Trilateral Commission

"The Trilateral Commission is international and is intended to be the vehicle for multinational consolidation of the commercial and banking interests by seizing control of the political government of the U.S." -- attributed to Senator Barry Goldwater.

Formerly headed by Charles B. Heck.

Also unconfirmed attribution to Goldwater: "David Rockefeller's latest scheme to take over the world, by taking over the government of the United States"

North American Group
According to the organization's web pages, the North American Group of the Trilateral Commission includes a maximum of 85 U.S. members, 15 Canadian members and, since 2000, seven Mexican members.

History
"The first North American Chairman was Gerard C. Smith (1973-77), former head of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and chief U.S. negotiator of SALT I, who served as Trilateral Chairman until he entered the James Earl Carter, Jr. administration as Ambassador-at-large in charge of Non-Proliferation Issues. The next North American Chairman was David Rockefeller (1977-91), who had played a central role in the formation of the Trilateral Commission and continues to be recognized as Founder and Honorary Chairman. He was succeeded by Paul Adolph Volcker (1991-2001), former Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, who now serves as Honorary North American Chairman. The present North American Chairman is Thomas S. Foley, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (1989-95) and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan (1997-2001). The North American Deputy Chairmen are the heads of the Canadian and Mexican groups. On the Canadian side, Jean-Luc Pepin was succeeded in 1977 by Mitchell Sharp, former Foreign Minister, when Mr. Sharp left government service and Mr. Pepin returned to government service. J.H. (Jake) Warren, former Ambassador to the United States and Coordinator for Multilateral Trade Negotiations, served from 1986 to 1990. He was succeeded by Allan Gotlieb, former Ambassador to the United States. Lorenzo Zambrano, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Cemex, became Deputy Chairman in 2000 when the North American group widened to include Mexican members."

Funding
"A grant from the Ford Foundation was the most important part of the financial base for the Trilateral Commission in the first triennium (1973-76). Fundraising has been decentralized since that time. In the United States, an increasing portion of the needed financial support has come from a wide range of corporations. Foundation support remains important, particularly for some project work, as does the support of some individuals." 

Officers

 * Thomas S. Foley, Chairman
 * Allan E. Gotlieb, Deputy Chairman
 * Lorenzo Zambrano, Deputy Chairman
 * Michael J. O'Neil, Director. His day job is as a partner in the law firm Preston Gates and Ellis.

"When the Trilateral Commission was first launched, the plan was for an equal number of members from each of the three regions. The numbers soon began to grow, and ceilings were imposed about 1980. These ceilings have been raised somewhat since then as new countries came to be represented in the groups. The European group, which includes members from Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Cyprus, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, now has a ceiling of 150 members. The ceiling for the North American group is 110, including 15 Canadian members, 10 Mexican members and 85 U.S. members. In 2000, the Japanese group of 85 members expanded to become a Pacific Asian group of 117 members, and includes 75 members from Japan, 11 members from Korea, 7 from Australia and New Zealand, 15 from the original five ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand). The new Pacific Asian group also includes participants from the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan," it states on its website.

"To help preserve the Commission's unofficial character, members who take up positions in their national administration give up Trilateral Commission membership. New members are chosen on a national basis. The procedures used for rotation off and for invitation of new members vary from national group to national group. Three Chairmen (one from each region), Deputy Chairmen, and Directors constitute the leadership of the Trilateral Commission, along with an Executive Committee including 36 other members. The full membership list is available from any of the regional offices," it states on its website.

