundations effectively "blur boundaries" between the public and private
sectors, while simultaneously effecting the separation of such areas in the
study of social sciences.
�
This boundary erosion between public and private
spheres,
"adds feudal elements to our purported democracy,
yet it has not been resisted, protested, or even noted much by political
elites or social scientists." [12]
Zbigniew Brzezinski, foreign policy strategist, former
director of the Council on Foreign Relations, Bilderberg member and
co-founder with
David Rockefeller of the
Trilateral Commission, wrote that
the blurring of boundaries "serves United States world dominance":
As the imitation of American ways gradually pervades the world, it creates a
more congenial setting for the exercise of the indirect and seemingly
consensual American hegemony.
�
And as in the case of the domestic American
system, that hegemony involves a complex structure of interlocking
institutions and procedures, designed to generate consensus and obscure
asymmetries in power and influence.[13]
In 1915, a Congressional investigation into the power of philanthropic
foundations took place, named the
Walsh Commission, which warned that,
"the power of wealth could
overwhelm democratic culture and politics." [14]
The
Final Report of the Walsh Commission,
"suggested that foundations
would be more likely to pursue their own ideology in society than social
objectivity." [15]
In this context, we can come to understand the evolution
of the Bilderberg Group as an international think tank aimed at constructing
consensus and entrenching ideology among the elite.
At their first meeting, Bilderbergers covered the following broad areas,
which remained focal points of discussion for successive meetings:
-
Communism
and the Soviet Union
-
Dependent areas and peoples overseas
-
Economic
policies and problems
-
European integration and the European Defense
Community [16]
Nearly every single American participant in the Bilderberg meetings was also
a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
�
Among the notable American
members of the Bilderberg Group in its early years were,
-
David Rockefeller
-
Dean Rusk
-
John J. McCloy
-
George McGhee
-
George Ball
-
Walt Whitman Rostow
-
McGeorge Bundy
-
Arthur Dean
-
Paul Nitze
As Political Scientist Stephen
Gill wrote,
"Prominent in the American
section were the network of Rockefeller interests." [17]
Certainly, while Rothschild interests have remained in the Bilderberg Group,
as evidenced by
Edmond de Rothschild having been a member of the Steering
Committee, and Franco Bernabe, Vice Chairman of Rothschild Europe being a
current Steering Committee member,[18] the Rockefeller interests seem to be
most dominant.
�
Not only is
David Rockefeller sitting as the single
individual of the Member Advisory Group of the Steering Committee, but close
Rockefeller confidantes have long served on the Steering Committee and been
affiliated with the organization, such as:
-
Sharon Percy Rockefeller
-
George
Ball, a long-time leader in the Council on Foreign Relations, who was
Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs in the Kennedy and Johnson
administrations
-
Henry Kissinger, long-time
Rockefeller aide and American imperial strategist
-
Zbigniew Brzezinski, who co-founded the Trilateral
Commission with David Rockefeller
-
Joseph E. Johnson, former U.S. State
Department official and President of the Carnegie Endowment for
International
-
John J. McCloy, former Chairman the Council on Foreign
Relations (superceded by David Rockefeller), former Assistant Secretary of
War, Chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank (where he was superceded by David
Rockefeller), former Trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation, Chairman of the
Ford Foundation, and President of the World Bank
-
James Wolfensohn, former President of
the World Bank and Trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation
One current Steering Committee member, who is representative of not only a
continuation of Rockefeller interests, but also of the continuing influence
and role of the major foundations is Jessica T. Matthews.
�
She,
-
is President
of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, who had served on the
National Security Council under Zbigniew Brzezinski
-
was a senior fellow at
the Council on Foreign Relations (at which David Rockefeller remains as
Honorary Chairman)
-
is a member of the Trilateral Commission
-
is a trustee
of the Rockefeller Foundation
-
has served on the boards of the
Brookings Institution, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Joyce
Foundation
�
�
Bilderberg and the
European Union
Joseph Retinger, one of the founders of the Bilderberg Group, was also one
of the original architects of the European Common Market and a leading
intellectual champion of European integration.
�
In 1946, he told the
Royal
Institute of International Affairs (the British counterpart and sister
organization of the Council on Foreign Relations), that Europe needed to
create a federal union and for European countries to "relinquish part of
their sovereignty."
�
Retinger was a founder of the European Movement (EM), a
lobbying organization dedicated to creating a federal Europe. Retinger
secured financial support for the European Movement from powerful US
financial interests such as the Council on Foreign Relations and the
Rockefellers.[19]
�
Important to note is that following World War II, the CFR's main finances came from the Carnegie Corporation, Ford Foundation and
most especially, the Rockefeller Foundation.[20]
Apart from Retinger, the founder of the Bilderberg Group and the European
Movement, another ideological founder of European integration was Jean
Monnet, who founded the Action Committee for a United States of Europe (ACUE),
an organization dedicated to promoting European integration, and he was also
the major promoter and first president of the European Coal and Steel
Community (ECSC), the precursor to the European Common Market.[21]
Declassified documents (released in 2001) showed that,
"the US intelligence
community ran a campaign in the Fifties and Sixties to build momentum
for a united Europe. It funded and directed the European federalist
movement." [22]
The documents revealed that,
"America was working
aggressively behind the scenes to push Britain into a European state.
