No conflicts of interest here!...

[glugglug]

I made this map of shared board members in the Council on Foreign Relations using theyrule.net:

http://www.theyrule.net/2004/index.php?mapid=1328

Every company appearing on this diagram has at least 1 board member in the Council on Foreign Relations. Note how many "defense" contractors, oil companies, & banks are there.

Unfortunately the Bush Jr. administration is not in the site's DB yet.

To be fair, the Clinton cabinet has representatives from both health insurance & pharmaceutical companies, along with a few media execs.

 

[mossad]

Awesome find! Love your quote.

 

[yllus]

Council on Foreign Relations Mission Statement:

Founded in 1921, the Council on Foreign Relations is an independent, national membership organization and a nonpartisan center for scholars dedicated to producing and disseminating ideas so that individual and corporate members, as well as policymakers, journalists, students, and interested citizens in the United States and other countries, can better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other governments. The Council, which is headquartered in New York with an office in Washington, DC, does this by:

* Convening meetings in New York, Washington and in other select American cities where senior government officials, global leaders, and prominent thinkers come together with Council members to debate and discuss the major foreign policy issues of our time;
* Conducting a wide-ranging studies program where Council fellows produce articles and books that analyze foreign policy issues and make concrete policy recommendations;
* Publishing Foreign Affairs, the preeminent journal covering international affairs and U.S. foreign policy;
* Maintaining a diverse membership, including special programs to foster interest and expertise in the next generation of foreign policy leaders;
* Sponsoring independent task forces whose reports help set the public foreign policy agenda; and
* Providing up-to-date information about the world and U.S. foreign policy on the Council?s website, www.cfr.org.

The name of the organization made them sound government-run, but they are in fact independent? I am not sure what you are getting at here.

 

[gutharius]

I wonder if there would be anyways to take this process and use it on those who really hold public office. it would be like Micheal Moore X 1000.

 

[kage69]

Damn, nice find! 😉 :thumbsup: :beer:

 

[DeeKnow]

why am i not surprised?

 

[Darkhawk28]

Andy Rooney last night on 60 Minutes had a good thought.... we need more college professors in Washington. He says they'd be more apt to avoid damaging foreign and domestic policies.

 

[Kadarin]

I think you have found the mysterious "Them"..

 

[yllus]

Originally posted by: Darkhawk28
Andy Rooney last night on 60 Minutes had a good thought.... we need more college professors in Washington. He says they'd be more apt to avoid damaging foreign and domestic policies.

Yeah that's just the world needs. More professors espousing edicts from their ivory towers.

I'm still confused as to what the lot of you believe this 'proves'? An independent agency regarding foreign trade/relations that many large corporations that do a huge amount of foreign trade are members of. What's the commotion about?

 

[coolVariable]

So what does this prove.
Except that many people making millions of dollars are interested in foreign policy (doh') and are members in a rich men's gentlemen club for people interested in foreign policy.