Chairmen, Deputy Chairmen and Directors North American Chairman: Thomas S. Foley Partner, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, Washington DC; former U.S. Ambassador to Japan; former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

European Chairman: Peter Sutherland Chairman, BP, London; Chairman, Goldman Sachs International; former Director General, GATT/WTO, Geneva; former Member of the European Commission; former Attorney General of Ireland

Pacific Asian Chairman: Yotaro Kobayashi Chairman of the Board, Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

North American Deputy Chairman: Allan E. Gotlieb Senior Adviser, Stikeman Elliot, Toronto; Chairman, Sotheby's, Canada; former Canadian Ambassador to the United States

North American Deputy Chairman: Lorenzo Zambrano Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, CEMEX, Monterrey, NL, Mexico

European Deputy Chairman: Antonio Garrigues Walker Chairman, J & A Garrigues Abogados, Madrid

Pacific Asian Deputy Chairman: Kim Kyung-Won President, Institute of Social Sciences; former Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations, Seoul

Pacific Asian Deputy Chairman: Shjuro Ogata Former Deputy Governor, Japan Development Bank; former Deputy Governor for International Relations, Bank of Japan

North American Director: Michael J. O'Neil European Director: Raul Ravay Pacific Asia Director: Tadashi Yamamoto

Former North American Chairmen: Paul A. Volcker (1991-2001) Honorary North American Chairman David Rockefeller (1977-91) Founder and Honorary North American Chairman Gerard C. Smith (1973-77)

Former European Chairmen: Otto Graf Lambsdorff (1992-2001) Honorary European Chairman Georges Berthoin (1976-92) Honorary European Chairman Max Kohnstamm (1973-76)

Former Japanese Chairmen: Kiichi Miyazawa, Acting Chairman (1993-97) Akio Morita (1992-93) Isamu Yamashita (1985-92) Takeshi Watanabe (1973-85)