One memorandum, dated July 26, 1950, gives instructions for a campaign
to promote a fully-fledged European parliament. It is signed by Gen
William J Donovan, head of the American wartime Office of Strategic
Services, precursor of the CIA."
Further,
"Washington's main tool for shaping the European agenda was the American
Committee for a United Europe, created in 1948. The chairman was Donovan,
ostensibly a private lawyer by then," and "the vice-chairman was Allen
Dulles, the CIA director in the Fifties.
�
The board included Walter
Bedell Smith, the CIA's first director, and a roster of ex-OSS figures
and officials who moved in and out of the CIA. The documents show that
ACUE financed the European Movement, the most important federalist
organization in the post-war years."
Interestingly,
"the leaders of the European
Movement - Retinger, the visionary Robert Schuman and the former Belgian
prime minister Paul-Henri Spaak - were all treated as hired hands by
their American sponsors. The US role was handled as a covert operation.
ACUE's funding came from the Ford and Rockefeller foundations as well as
business groups with close ties to the US government." [23]
The European Coal and Steel Community was formed in 1951, and signed by
France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
�
Newly
released documents from the 1955 Bilderberg meeting show that a main topic
of discussion was "European Unity," and that,
"the discussion affirmed
complete support for the idea of integration and unification from the
representatives of all the six nations of the Coal and Steel Community
present at the conference."
Further,
"A European speaker expressed
concern about the need to achieve a common currency, and indicated that
in his view this necessarily implied the creation of a central political
authority."
Interestingly,
"a United States participant confirmed that the United States
had not weakened in its enthusiastic support for the idea of integration,
although there was considerable diffidence in America as to how this
enthusiasm should be manifested.
�
Another United States
participant urged his European friends to go ahead with the unification
of Europe with less emphasis upon ideological considerations and, above
all, to be practical and work fast." [24]
Thus, at
the 1955 Bilderberg Group meeting, they set as a
primary agenda, the creation of a European common market.[25]
In 1957, two years later, the
Treaty of Rome was signed, which created the
European Economic Community (EEC), also known as the European Community.
Over the decades, various other treaties were signed, and more countries
joined the European Community.
�
In 1992, the
Maastricht Treaty was signed,
which created the European Union and led to the creation of the Euro.
�
The
European Monetary Institute was created in 1994, the European Central Bank
was founded in 1998, and the Euro was launched in 1999. Etienne Davignon,
Chairman of the Bilderberg Group and former EU Commissioner, revealed in
March of 2009 that the Euro was debated and planned at Bilderberg
conferences.[26]
The European Constitution (renamed the
Lisbon Treaty) was a move towards,
-
creating a European superstate
-
creating an EU foreign minister, and with
it, coordinated foreign policy, with the EU taking over the seat of Britain
on the UN Security Council, representing all EU member states
-
forcing the
nations to "actively and unreservedly" follow an EU foreign policy
-
set out
the framework to create an EU defence policy, as an appendage to or separate
from NATO
-
the creation of a European Justice system, with the EU defining
"minimum standards in defining offences and setting sentences," and creates
common asylum and immigration policy
-
it would also hand over to the EU
the power to "ensure co-ordination of economic and employment policies"
-
EU law would supercede all law of the member states, thus making the member
nations relative to mere provinces within a centralized federal government
system [27]
The Constitution was largely written up by Val�ry Giscard d'Estaing, former
President of the French Republic from 1974 to 1981.
�
Giscard d'Estaing also
happens to be a member of the Bidlerberg Group, the Trilateral Commission,
and is also a close friend of Henry Kissinger, having co-authored papers
with him.
The Treaty, passed in 2009, created the position of President of the
European Council, who represents the EU on the world stage and leads the
Council, which determines the political direction of the EU.
�
The first
President of the European Council is Herman Van Rompuy, former Prime
Minister of Belgium.
�
On November 12, 2009, a small Bilderberg meeting took
place, hosted by Viscount Etienne Davignon (Chairman of the Bilderberg
Group), and including,
"international policymakers and industrialists," among
them, Henry Kissinger.
Herman Von Rompuy,
"attended the Bilderberg
session to audition for the European job, calling for a new system of
levies to fund the EU and replace the perennial EU budget battles." [28]
Following his
selection as President, Van Rompuy gave a speech in which he stated,
"We are
going through exceptionally difficult times: the financial crisis and its
dramatic impact on employment and budgets, the climate crisis which
threatens our very survival; a period of anxiety, uncertainty, and lack of
confidence.
�
Yet, these problems can be overcome by a joint effort in and
between our countries.
�
2009 is also the first year
of global governance with the establishment of the G20 in the middle of
the financial crisis; the climate conference in Copenhagen is another
step towards the global management of our planet." [29]
As indicated from leaks of the recent 2011 Bilderberg meeting in
Switzerland, the euro-zone is in a major crisis, and Bilderberg members are
struggling to keep the house of glass from shattering to pieces.
�
One major
subject discussed at this year's meeting, according to Bilderberg
investigative journalist, Daniel Estulin (who reportedly has inside sources
in the meetings who leak information, which has proved quite accurate in the
past), the Bilderberg meeting discussed the situation of Greece, which is
likely to only get worse, with another bailout on the horizon, continuing
social unrest, and a possible abandonment of the euro.
�
The problems of
Greece, Ireland and the wider global economy as a whole were featured in
this year's discussions.[30]
�
Representatives from Greece this year included
George Papaconstantinou, the Greek Minister of Finance, among several
bankers and businessmen.[31]
Among the EU power players attending this years meeting was the first
President of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy, who was appointed as
President following an invitation to a private Bilderberg meeting in
November of 2009, at which he gave a speech advocating for EU-wide taxes,
allowing the EU to not rely exclusively upon its member nations, but have
its "own resources." [32]
�
Van Rompuy, who previously stated that,
"2009 is
also the first year of global governance," is no surprise guest at Bilderberg.
Other key EU officials who attended this year's meeting were,
-
Joaqu�n Almunia, a Vice President of the
European Commission
-
Frans van
Daele, Chief of Staff to European Council President Van Rompuy
-
Neelie Kroes,
a Vice President of the European Commission
-
and of course, Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank
[33]
As with each meeting, there is the official list of participants, and then
there are those participants who attend, but whose names are not listed in
any official release.
�
At this year's meeting, some reports indicate that
attendees whose names were not listed included,
-
NATO Secretary-General Anders
Rasmussen, which is not surprising considering that the NATO
Secretary-General has generally been present at every meeting
-
Jose Luis Zapatero, Spanish Prime Minister
-
Angela Merkel, German Chancellor
-
Bill
Gates, Co-Chairman of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and former Microsoft
CEO
-
Robert Gates, the outgoing U.S. Secretary of Defense
[34]
The
Guardian also reported that these "unofficial guests" were spotted at the
conference or had their attendance 'leaked'.[35]
�
Angela Merkel has
reportedly attended meetings in the past, which would make her current
attendance less than surprising.[36]
At the recent meeting, EU officials were discussing the need for the EU to
undertake a "massive power grab" in the face of the massive economic crisis
facing Europe and indeed the world.
�
Without such a power grab, the euro and
indeed the Union itself would likely collapse; a scenario anathema to
everything the Bilderberg group has tried to achieve in its 57-year history.
�
The aim, put simply, would be to have the EU police itself and the nations
of the Union, with the ability to punish nations for not following the
rules, and as one Bilderberger reportedly stated at the meeting,
"What we are heading towards
a form of real economic government." [37]
Now while this
statement cannot be independently verified, there is much documentation
within the public record that several of the European attendees at the
meeting could have easily made such a statement.
Prior to the meeting, European Central Bank President, Jean-Claude Trichet,
said,
"governments should consider
setting up a finance ministry for the 17-nation currency region as the
bloc struggles to contain a region-wide sovereign debt crisis."
Trichet asked:
"Would it be too bold, in the
economic field, with a single market, a single currency and a single
central bank, to envisage a ministry of finance of the union?"
Further in line with
this thought, and with the ideas laid out in the Bilderberg meeting in
favor of a 'power grab', Trichet said he supports,
"giving the European
Union powers to veto the budget measures of countries that go 'harmfully
astray,' though that would require a change to EU Treaties."
Such a finance
ministry would, according to Trichet, "exert direct responsibilities in at
least three domains":
They would include "first, the surveillance of both fiscal policies and
competitiveness policies" and "direct responsibilities" for countries in
fiscal distress, he said.
�
It would also carry out "all the typical
responsibilities of the executive branches as regards the union's integrated
financial sector, so as to accompany the full integration of financial
services, and third, the representation of the union confederation in
international financial institutions." [38]
Last year, Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme endorsed such an idea of a
'European Economic Government' when he stated:
The idea of strengthened economic government has been put on the table and
will make progress. In the end, the European Debt Agency or something like
it will become a reality.
�
I'm convinced of this. It's about Europe's
financial stability and it's not an ideological debate about federalism. I
myself am a federalist.
�
But more integration and deeper integration are
simply logical consequences of having a single currency.[39]
This is of course, not surprising, considering that Leterme's predecessor is
Herman van Rompuy, the current Bilderberg participant and EU President, a
strong-headed advocate of an 'economic government' and 'global governance.'
�
The plans for an 'economic government' require the strong commitment of both
France and Germany, which may explain Merkel's reported appearance at Bilderberg.
�
In March of 2010, the German and French governments released a
draft outline that would,
"strengthen financial policy
coordination in the EU."
The plan, seen by German publication Der Spiegel,
"calls for increased
monitoring of individual member states' competitiveness so that action
can be taken early on should problems emerge."
Luxembourg Prime Minister
Jean-Claude Juncker stated in response to the plan,
"We need a European economic
government in the sense of strengthened coordination of economic policy
within the euro zone." [40]
In December of 2010, German Finance
Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble stated that,
"In 10 years we will have a
structure that corresponds much stronger to what one describes as
political union." [41]
As reported by the German press in early 2011, Germany and France were split
on several aspects of such an 'economic government.'
�
However, as Merkel
stated,
"We have obviously been discussing the issue of an economic
government for a long time," and that, "what we are currently envisioning
goes yet another step in this direction."
Yet, the differences between the
two approaches are mainly as follows:
France would prefer to see the European Council, which comprises the heads
of state and government of the EU's member states, turned into a kind of
economic government.
�
Since only euro-zone member countries would be involved
initially, French Finance Minister [and past Bilderberg participant]
Christine Lagarde has dubbed the project "16 plus."