Executive Committee

 * Stelios Argyros, Chairman and Managing Director, Preveza Mills, Athens; former Member of the European Parliament; Chairman of the Board, STET Hellas; former Vice President of UNICE, Brussels; former President and Chairman of the Board of the Federation of Greek Industries, Athens
 * Charlene Barshefsky, Senior International Partner, Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, Washington, DC; former U.S. Trade Representative
 * C. Fred Bergsten, Director, Institute for International Economics, Washington DC; former U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs
 * Georges Berthoin, International Honorary Chairman, European Movement; Honorary Chairman, The Jean Monnet Association; Honorary European Chairman, The Trilateral Commission
 * Jorge Braga de Macedo, Special Advisor to the Secretary General, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris; Professor of Economics, Nova University at Lisbon; Chairman, Forum Portugal Global; former Minister of Finance
 * Zbigniew Brzezinski, Counselor, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington DC; Robert Osgood Professor of American Foreign Affairs, Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University; former Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
 * HervÃ© de Carmoy, Partner, RhÃ´ne Group, New York & Paris; Honorary Chairman, Banque Industrielle et MobiliÃ¨re PrivÃ©e, Paris; former Chief Executive, SociÃ©tÃ© GÃ©nÃ©rale de Belgique
 * Vladimir Dlouhy, Senior Advisor, ABB; International Advisor, Goldman Sachs; former Czechoslovak Minister of Economy; former Czech Minister of Industry & Trade, Prague
 * Jessica P. Einhorn, Dean, Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University; former Consultant, Clark and Weinstock, Washington, D.C.; former Managing Director for Finance and Resource Mobilization, World Bank
 * Bill Emmott, Editor, The Economist, London
 * Nemesio Fernandez-Cuesta, Corporate Director of Shared Services, Respol-YPF; former Chairman, Prensa EspaÃ±ola, Madrid
 * L. Yves Fortier, Senior Partner and Chairman, Ogilvy Renault, Barristers and Solicitors, MontrÃ©al; former Canadian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations
 * Michael Fuchs, Member of the German Bundestag; former President, National Federation of German Wholesale & Export Traders, Berlin
 * Toyoo Gyohten, President, The Institute for International Monetary Affairs; Senior Advisor, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd.
 * Robert D. Haas, Chairman, Levi Strauss & Co., San Francisco, CA
 * Stuart Harris, Professor of International Relations, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University; former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Canberra
 * Carla A. Hills, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Hills & Company, Washington, DC; former U.S. Trade Representative; former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
 * Max Jakobson, Independent Consultant and Senior Columnist, Helsinki; former Finnish Ambassador to the United Nations; former Chairman of the Finnish Council of Economic Organizations
 * Baron Daniel Janssen, Chairman of the Board, Solvay, Brussels
 * BÃ©la Kadar, Member of the Hungarian Academy; Member of the Monetary Council of the National Bank; President of the Hungarian Economic Association; former Ambassador of Hungary to the OECD, Paris; former Hungarian Minister of International Economic Relations and Member of Parliament
 * Otto Graf Lambsdorff, Partner, Wessing Lawyers, DÃ¼sseldorf; Chairman, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Berlin; former Member of German Bundestag; Honorary Chairman, Free Democratic Party; former Federal Minister of Economy; former President of the Liberal International; Honorary European Chairman, The Trilateral Commission, Paris
 * Lee Hong-Koo, President, Seoul Forum for International Affairs; former Prime Minister of Korea; former Ambassador to the United Kingdom and the United States, Seoul
 * Cees Maas, Member of the Executive Board and Chief Financial Officer of the ING Group, Amsterdam; former Treasurer of the Dutch Government
 * Minoru Makihara, Chairman, Mitsubishi Corporation
 * Sir Deryck C. Maughan, Vice Chairman, Citigroup, New York; former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Salomon Brothers Inc.
 * Kiichi Miyazawa, Member of the House of Representatives; former Finance Minister of Japan, former Prime Minister of Japan
 * Minoru Murofushi, Chairman, ITOCHU Corporation
 * Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Dean, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
 * Yoshio Okawara, President, Institute for International Policy Studies; former Ambassador to the United States
 * Andrzej Olechowski, Chairman, "Civic Platform"; former Chairman, Bank Handlowy; former Minister of Foreign Affairs and of Finance, Warsaw
 * Silvio Scaglia, Managing Director, e-Biscom, Milan; former Managing Director, Omnitel
 * Guido Schmidt-Chiari, Chairman, Constantia Group; former Chairman, Creditanstalt Bankverein, Vienna
 * Carlo Secchi, Rector and full Professor of European Economic Policy, Bocconi University, Milan
 * Myles Staunton, former Member of the Irish Senate & the Dail, Co. Mayo
 * Thorvald Stoltenberg, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs in Iraq; President, Norwegian Red Cross, Oslo; former Co-Chairman (UN) of the Steering Committee of the International Conference on Former Yugoslavia; former Foreign Minister of Norway; former UN High Commissioner for Refugees
 * BjÃ¶rn Svedberg, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ericsson, Stockholm; former President and Group Chief Executive, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken
 * Niels Thygesen, Danske Bank Professor of International Economics, University of Copenhagen; Chairman, OECD Economic Development and Review Committee
 * George Vassiliou, Head of the Negotiating Team for the Accession of Cyprus to the European Union; former President of the Republic of Cyprus, former Member of Parliament and Leader of United Democrats; Nicosia
 * Paul Volcker, former Chairman, Wolfensohn & Co., Inc., New York; Frederick H. Schultz Professor Emeritus, International Economic Policy, Princeton University; former Chairman, Board of Governors, U.S. Federal Reserve System; Honorary North American Chairman and former North American Chairman, The Trilateral Commission
 * Marko Voljc, Chief Executive Officer, Nova Ljubljanska Banka, Slovenia
 * Jusuf Wanandi, Member of the Board of Trustees; Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Jakarta
 * Norbert Wieczorek, Former Member of the German Bundestag & Deputy Chairman of the SPD Parliamentary Group, Berlin
 * Emilio Ybarra, former Chairman, Banco Bilbao-Vizcaya, Madrid

Contact
The Trilateral Commission 1156 Fifteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005 telephone: 1-202-467-5410 telefax: 1-202-467-5415 email: Trilateral.Valder AT verizon.net URL: http://www.trilateral.org

SourceWatch Resources

 * Bilderberg
 * Christopher J. Makins
 * Allan E. Gotlieb
 * Wanda Rapaczynski