The Germans are focused on completely different things.
�
Their preference
would be to see the current rescue fund replaced by the so-called European
Stability Mechanism in 2013. According to this arrangement, in return for
any help, cash-strapped countries would have to subject themselves to a
strict cost-cutting regimen.[42]
Mario Draghi is the current President of the Bank of Italy, as well as a
board member of the Bank for International Settlements -
the BIS (the
central bank to the world's central banks).
�
In an interview posted on the
website of the BIS in March of 2010, Mario Draghi stated that in response to
the Greek crisis,
"In the euro area we need a
stronger economic governance providing for more coordinated structural
reforms and more discipline." [43]
Mario Draghi also attended the 2009 conference of the Bilderberg Group.[44]
�
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mario Draghi has been backed by the euro-area
finance ministers to be the successor to Jean-Claude Trichet at the European
Central Bank, who is due to step down in October of 2011.[45]
Certainly, the objective of a 'European economic government' will continue
throughout the coming years, especially as the economic crisis continues.
�
As Dominique Strauss-Kahn, outgoing Managing Director of the IMF and long-time Bilderberg participant stated,
"crisis is an opportunity." [46]
Bilderberg,
while not omnipotent by any means, will do all in its ability to prevent the
collapse of the euro or the ending of the European Union. Bilderberg has,
after all, from its very beginning, made 'European integration' one of its
central objectives.
�
In an official biography of Bilderberg-founder and
long-time Chairman Prince Bernhard, the Bilderberg Group was credited as,
"the birthplace of the
European Community."
[47]
�
�
Regime Change at the
IMF?
Christine Lagarde, the French Finance Minister who has been pivotal in the
process towards drafting and proposing a 'European economic government', is
also considered the front-runner for the job of Managing Director of the
IMF.
�
The Managing Director of the IMF is always in attendance at Bilderberg
meetings, except for this year, considering outgoing director Dominique
Strauss-Kahn is facing sexual assault charges in New York; yet, the top job
is usually set aside for those who have been invited to at least one meeting
of the Bilderberg Group.
�
While the race has yet to finish, perhaps it is
noteworthy that Christine Lagarde attended a Bilderberg meeting in 2009.[48]
�
Could this make her the supreme choice, or is there a surprise in the near
future?
�
�
�
A Place for China in
the New World Order?
Investigative journalist Daniel Estulin's report of inside sources in this
year's meeting indicated a rather extensive discussion on the role of China,
which is hardly surprising, considering this has been a central topic of
discussion in meetings for a number of years.
�
China emerged in discussions
on Pakistan, as China has become increasingly Pakistan's closest economic
and strategic ally, a trend that is continuing as America continues to
spread the Afghan war into neighboring Pakistan.
�
China is also a major
player in Africa, threatening the West's stranglehold over the continent, in
particular through the
World Bank and
IMF.
�
Most importantly, however, and
not unrelated to its role in Pakistan and Africa, China has become the
greatest economic competitor for the United States in the world, and as the
IMF even admitted recently, its economy is expected to surpass that of the
United States by 2016.
�
Bilderberg paid attention to this issue not simply as
a financial-economic consideration, but as a massive geopolitical transition
in the world:
"the biggest story of our
time." [49]
What made the discussion on China at this year's meeting unique was that it
actually included two attendees from China for the first time ever.
�
The two
guests were Huang Yiping, a prominent economics professor at Peking
University (China's Harvard), and Fu Ying, China's Vice Minister of Foreign
Affairs.[50]
�
This is especially unusual and telling of the importance of the
discussion at hand, considering that Bilderberg is exclusively a European
and North American (Atlantic) organization, and in the past, when Bilderberg
members David Rockefeller and Zbigniew Brzezinski suggested Japan be
allowed to join in 1972, the European rejected the proposition, and instead
the
Trilateral Commission was formed in 1973 to integrate the elites of
Western Europe, North America, and Japan.
�
The Trilateral Commission
eventually expanded the Japanese section of the group into a 'Pacific Asian
Group' in 2000 to include not only Japan, but,
-
South Korea
-
Australia
-
New
Zealand
-
Indonesia
-
Malaysia
-
the Philippines
-
Singapore
-
Thailand
In 2009 the G20 was endowed with the task of
'managing' the global economic
crisis - to include the 'emerging' economic giants, notably China and India
- and as Bilderberg member Jean-Claude Trichet stated, this marked,
"the emergence of the G20 as
the prime group for global economic governance."
[51]
That same year the newly-appointed European Union President Herman van Rompuy declared to be
"the first year of global governance." No surprise
then, that also in 2009, China and India were invited as official members of
the Trilateral Commission.[52]
�
This indicates a growing role for India and
especially China in global affairs, and participation in Bilderberg meetings
emphasizes the aim to not alienate China from the established institutions,
ideologies and systems of global power, but to more fully integrate China
within that system.
�
The aim of the global elite, perhaps best represented by Bilderberg, is not to allow for the collapse of the American empire and the
rise of a new one; rather, it is to manage the collapse of American hegemony
into an entirely new system of global governance.
�
This 'big idea' is not
possible without the participation of China, and thus, as Bilderberg has
long been saturated with the ideology of 'global governance,' it cannot be
seen as too surprising to see China invited.
�
Perhaps the surprise should be
that it simply took this long.
�
�
�
Is Bilderberg Building
a Global Government?
Jon Ronson wrote an article for the Guardian paper in which he managed to
interview key members of the Bilderberg Group for an expos� on the
organization, attempting to dismantle the "conspiracy theories" surrounding
the secrecy of the meetings.
�
However, through his interviews, important
information regarding the social importance of the group continued to
emerge.
�
Ronson attempted to contact David Rockefeller, but only managed to
reach his press secretary who told Ronson that the "conspiracy theories"
about Rockefeller and "global think-tanks such as Bilderberg in general"
left David Rockefeller "thoroughly fed up."
�
According to his press
secretary,
"Mr. Rockefeller's conclusion
was that this was a battle between rational and irrational thought.
Rational people favored globalization. Irrational people preferred
nationalism." [53]
While dismissing "conspiracy theories" that Bilderberg
"runs the world,"
Ronson did explain that the Bilderberg members he interviewed admitted,
"that international affairs
had, from time to time, been influenced by these sessions."
As Denis Healey, a 30-year member of the Steering Committee,
himself pointedly explained:
To say we were striving for a one-world government is exaggerated, but not
wholly unfair.
�
Those of us in Bilderberg felt we couldn't go on forever
fighting one another for nothing and killing people and rendering millions
homeless.
�
So we felt that a single community throughout the world would be a
good thing... Bilderberg is a way of bringing together politicians,
industrialists, financiers and journalists.
�
Politics should involve people
who aren't politicians.
�
We make a point of getting along younger politicians
who are obviously rising, to bring them together with financiers and
industrialists who offer them wise words. It increases the chance of having
a sensible global policy.[54]
Will Hutton, the former Editor of the Observer, who had been invited to Bilderberg meetings in the past, once famously referred to the group as,
"the high priests of
globalization." [55]
Hutton has said that,
"people take part
in these networks in order to influence the way the world works," and to
create, as he put it, "the international common sense" of policy.
The
Chairman of the Bilderberg Group, Viscount Etienne Davignon, stated that,
"I don't think (we are) a
global ruling class because I don't think a global ruling class exists.
I simply think it's people who have influence interested to speak to
other people who have influence." [56]
G. William Domhoff is a professor of Psychology and Sociology at the
University of California, Santa Cruz, and has written about the Bilderberg
Group.
�
In an interview, he discounted the notion that the study of such
groups is relegated to the realm of conspiracy theory, and instead explained
that he studies,
"how elites strive to develop
consensus, which is through such publicly observable organizations as
corporate boards and the policy-planning network, which can be studied
in detail, and which are reported on in the media in at least a halfway
accurate manner." [57]
Bilderbergers have long been advocates of global governance and
'global
government,' and 'crisis' is always an excellent means through which to
advance their agendas.
�
Just as the Greek crisis has stepped up calls for the
formation of a 'European economic government,' an idea which has been sought
out for much longer than Greece has been in crisis, so too is the global
economic crisis an excuse to advance the cause of 'global economic
governance.'
�
Outgoing Managing Director of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn,
stated in May of 2010 that,
"crisis is an opportunity," and he called for
"a
new global currency issued by a global central bank, with robust governance
and institutional features," and that the "global central bank could also
serve as a lender of last resort."
However, he stated,
"I fear we are still very far
from that level of global collaboration." [58]
Unless, of course,
the world continues to descend into economic and financial ruin, as any
astute economic observer would likely warn is taking place.
Following the April 2009 G20 summit,
"plans were announced for implementing
the creation of a new global currency to replace the US dollar's role
as the world reserve currency."
Point 19 of the communiqu� released by the G20 at
the end of the Summit stated,
"We have agreed to support a
general SDR allocation which will inject $250bn (�170bn) into the world
economy and increase global liquidity."
SDRs, or
Special Drawing Rights, are,
"a
synthetic paper currency issued by the International Monetary Fund."
As the
Telegraph reported,
"the G20 leaders have activated the IMF's power to
create money and begin global 'quantitative easing'. In doing so, they are
putting a de facto world currency into play. It is outside the control
of any sovereign body." [59]
The Washington Post reported that the IMF is poised
to transform,"into a veritable United Nations for the global economy":
It would have vastly expanded authority to act as a global banker to
governments rich and poor.
�
And with more flexibility to effectively print
its own money, it would have the ability to inject liquidity into global
markets in a way once limited to major central banks, including the U.S.
Federal Reserve... the IMF is all but certain to take a central role in
managing the world economy.
�
As a result, Washington is poised to become the
power center for global financial policy, much as the United Nations has
long made New York the world center for diplomacy.[60]
While the IMF is pushed to the forefront of the global currency agenda, the
Bank for International Settlements (BIS) remains as the true authority in
terms of 'global governance' overall.
�
As the IMF's magazine, Finance and
Development, stated in 2009,
"the Bank for International
Settlements (BIS), established in 1930, is the central and the oldest
focal point for coordination of global governance arrangements." [61]
Jean-Claude Trichet,
President of the European Central Bank (ECB) and long-time Bilderberg
participant, gave a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in April of
2010 in which he explained that,
"the significant transformation of global
governance that we are engineering today is illustrated by three examples":
First, the emergence of the G20 as the prime group for global economic
governance at the level of ministers, governors and heads of state or
government.
�
Second, the establishment of the Global Economy Meeting of
central bank governors under the auspices of the BIS as the prime group for
the governance of central bank cooperation.
�
And third, the extension of
Financial Stability Board membership to include all the systemic emerging
market economies.[62]
In concluding his speech, Trichet emphasized that,
"global governance is of the
essence to improve decisively the resilience of the global financial
system." [63]
The following month, Trichet spoke at the Bank of Korea, where
he said,
"central bank cooperation is part of a more general trend that is
reshaping global governance, and which has been spurred by the global
financial crisis," and that, "it is therefore not surprising that the crisis
has led to even better recognition of their increased economic
importance and need for full integration into global governance."
Once again, Trichet
identified the BIS and its "various fora" - such as the Global Economy
Meeting and the Financial Stability Board - as the "main channel" for
central bank cooperation.[64]
For more on 'Global Government' and the global economic crisis, see "Crisis is an Opportunity": Engineering a Global Depression
to Create a Global Government.
�
Rockefeller's Dream
David Rockefeller celebrated his 96th birthday during last weekend's Bilderberg meeting, and is one of if not the only remaining original
founders of the group in 1954.
�
If the Bilderberg Group represents the
"high
priests of globalization," then David Rockefeller is the 'Pope'.
James Wolfensohn represents the importance of the Rockefellers to not only
America, but to the whole process of globalization. James D. Wolfensohn, an
Australian national, was President of the World Bank from 1995-2005, and has
since founded and leads his private firm, Wolfensohn & Company, LLC.
�
He has
also been a long-time Steering Committee member of the Bilderberg Group, and
has served as an Honorary Trustee of the Brookings Institution, a major
American think tank, as well as a Trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation, and
is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
�
Wolfensohn's father, Hyman,
was employed by James Armand de Rothschild of
the Rothschild banking
dynasty, after whom James was named.
�
His father taught him how to,
"cultivate mentors, friends
and contacts of influence." [65]
Wolfensohn rose quickly
through the financial world, and as his father had lived in service to the
Rothschild's - the dominant family of the 19th century - James Wolfensohn
lived in service to the Rockefellers, arguably the dominant family of the
20th century.
�
On the event of David Rockefeller's 90th birthday, James Wolfensohn, speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations, stated:
[T]he person who had perhaps the greatest influence on my life
professionally in this country, and I'm very happy to say personally there
afterwards, is David Rockefeller, who first met me at the Harvard Business
School in 1957 or '58...
�
[At the beginning of the 20th century] as we looked
at the world, a family, the
Rockefeller family, decided that the issues were
not just national for the United States, were not just related to the rich
countries.
�
And where, extraordinarily and amazingly, David's grandfather set
up the Rockefeller Foundation, the purpose of which was to take a global
view.
...So the Rockefeller family, in this last 100 years, has contributed in a
way that is quite extraordinary to the development in that period and has
given ample focus to the issues of development with which I have been
associated.
�
In fact, it's fair to say that there has been no other single
family influence greater than the Rockefeller's in the whole issue of
globalization and in the whole issue of addressing the questions which, in
some ways, are still before us today.
�
And for that David, we're deeply
grateful to you and for your own contribution in carrying these forward in
the way that you did.[66]
David Rockefeller has been even less humble (but perhaps more honest) in his
assertion of his family's and his own personal role in shaping the world.
�
In
his 2002 book, Memoirs, David Rockefeller wrote:
For more than a century ideological extremists at either end of the
political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents such as my
encounter with Castro to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate
influence they claim we wield over American political and economic
institutions.
�
Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working
against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family
and me as 'internationalists' and of conspiring with others around the world
to build a more integrated global political and economic structure - one
world, if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of
it.[67]
As if this admission was not quite enough, at a 1991 meeting of the
Bilderberg group, David Rockefeller was quoted as saying:
We are grateful to the Washington Post,
The New York Times, Time Magazine
and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and
respected their promises of discretion for almost 40 years.
�
It would have
been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been
subjected to the lights of publicity during those years.
�
But the world is
more sophisticated and prepared to march towards
a world government. The
supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is
surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past
centuries.[68]
So, happy 96th birthday, Mr. David Rockefeller!
�
But I am sorry to say (or
perhaps not so sorry) that while
the mainstream media have "respected their
promises of discretion," the new media - the alternative media - have not.
�
As you said yourself,
"It would have been impossible for us to develop our
plan for the world if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity
during those years," it seems that the "lights of publicity" are now
descending upon your "plan for the world," making it all the more difficult
to come to pass.
Indeed, "the world is more sophisticated," but not because
the world is 'ready' for your plan, but because the world is getting ready
to reject it.
�
While national sovereignty certainly has problems and is
hardly something I would consider 'ideal', the "supranational sovereignty of
an intellectual elite and world bankers" is about the worst scenario one
could imagine.
�
So as a birthday present to you, Mr. Rockefeller, I promise
(and I am sure that I am speaking for a great many more than simply myself)
that I will continue to expose your "plans for the world," so that your
dream - and our nightmare - will never become a reality.
�
The light will
shine, and in due time, the people will be ready to follow its path.
�
�
�
Notes
[1] Jon Ronson, Who pulls the strings? (part
3), The Guardian, 10 March 2001:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2001/mar/10/extract1
[2] CBC, Informal forum or global conspiracy? CBC News Online: June 13,
2006:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/bilderberg-group/
[3] Holly Sklar, ed., Trilateralism: The Trilateral Commission and Elite
Planning for World Management. (South End Press: 1980), 161-171
[4] Glen McGregor, Secretive power brokers meeting coming to Ottawa?
Ottawa Citizen: May 24, 2006:
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=ff614eb8-02cc-41a3-a42d-30642def1421&k=62840
[5] Stephen Gill, American Hegemony and the Trilateral Commission
(Cambridge University Press: New York, 1990), page 129.
[6] Bruno Waterfield, Dutch Prince Bernhard 'was member of Nazi party',
The Telegraph, 5 March 2010:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/netherlands/7377402/Dutch-Prince-Bernhard-was-member-of-Nazi-party.html
[7] Joan Roelofs, Foundations and Public Policy: The Mask of Pluralism
(New York: State University of New York Press, 2003), page 52.
[8] Robert F. Arnove, ed., Philanthropy and Cultural Imperialism: The
Foundations at Home and Abroad (Indiana University Press: Boston, 1980),
page 1.
[9] Inderjeet Parmar, "'To Relate Knowledge and Action': The Impact of
the Rockefeller Foundation on Foreign Policy Thinking During America's
Rise to Globalism 1939-1945," Minerva (Vol. 40, 2002), page 246.
[10] Ibid, page 247.
[11] Robert F. Arnove, ed., Philanthropy and Cultural Imperialism: The
Foundations at Home and Abroad (Indiana University Press, 1980), page
319.
[12] Joan Roelofs, "Foundations and Collaboration," Critical Sociology,
Vol. 33, 2007, page 480
[13] Ibid, page 481.
[14] Ibid, page 483.
[15] Erkki Berndtson, "Review Essay: Power of Foundations and the
American Ideology," Critical Sociology, Vol. 33, 2007, page 580
[16] Joan Roelofs, Foundations and Public Policy: The Mask of Pluralism
(New York: State University of New York Press, 2003), page 52.
[17] Stephen Gill, American Hegemony and the Trilateral Commission
(Cambridge University Press: New York, 1990), pages 131-132.
[18] Bilderberg Meetings, Former Steering Committee Members,
BilderbergMeetings.org:
http://bilderbergmeetings.org/former-steering-committee-members.html;
Steering Committee:
http://bilderbergmeetings.org/governance.html
[19] Holly Sklar, ed., Trilateralism: The Trilateral Commission and
Elite Planning for World Management. (South End Press: 1980), 161-162
[20] CFR, The First Transformation. CFR History:
http://www.cfr.org/about/history/cfr/first_transformation.html
[21] William F. Jasper, Rogues' gallery of EU founders. The New
American: July 12, 2004:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JZS/is_14_20/ai_n25093084/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1
[22] Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Euro-federalists financed by US spy
chiefs. The Telegraph: June 19, 2001:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/1356047/Euro-federalists-financed-by-US-spy-chiefs.html
[23] Ibid.
[24] Bilderberg Group, GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN CONFERENCE. The Bilderberg
Group: September 23-25, 1955, page 7:
http://wikileaks.org/leak/bilderberg-meetings-report-1955.pdf
[25] Who are these Bilderbergers and what do they do? The Sunday Herald:
May 30, 1999:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_19990530/ai_n13939252
[26] Andrew Rettman, 'Jury's out' on future of Europe, EU doyen says.
EUobserver: March 16, 2009:
http://euobserver.com/9/27778
[27] Daily Mail, EU Constitution - the main points. The Daily Mail: June
19, 2004:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-307249/EU-Constitution--main-points.html
[28] Ian Traynor, Who speaks for Europe? Criticism of 'shambolic'
process to fill key jobs. The Guardian, 17 November 2009:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/17/top-european-job-selection-process
[29] Herman Van Rompuy, Speech Upon Accepting the EU Presidency, BBC
News, 22 November 2009:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzm_R3YBgPg
[30] Daniel Estulin, Bilderberg Report 2011, DanielEstulin.com, 14 June
2011:
http://www.danielestulin.com/2011/06/13/bilderberg-report-2011-informe-club-bilderberg-2011/
[31] Bilderberg Meetings, Bilderberg 2011: List of Participants,
BilderbergMeetings.org, June 2011:
http://bilderbergmeetings.org/participants_2011.html
[32] Bruno Waterfield, EU Presidency candidate Herman Van Rompuy calls
for new taxes, The Telegraph, 16 November 2009:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/6582837/EU-Presidency-candidate-Herman-Van-Rompuy-calls-for-new-taxes.html
[33] Bilderberg Meetings, Bilderberg 2011: List of Participants,
BilderbergMeetings.org, June 2011:
http://bilderbergmeetings.org/participants_2011.html
[34] PrisonPlanet, Exclusive: Unnamed Bilderberg Attendees Revealed,
Gates Violates Logan Act, Prison Planet, 11 June 2011:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/exclusive-unnamed-bilderberg-attendees-revealed.html
[35] Charlie Skelton, Bilderberg 2011: The opposition steps up, The
Guardian, 11 June 2011:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/jun/11/bilderberg-switzerland
[36] SwissInfo, World's Powerful Bilderberg Group Meets In St Moritz,
EurasiaReview, 9 June 2011:
http://www.eurasiareview.com/worlds-powerful-bilderberg-group-meets-in-st-moritz-09062011/
[37] Daniel Estulin, Bilderberg Report 2011, DanielEstulin.com, 14 June
2011:
http://www.danielestulin.com/2011/06/13/bilderberg-report-2011-informe-club-bilderberg-2011/
[38] Bloomberg, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet
calls for Euro Finance Ministry, The Economic Times, 3 June 2011:
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-06-03/news/29617216_1_single-currency-jean-claude-trichet-budget
[39] Daniel Hannan, European economic government is inevitable,
Telegraph Blogs, 17 March 2010:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100030219/european-economic-government-is-inevitable/
[40] Spiegel, Plans for European Economic Government Gain Steam, Der
Spiegel, 1 March 2011:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,680955,00.html
[41] ANDREW WILLIS, Germany predicts EU 'political union' in 10 years,
EU Observer, 13 December 2010:
http://euobserver.com/9/31485
[42] Peter M�ller and Michael Sauga, France and Germany Split over Plans
for European Economic Government, Der Spiegel, 3 January 2011:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,737423,00.html
[43] Mario Draghi: "We need a European economic government" - interview
in Handelsblatt, The Bank for International Settlements, March 2010:
http://www.bis.org/review/r100325b.pdf
[44] Bilderberg Meetings, Participants 2009, BilderbergMeetings.org, May
2009:
http://bilderbergmeetings.org/participants.html
[45] Ecofin: Finance Ministers Back Mario Draghi To Lead ECB, The Wall
Street Journal, 16 May 2011:
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110516-715655.html
[46] Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Concluding Remarks by Dominique
Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, at
the High-Level Conference on the International Monetary System, Zurich,
11 May 2010:
http://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/2010/051110.htm
[47] Stephen Gill, American Hegemony and the Trilateral Commission
(Cambridge University Press: New York, 1990), pages 131-132.
[48] Bilderberg Meetings, Participants 2009, BilderbergMeetings.org, May
2009:
http://bilderbergmeetings.org/participants.html
[49] Daniel Estulin, Bilderberg Report 2011, DanielEstulin.com, 14 June
2011:
http://www.danielestulin.com/2011/06/13/bilderberg-report-2011-informe-club-bilderberg-2011/
[50] Bilderberg Meetings, Bilderberg 2011: List of Participants,
BilderbergMeetings.org, June 2011:
http://bilderbergmeetings.org/participants_2011.html
[51] Jean-Claude Trichet, Global Governance Today, Keynote address by Mr
Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank, at the
Council on Foreign Relations, New York, 26 April 2010:
http://www.bis.org/review/r100428b.pdf
[52] The Trilateral Commission, About the Pacific Asian Group, May 2011:
http://www.trilateral.org/go.cfm?do=Page.View&pid=13
[53] Jon Ronson, Who pulls the strings? (part 2), The Guardian, 10 March
2001:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2001/mar/10/extract
[54] Ibid.
[55] Mark Oliver, The Bilderberg group, The Guardian, 4 June 2004:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2004/jun/04/netnotes.markoliver
[56] BBC, Inside the secretive Bilderberg Group, BBC News, 29 September
2005:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4290944.stm
[57] Chip Berlet, Interview: G. William Domhoff, New Internationalist,
September 2004:
http://www.publiceye.org/antisemitism/nw_domhoff.html
[58] Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Concluding Remarks by Dominique
Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, at
the High-Level Conference on the International Monetary System, Zurich,
11 May 2010:
http://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/2010/051110.htm
[59] Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, The G20 moves the world a step closer to a
global currency. The Telegraph: April 3, 2009:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/5096524/The-G20-moves-the-world-a-step-closer-to-a-global-currency.html
[60] Anthony Faiola, A Bigger, Bolder Role Is Imagined For the IMF, The
Washington Post, 20 April 2009:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/19/AR2009041902242.html?hpid=topnews
[61] Amar Bhattacharya, A Tangled Web, Finance and Development, March
2009, Vol. 46, No. 1:
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2009/03/bhattacharya.htm
[62] Jean-Claude Trichet, Global Governance Today, Keynote address by Mr
Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank, at the
Council on Foreign Relations, New York, 26 April 2010:
http://www.bis.org/review/r100428b.pdf
[63] Ibid.
[64] Jean-Claude Trichet, Central bank cooperation after the global
financial crisis, Video address by Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the
European Central Bank, at the Bank of Korea International Conference
2010, Seoul, 31 May 2010:
http://www.ecb.int/press/key/date/2010/html/sp100531.en.html
[65] Michael Stutchbury, The man who inherited the Rothschild legend,
The Australian, 30 October 2010:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/the-man-who-inherited-the-rothschild-legend/story-e6frg6z6-1225945329773
[66] James D. Wolfensohn, Council on Foreign Relations Special Symposium
in honor of David Rockefeller's 90th Birthday, The Council on Foreign
Relations, 23 May 2005:
http://www.cfr.org/world/council-foreign-relations-special-symposium-honor-david-rockefellers-90th-birthday/p8133
[67] David Rockefeller, Memoirs (Random House, New York: 2002), pages
404 - 405.
[68] Gordon Laxer, "Radical Transformative Nationalisms Confront the US
Empire," Current Sociology (Vol. 51, Issue 2: March 2003), page 141.
�
