Council on Foreign Relations - Revision history

Verda.Majo: /* Membership */ correction to board members' positions

2026-02-01T17:24:44Z

Membership: correction to board members' positions

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:24, 1 February 2026
Line 20:		Line 20:
	Finally, Biden himself was allowed to write an article for Foreign Affairs during the presidential campaign. Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were the only presidential candidates invited to advertise themselves and their ideas in Foreign Affairs during the 2019–20 election period.\|Lawrence Shoup. (2021).[https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/ ''The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes'']}}Former CIA director [[Allen Dulles]] was a member of the board from 1927 to 1969.<ref name=":7" />		Finally, Biden himself was allowed to write an article for Foreign Affairs during the presidential campaign. Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were the only presidential candidates invited to advertise themselves and their ideas in Foreign Affairs during the 2019–20 election period.\|Lawrence Shoup. (2021).[https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/ ''The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes'']}}Former CIA director [[Allen Dulles]] was a member of the board from 1927 to 1969.<ref name=":7" />

	CFR has credited itself with helping launch the career of [[Henry Kissinger]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05. Quote: ''"CFR invites a young Harvard scholar to oversee a study group on deterrence. The Council publishes Henry Kissinger's resulting book, which becomes an unexpected bestseller and launches one of the most influential diplomatic careers of the century."''</ref> Kissinger was a CFR ~~chairman~~ of the board from 1977 to 1981.<ref name=":7" />		CFR has credited itself with helping launch the career of [[Henry Kissinger]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05. Quote: ''"CFR invites a young Harvard scholar to oversee a study group on deterrence. The Council publishes Henry Kissinger's resulting book, which becomes an unexpected bestseller and launches one of the most influential diplomatic careers of the century."''</ref> Kissinger was a CFR member of the board from 1977 to 1981.<ref name=":7" />

	[[Francis Fukuyama]], author of "[[The End of History]]", is a member of the CFR<ref name=":6">[https://fukuyama.people.stanford.edu/ "Francis Fukuyama."] Stanford University. [https://web.archive.org/web/20250916124523/https://fukuyama.people.stanford.edu/ Archived] 2025-09-16.</ref> and a frequent contributor to ''Foreign Affairs''.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Foreign Affairs\|title=Francis Fukuyama\|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/authors/francis-fukuyama\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250807160420/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/authors/francis-fukuyama\|archive-date=2025-08-07\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> Fukuyama is also on the board of trustees of the [[RAND Corporation]].<ref name=":6" />		[[Francis Fukuyama]], author of "[[The End of History]]", is a member of the CFR<ref name=":6">[https://fukuyama.people.stanford.edu/ "Francis Fukuyama."] Stanford University. [https://web.archive.org/web/20250916124523/https://fukuyama.people.stanford.edu/ Archived] 2025-09-16.</ref> and a frequent contributor to ''Foreign Affairs''.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Foreign Affairs\|title=Francis Fukuyama\|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/authors/francis-fukuyama\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250807160420/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/authors/francis-fukuyama\|archive-date=2025-08-07\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> Fukuyama is also on the board of trustees of the [[RAND Corporation]].<ref name=":6" />
Line 26:		Line 26:
	Former US president and [[Central Intelligence Agency\|CIA]] director [[George H.W. Bush]] was a CFR member of the board from 1977 to 1979.<ref name=":7" />		Former US president and [[Central Intelligence Agency\|CIA]] director [[George H.W. Bush]] was a CFR member of the board from 1977 to 1979.<ref name=":7" />

	[[Zbigniew Brzezinski]], former [[United States National Security Advisor\|US National Security Advisor]] and author of ''[[The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives]]'' was a CFR ~~chairman~~ of the board from 1972 to 1977.<ref name=":7" />		[[Zbigniew Brzezinski]], former [[United States National Security Advisor\|US National Security Advisor]] and author of ''[[The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives]]'' was a CFR member of the board from 1972 to 1977.<ref name=":7" />

	[[Madeleine Albright]] was a ~~chairman~~ of the board from 2004 to 2014.<ref name=":7" />		[[Madeleine Albright]] was a member of the board from 2004 to 2014.<ref name=":7" />

	== History ==		== History ==

Verda.Majo: /* History */ added more details to early CFR figures and their roles in US imperialism

2025-09-22T11:22:34Z

History: added more details to early CFR figures and their roles in US imperialism

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:22, 22 September 2025
Line 1:		Line 1:
	The '''Council on Foreign Relations''' ('''CFR''') is an influential [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] organization and [[think tank]] based in the [[United States of America]].<ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street's Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire of Neoliberal Geopolitics, 1976–2014\|city=New York\|publisher=Monthly Review Press\|isbn=978-1-58367-551-9}}</ref> CFR represents the interests of the [[Bourgeoisie\|capitalist]] [[ruling class]] of the US and plays a significant role in shaping US foreign policy in favour of corporate and [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] interests,<ref name=":1">{{Citation\|author=G. William Domhoff\|year=2014\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations and the Grand Area: Case Studies on the Origins of the IMF and the Vietnam War\|title-url=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower/vol2/iss1/1/\|quote=\|publisher=Class, Race and Corporate Power\|doi=10.25148/CRCP.2.1.16092111\|volume=Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 1}}</ref> while downplaying the needs of the [[Proletariat\|working class]] and other marginalized groups. Founded in 1921, the CFR is a private non-profit headquartered in [[New York City]].<ref name=":4">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=Contact Us\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916123223/https://www.cfr.org/contact-us\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16\|quote=The Council on Foreign Relations is headquartered in New York City in the landmarked Harold Pratt House, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.}}</ref> Its funding comes from membership dues, corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, and individual donations.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=About\|url=https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916074216/https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> CFR is the publisher of the magazine ''[[Foreign Affairs]]''.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Foreign Affairs\|title=About Foreign Affairs\|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250908210209/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-date=2025-09-08}}</ref> CFR has been described by some as "[[Wall Street]]'s think tank" or "the think tank of monopoly-finance capital."<ref name=":0" /> Many government officials, policymakers, and media outlets have close ties to the CFR,<ref name=":7">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=Historical Roster of Directors and Officers\|url=https://www.cfr.org/historical-roster-directors-and-officers\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250917123102/https://www.cfr.org/historical-roster-directors-and-officers\|archive-date=2025-09-17\|retrieved=2025-09-17}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation\|author=Richard Harwood\|newspaper=The Washington Post\|title=Ruling Class Journalists\|date=1993-10-30\|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1993/10/30/ruling-class-journalists/761e7bf8-025d-474e-81cb-92dcf271571e/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003015242/https://www.washingtonpost.com/web/20171003015242/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1993/10/30/ruling-class-journalists/761e7bf8-025d-474e-81cb-92dcf271571e/?utm_term=.cb4c929c9509\|archive-date=2017-10-30}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|newspaper=Monthly Review\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes: Climate and China\|url=https://monthlyreview.org/articles/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250917123336/https://monthlyreview.org/articles/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/\|archive-date=2025-09-17\|retrieved=2025-09-17}}</ref> while the organization itself is not subject to public scrutiny or electoral processes, allowing its members to exert considerable influence on U.S. foreign policy behind closed doors.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />		The '''Council on Foreign Relations''' ('''CFR''') is an influential [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] organization and [[think tank]] based in the [[United States of America]].<ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street's Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire of Neoliberal Geopolitics, 1976–2014\|city=New York\|publisher=Monthly Review Press\|isbn=978-1-58367-551-9}}</ref> CFR represents the interests of the [[Bourgeoisie\|capitalist]] [[ruling class]] of the US and plays a significant role in shaping US foreign policy in favour of corporate and [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] interests,<ref name=":1">{{Citation\|author=G. William Domhoff\|year=2014\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations and the Grand Area: Case Studies on the Origins of the IMF and the Vietnam War\|title-url=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower/vol2/iss1/1/\|quote=\|pdf=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1019&context=classracecorporatepower\|publisher=Class, Race and Corporate Power\|doi=10.25148/CRCP.2.1.16092111\|volume=Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 1}}</ref> while downplaying the needs of the [[Proletariat\|working class]] and other marginalized groups. Founded in 1921, the CFR is a private non-profit headquartered in [[New York City]].<ref name=":4">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=Contact Us\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916123223/https://www.cfr.org/contact-us\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16\|quote=The Council on Foreign Relations is headquartered in New York City in the landmarked Harold Pratt House, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.}}</ref> Its funding comes from membership dues, corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, and individual donations.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=About\|url=https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916074216/https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> CFR is the publisher of the magazine ''[[Foreign Affairs]]''.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Foreign Affairs\|title=About Foreign Affairs\|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250908210209/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-date=2025-09-08}}</ref> CFR has been described by some as "[[Wall Street]]'s think tank" or "the think tank of monopoly-finance capital."<ref name=":0" /> Many government officials, policymakers, and media outlets have close ties to the CFR,<ref name=":7">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=Historical Roster of Directors and Officers\|url=https://www.cfr.org/historical-roster-directors-and-officers\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250917123102/https://www.cfr.org/historical-roster-directors-and-officers\|archive-date=2025-09-17\|retrieved=2025-09-17}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation\|author=Richard Harwood\|newspaper=The Washington Post\|title=Ruling Class Journalists\|date=1993-10-30\|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1993/10/30/ruling-class-journalists/761e7bf8-025d-474e-81cb-92dcf271571e/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003015242/https://www.washingtonpost.com/web/20171003015242/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1993/10/30/ruling-class-journalists/761e7bf8-025d-474e-81cb-92dcf271571e/?utm_term=.cb4c929c9509\|archive-date=2017-10-30}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|newspaper=Monthly Review\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes: Climate and China\|url=https://monthlyreview.org/articles/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250917123336/https://monthlyreview.org/articles/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/\|archive-date=2025-09-17\|retrieved=2025-09-17}}</ref> while the organization itself is not subject to public scrutiny or electoral processes, allowing its members to exert considerable influence on U.S. foreign policy behind closed doors.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

	The recommendations made by the CFR typically reflect imperialistic goals aimed at maintaining and expanding U.S. global dominance.<ref name=":2">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street’s think tank : the Council on Foreign Relations and the empire of neoliberal geopolitics, 1976–2014\|quote=The Council’s work since the mid-1970s has largely focused on creating, planning, promoting, and defending a U.S.-dominated, world-spanning neoliberal geopolitical empire that, due to the resulting mass poverty of billions of people, has been called “a criminal process of global colonization” by the Brazilian theologian Frei Betto. Samir Amin labels the system as one that imposes a “lumpen development” model of pauperization and super-exploitation on the people of the South, the majority of humankind. This imperialist empire is mostly an informal one, but its rule over and exploitation of a considerable part of the world and its people is nevertheless very real.		The recommendations made by the CFR typically reflect imperialistic goals aimed at maintaining and expanding U.S. global dominance.<ref name=":2">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street’s think tank : the Council on Foreign Relations and the empire of neoliberal geopolitics, 1976–2014\|quote=The Council’s work since the mid-1970s has largely focused on creating, planning, promoting, and defending a U.S.-dominated, world-spanning neoliberal geopolitical empire that, due to the resulting mass poverty of billions of people, has been called “a criminal process of global colonization” by the Brazilian theologian Frei Betto. Samir Amin labels the system as one that imposes a “lumpen development” model of pauperization and super-exploitation on the people of the South, the majority of humankind. This imperialist empire is mostly an informal one, but its rule over and exploitation of a considerable part of the world and its people is nevertheless very real.
Line 33:		Line 33:
	The CFR has its origins in the years following the [[World War I\|First World War]], with rising sentiment among some of the US ruling class that the growing economic power of the US should lead to greater US involvement and "leadership" in world affairs. The CFR was formally founded in 1921 with the merging of a New York businessmen's discussion group (itself called the Council on Foreign Relations, founded in 1918)<ref name=":8">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street's Think Tank\|chapter=Introduction: The Early History of the CFR\|page=16\|quote=The Council had its origins in the uniting of two different fledgling groups during the post—First World War era. The first, established in 1918, was the New York club called the Council on Foreign Relations. It had only 108 members, dominated by high-ranking Wall Street financiers and international lawyers. Its aims were to explore the effect of the war upon business and promote commerce. Its means were networking conferences and dinners hosting prominent foreign visitors. The second organization grew out of the postwar planning body—mainly made up of intellectuals set up by President Wilson's aide Edward House with the help of Walter Lippmann and others for the benefit of the 1919 U.S. peace delegation at the Versailles Conference. This group was called "The Inquiry." Attending the conference, the group of planners met separately with members of the British delegation and decided to continue the Inquiry by forming a permanent Anglo-American Institute of International Affairs with two branches, one in each country.}}</ref> with the US branch of the Anglo-American Institute of International Affairs whose members consisted largely of statesmen and academics.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":8" /> Meanwhile, the British counterpart of the Anglo-American Institute of International Affairs went on to develop into the [[Chatham House\|Royal Institute of International Affairs]], also known as Chatham House.<ref name=":0" />		The CFR has its origins in the years following the [[World War I\|First World War]], with rising sentiment among some of the US ruling class that the growing economic power of the US should lead to greater US involvement and "leadership" in world affairs. The CFR was formally founded in 1921 with the merging of a New York businessmen's discussion group (itself called the Council on Foreign Relations, founded in 1918)<ref name=":8">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street's Think Tank\|chapter=Introduction: The Early History of the CFR\|page=16\|quote=The Council had its origins in the uniting of two different fledgling groups during the post—First World War era. The first, established in 1918, was the New York club called the Council on Foreign Relations. It had only 108 members, dominated by high-ranking Wall Street financiers and international lawyers. Its aims were to explore the effect of the war upon business and promote commerce. Its means were networking conferences and dinners hosting prominent foreign visitors. The second organization grew out of the postwar planning body—mainly made up of intellectuals set up by President Wilson's aide Edward House with the help of Walter Lippmann and others for the benefit of the 1919 U.S. peace delegation at the Versailles Conference. This group was called "The Inquiry." Attending the conference, the group of planners met separately with members of the British delegation and decided to continue the Inquiry by forming a permanent Anglo-American Institute of International Affairs with two branches, one in each country.}}</ref> with the US branch of the Anglo-American Institute of International Affairs whose members consisted largely of statesmen and academics.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":8" /> Meanwhile, the British counterpart of the Anglo-American Institute of International Affairs went on to develop into the [[Chatham House\|Royal Institute of International Affairs]], also known as Chatham House.<ref name=":0" />

	The early Council on Foreign Relations was restricted to 650 members, 400 from New York and 250 from the rest of the country,<ref name=":1" /> with a fifteen-man board of directors and Wall Street lawyer and former US Secretary of State and [[United States Department of Defense\|US Secretary of War]] [[Elihu Root]] as its honorary president.<ref name=":0" /> Other influential early figures include the noted outspoken [[antisemitic]], [[Racism\|racist]], [[Eugenics\|eugenisist]], [[Homophobia\|homophobe]] and frequent author on the viability of "[[Settler colonialism\|pioneer settlement]]" projects [[Isaiah Bowman]],<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Morgan Ome\|newspaper=The Johns Hopkins News-Letter\|title=A legacy of anti-Semitism\|date=2016-03-03\|url=https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2016/03/a-legacy-of-anti-semitism\|quote=He was known for his outspoken anti-Semitic views. Bowman served as President of the University from 1935-1948, during the rise of Hitler, the Third Reich, and the aftermath of World War II. [...] In 1942, Bowman instituted a quota on the number of Jewish students admitted to the University and restricted the number of Jewish students allowed to pursue degrees in the fields of science and math. The quota was abolished in the 1950s. In addition to his anti-Semitic beliefs, Bowman also expressed anti-black and homophobic sentiments. [...] “My father had the clear opinion, and this would not have been typical at all for him because he didn’t lightly accuse someone of being anti-Semitic but Bowman had that reputation,” Sachs said.}}</ref><ref>{{Citation\|author=Isaiah Bowman\|year=1931\|title=The Pioneer Fringe\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/pioneerfringe00bowmrich/\|page=1-2\|quote=Millions now live in the pioneer lands, and millions more can be accommodated there. The question of their destiny is a most engaging one to the farmer near the border who has heard of opportunities over the next ridge; to geographers and economists and colonial administrators; to biologists and eugenists intent on improving the breed and aware of the higher birth rate among pioneers; to politicians who, like nature, abhor empty space; and to a certain type of city dweller, that modern thrall, who would exchange a desk for a bark canoe and whose bright vision of a home in the wilderness rarely outlasts the first rainy night.\|publisher=American Geographical Society\|isbn=0836958284}}</ref><ref>{{Citation\|author=Geoffrey J. Martin\|year=1980\|title=The life and thought of Isaiah Bowman\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/lifethoughtofisa0000mart/\|chapter='The Science of Settlement' and Resettlement Schemes\|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/lifethoughtofisa0000mart/page/123/\|publisher=Archon Books}}</ref> and [[Hamilton Fish Armstrong]].<ref>{{Citation\|author=Geoffrey J. Martin\|year=1980\|title=The life and thought of Isaiah Bowman\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/lifethoughtofisa0000mart/\|page=163-4\|quote=A joint British-American organization was sought, but eventually two se arate or anizations were created: the British (now the Royal) Institute of International Affairs in London, and the Councl on Foreign Relations in New York City. Bowman was a founder of the Council, a member of its Board of Directors, an a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of its periodical Foreign Affairs. [...] Bowman's association with the Council on Foreign Relations kept him in touch with others interested in international affairs. In particular, it brought him into a lifelong association with Hamilton Fish Armstrong, longtime editor of Foreign Affairs.\|publisher=Archon Books\|isbn=0-208-01844-1}}</ref> ~~The~~ early CFR~~'s membership rosters~~ "~~read like a ''Who~~'s ~~Who''~~ of ~~American leaders~~"<ref name=":1" /> ~~in which "partners from Wall Street’s~~ [[J.P. ~~Morgan & Co~~.\|J. P. ~~Morgan~~ and ~~Company~~]] ~~interacted~~ with ~~professors~~, ~~international lawyers, corporate leaders, syndicated columnists, clergymen~~, and ~~State Department officials~~."<ref name=":1" /> The ~~council~~ regarded "isolationists" as its primary adversaries.<ref name=":1" />		The early Council on Foreign Relations was restricted to 650 members, 400 from New York and 250 from the rest of the country,<ref name=":1" /> with a fifteen-man board of directors and Wall Street lawyer and former US Secretary of State and [[United States Department of Defense\|US Secretary of War]] [[Elihu Root]] as its honorary president.<ref name=":0" /> Shoup notes that in his various positions of power, Root had played a central role in designing [[Colonialism\|colonial]] and [[Neocolonialism\|neocolonial]] policies in places such as the [[Republic of the Philippines\|Philippines]] and [[Republic of Cuba\|Cuba]] during the imperialist expansion of the US at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth century.<ref name=":0" />

			The early CFR's membership rosters "read like a ''Who's Who'' of American leaders"<ref name=":1" /> in which "partners from Wall Street’s [[J.P. Morgan & Co.\|J. P. Morgan and Company]] interacted with professors, international lawyers, corporate leaders, syndicated columnists, clergymen, and State Department officials."<ref name=":1" /> Other influential early figures include the noted outspoken [[antisemitic]], [[Racism\|racist]], [[Eugenics\|eugenisist]], [[Homophobia\|homophobe]] and frequent author on the viability of "[[Settler colonialism\|pioneer settlement]]" projects [[Isaiah Bowman]],<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Morgan Ome\|newspaper=The Johns Hopkins News-Letter\|title=A legacy of anti-Semitism\|date=2016-03-03\|url=https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2016/03/a-legacy-of-anti-semitism\|quote=He was known for his outspoken anti-Semitic views. Bowman served as President of the University from 1935-1948, during the rise of Hitler, the Third Reich, and the aftermath of World War II. [...] In 1942, Bowman instituted a quota on the number of Jewish students admitted to the University and restricted the number of Jewish students allowed to pursue degrees in the fields of science and math. The quota was abolished in the 1950s. In addition to his anti-Semitic beliefs, Bowman also expressed anti-black and homophobic sentiments. [...] “My father had the clear opinion, and this would not have been typical at all for him because he didn’t lightly accuse someone of being anti-Semitic but Bowman had that reputation,” Sachs said.}}</ref><ref>{{Citation\|author=Isaiah Bowman\|year=1931\|title=The Pioneer Fringe\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/pioneerfringe00bowmrich/\|page=1-2\|quote=Millions now live in the pioneer lands, and millions more can be accommodated there. The question of their destiny is a most engaging one to the farmer near the border who has heard of opportunities over the next ridge; to geographers and economists and colonial administrators; to biologists and eugenists intent on improving the breed and aware of the higher birth rate among pioneers; to politicians who, like nature, abhor empty space; and to a certain type of city dweller, that modern thrall, who would exchange a desk for a bark canoe and whose bright vision of a home in the wilderness rarely outlasts the first rainy night.\|publisher=American Geographical Society\|isbn=0836958284}}</ref><ref>{{Citation\|author=Geoffrey J. Martin\|year=1980\|title=The life and thought of Isaiah Bowman\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/lifethoughtofisa0000mart/\|chapter='The Science of Settlement' and Resettlement Schemes\|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/lifethoughtofisa0000mart/page/123/\|publisher=Archon Books}}</ref> and [[Hamilton Fish Armstrong]].<ref>{{Citation\|author=Geoffrey J. Martin\|year=1980\|title=The life and thought of Isaiah Bowman\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/lifethoughtofisa0000mart/\|page=163-4\|quote=A joint British-American organization was sought, but eventually two se arate or anizations were created: the British (now the Royal) Institute of International Affairs in London, and the Councl on Foreign Relations in New York City. Bowman was a founder of the Council, a member of its Board of Directors, an a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of its periodical Foreign Affairs. [...] Bowman's association with the Council on Foreign Relations kept him in touch with others interested in international affairs. In particular, it brought him into a lifelong association with Hamilton Fish Armstrong, longtime editor of Foreign Affairs.\|publisher=Archon Books\|isbn=0-208-01844-1}}</ref> [[Archibald Cary Coolidge]] is another early CFR figure, whose family wealth "went back to involvement in the nineteenth-century [[People's Republic of China\|China]] trade"<ref name=":0" /> during an era of prolific Western [[gunboat diplomacy]] directed at forcibly "opening" world nations for trade,<ref name=":9">{{Web citation\|author=Marc DeSantis\|newspaper=Military History Matters\|title=War of Words – ‘Gunboat Diplomacy’\|date=2020-05-25\|url=https://www.military-history.org/feature/modern-articles/war-of-words-gunboat-diplomacy.htm\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250922110416/https://www.military-history.org/feature/modern-articles/war-of-words-gunboat-diplomacy.htm\|archive-date=2025-09-22}}</ref> and during China's historical "[[History of China#First Opium War and arrival of European imperialism\|century of humiliation]]" and the [[First Opium War]],<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":10">{{Web citation\|author=Irina Matchavariani and Tiziana Dearing\|newspaper=WBUR\|title=How Boston profited from the opium trade in the 19th century\|date=2023-06-18\|url=https://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2023/06/20/boston-profited-from-the-opium-trade-in-the-19th-century-now-the-city-is-reckoning-with-its-pastn\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240703003931/https://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2023/06/20/boston-profited-from-the-opium-trade-in-the-19th-century-now-the-city-is-reckoning-with-its-pastn\|archive-date=2024-07-03\|quote=Prominent families, known as Boston Brahmins built their fortunes shipping — and in this case, on smuggling opium to China. The shipments caused clashes known as the Opium Wars and fueled addiction across China.}}</ref> and who was part of the so-called "[[Boston Brahmins]]" who had profited from smuggling [[opium]] into China.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":10" /><ref>{{Web citation\|author=Martha Bebinger\|newspaper=WBUR\|title=How Profits From Opium Shaped 19th-Century Boston\|date=2017-07-31\|url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2017/07/31/opium-boston-history\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250731232738/https://www.wbur.org/news/2017/07/31/opium-boston-history\|archive-date=2025-07-31}}</ref>

			The CFR regarded "isolationists" in Congress as well as "nationally oriented ultraconservative business executives that did not want the United States to become entangled in world affairs outside the southern half of the Western Hemisphere" to be its primary adversaries.<ref name=":1" />

	The Park Avenue mansion of the late oil industrialist [[Harold Pratt]], director of [[ExxonMobil Corporation\|Standard Oil]] (now the ExxonMobil Corporation), became the CFR's headquarters in 1945 and is now known as the [[Harold Pratt House]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05.</ref><ref name=":4" />		The Park Avenue mansion of the late oil industrialist [[Harold Pratt]], director of [[ExxonMobil Corporation\|Standard Oil]] (now the ExxonMobil Corporation), became the CFR's headquarters in 1945 and is now known as the [[Harold Pratt House]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05.</ref><ref name=":4" />

General-KJ: Reverted edit by Charhapiti (talk) to last revision by Verda.Majo

2025-09-20T22:25:42Z

Reverted edit by Charhapiti (talk) to last revision by Verda.Majo

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:25, 20 September 2025
Line 10:		Line 10:
	According to CFR's website as of September 2025, CFR is composed of over 5,000 members.<ref name=":3">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=FAQs\|url=https://www.cfr.org/about/faqs\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> Membership is by invitation only (typically proposed by current CFR members), prospective members must undergo a rigorous nomination and vetting process based on their expertise, experience, and potential contributions to the CFR’s mission. Members include government officials, scholars, business leaders, journalists, lawyers, and other "distinguished nonprofit professionals."<ref name=":3" /> CFR also includes a number of "fellows", who are full-time and adjunct and visiting scholars and practitioners under the CFR's [[David Rockefeller Studies Program]] as well as recipients of one-year fellowships. CFR's website states that membership is divided "almost equally among those living in New York, Washington, DC, and across the country and abroad."<ref name=":3" />		According to CFR's website as of September 2025, CFR is composed of over 5,000 members.<ref name=":3">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=FAQs\|url=https://www.cfr.org/about/faqs\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> Membership is by invitation only (typically proposed by current CFR members), prospective members must undergo a rigorous nomination and vetting process based on their expertise, experience, and potential contributions to the CFR’s mission. Members include government officials, scholars, business leaders, journalists, lawyers, and other "distinguished nonprofit professionals."<ref name=":3" /> CFR also includes a number of "fellows", who are full-time and adjunct and visiting scholars and practitioners under the CFR's [[David Rockefeller Studies Program]] as well as recipients of one-year fellowships. CFR's website states that membership is divided "almost equally among those living in New York, Washington, DC, and across the country and abroad."<ref name=":3" />

	The US's [[Joe Biden]] administration was comprised of a number of CFR members~~. Former CIA director [[Allen Dulles]] was a member of the board from 1927 to 1969.<ref>~~{{Web citation\|author=Lawrence Shoup\|newspaper=Monthly Review\|title='The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes\|date=2021-05-01\|url=https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501065134/https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/\|~~quote=~~The CFR is funded and led by members of the old plutocracy. For example, David Rockefeller was the CFR’s chair for fifteen years and has been its leading financial donor historically. No less than seventeen Biden team members (out of thirty total, or 56.7 percent) are members of, have close family ties to, or are otherwise connected to the CFR (see box on page 3). These include: vice president Kamala Harris; secretary of state Antony Blinken; secretary of the treasury Janet Yellen; secretary of defense Lloyd Austin; CIA head William J. Burns; national security advisor Jake Sullivan; secretary of agriculture Thomas Vilsack; secretary of commerce Gina Raimondo; secretary of homeland security Alejandro Mayorkas; chief of staff Ron Klain; climate envoy John Kerry; domestic council chief Susan Rice; Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt M. Campbell; ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield; chief of Council of Economic Advisers Cecilia Rouse; director of science and technology Eric S. Lander; and counselor Jeffery Zients. All have at least a minimum level of commitment to the CFR, in the sense of having the necessary connections, making the effort needed to become a member, and paying expensive annual dues. Several of this group are especially close to the Council. For example, Blinken is not only a CFR member, but his wife, father, and uncle are also members. Since 2004, Blinken has also often donated to the Council’s annual fund drive. Kerry, a Boston Brahman member of the old money plutocracy whose family wealth exceeds a billion dollars, has at least four other family members in the CFR. Rouse has been a director of the Council since 2018. Vilsack was the cochair of a CFR independent task force study group in 2007. Many have spoken at CFR meetings, such as Mayorkas in June 2011.		The US's [[Joe Biden]] administration was comprised of a number of CFR members:

			{{Quote\|The CFR is funded and led by members of the old plutocracy. For example, David Rockefeller was the CFR’s chair for fifteen years and has been its leading financial donor historically. No less than seventeen Biden team members (out of thirty total, or 56.7 percent) are members of, have close family ties to, or are otherwise connected to the CFR (see box on page 3). These include: vice president Kamala Harris; secretary of state Antony Blinken; secretary of the treasury Janet Yellen; secretary of defense Lloyd Austin; CIA head William J. Burns; national security advisor Jake Sullivan; secretary of agriculture Thomas Vilsack; secretary of commerce Gina Raimondo; secretary of homeland security Alejandro Mayorkas; chief of staff Ron Klain; climate envoy John Kerry; domestic council chief Susan Rice; Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt M. Campbell; ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield; chief of Council of Economic Advisers Cecilia Rouse; director of science and technology Eric S. Lander; and counselor Jeffery Zients. All have at least a minimum level of commitment to the CFR, in the sense of having the necessary connections, making the effort needed to become a member, and paying expensive annual dues. Several of this group are especially close to the Council. For example, Blinken is not only a CFR member, but his wife, father, and uncle are also members. Since 2004, Blinken has also often donated to the Council’s annual fund drive. Kerry, a Boston Brahman member of the old money plutocracy whose family wealth exceeds a billion dollars, has at least four other family members in the CFR. Rouse has been a director of the Council since 2018. Vilsack was the cochair of a CFR independent task force study group in 2007. Many have spoken at CFR meetings, such as Mayorkas in June 2011.

	Vice President Harris and Chief of Staff Klain are the only ones of the seventeen listed in the box on page 3 who are not members but are tied to the CFR by family. Harris’s sister Maya, who was her campaign manager, has been a Council member since 2013. Klain’s wife, Monica Media, was elected to CFR membership in 2016.3		Vice President Harris and Chief of Staff Klain are the only ones of the seventeen listed in the box on page 3 who are not members but are tied to the CFR by family. Harris’s sister Maya, who was her campaign manager, has been a Council member since 2013. Klain’s wife, Monica Media, was elected to CFR membership in 2016.3
Line 16:		Line 18:
	Although not currently a CFR member, National Security Advisor Sullivan also has close ties to the Council. In recent years, he has written no less than five articles for the CFR’s in-house journal Foreign Affairs, and spoken at the CFR’s New York headquarters.		Although not currently a CFR member, National Security Advisor Sullivan also has close ties to the Council. In recent years, he has written no less than five articles for the CFR’s in-house journal Foreign Affairs, and spoken at the CFR’s New York headquarters.

	Finally, Biden himself was allowed to write an article for Foreign Affairs during the presidential campaign. Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were the only presidential candidates invited to advertise themselves and their ideas in Foreign Affairs during the 2019–20 election period.}}</~~ref~~>		Finally, Biden himself was allowed to write an article for Foreign Affairs during the presidential campaign. Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were the only presidential candidates invited to advertise themselves and their ideas in Foreign Affairs during the 2019–20 election period.\|Lawrence Shoup. (2021).[https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/ ''The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes'']}}Former CIA director [[Allen Dulles]] was a member of the board from 1927 to 1969.<ref name=":7" />

	CFR has credited itself with helping launch the career of [[Henry Kissinger]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05. Quote: ''"CFR invites a young Harvard scholar to oversee a study group on deterrence. The Council publishes Henry Kissinger's resulting book, which becomes an unexpected bestseller and launches one of the most influential diplomatic careers of the century."''</ref> Kissinger was a CFR chairman of the board from 1977 to 1981.<ref name=":7" />		CFR has credited itself with helping launch the career of [[Henry Kissinger]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05. Quote: ''"CFR invites a young Harvard scholar to oversee a study group on deterrence. The Council publishes Henry Kissinger's resulting book, which becomes an unexpected bestseller and launches one of the most influential diplomatic careers of the century."''</ref> Kissinger was a CFR chairman of the board from 1977 to 1981.<ref name=":7" />

Charhapiti at 03:37, 19 September 2025

2025-09-19T03:37:40Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:37, 19 September 2025
Line 10:		Line 10:
	According to CFR's website as of September 2025, CFR is composed of over 5,000 members.<ref name=":3">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=FAQs\|url=https://www.cfr.org/about/faqs\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> Membership is by invitation only (typically proposed by current CFR members), prospective members must undergo a rigorous nomination and vetting process based on their expertise, experience, and potential contributions to the CFR’s mission. Members include government officials, scholars, business leaders, journalists, lawyers, and other "distinguished nonprofit professionals."<ref name=":3" /> CFR also includes a number of "fellows", who are full-time and adjunct and visiting scholars and practitioners under the CFR's [[David Rockefeller Studies Program]] as well as recipients of one-year fellowships. CFR's website states that membership is divided "almost equally among those living in New York, Washington, DC, and across the country and abroad."<ref name=":3" />		According to CFR's website as of September 2025, CFR is composed of over 5,000 members.<ref name=":3">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=FAQs\|url=https://www.cfr.org/about/faqs\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> Membership is by invitation only (typically proposed by current CFR members), prospective members must undergo a rigorous nomination and vetting process based on their expertise, experience, and potential contributions to the CFR’s mission. Members include government officials, scholars, business leaders, journalists, lawyers, and other "distinguished nonprofit professionals."<ref name=":3" /> CFR also includes a number of "fellows", who are full-time and adjunct and visiting scholars and practitioners under the CFR's [[David Rockefeller Studies Program]] as well as recipients of one-year fellowships. CFR's website states that membership is divided "almost equally among those living in New York, Washington, DC, and across the country and abroad."<ref name=":3" />

	The US's [[Joe Biden]] administration was comprised of a number of CFR members:		The US's [[Joe Biden]] administration was comprised of a number of CFR members. Former CIA director [[Allen Dulles]] was a member of the board from 1927 to 1969.<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Lawrence Shoup\|newspaper=Monthly Review\|title='The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes\|date=2021-05-01\|url=https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501065134/https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/\|quote=The CFR is funded and led by members of the old plutocracy. For example, David Rockefeller was the CFR’s chair for fifteen years and has been its leading financial donor historically. No less than seventeen Biden team members (out of thirty total, or 56.7 percent) are members of, have close family ties to, or are otherwise connected to the CFR (see box on page 3). These include: vice president Kamala Harris; secretary of state Antony Blinken; secretary of the treasury Janet Yellen; secretary of defense Lloyd Austin; CIA head William J. Burns; national security advisor Jake Sullivan; secretary of agriculture Thomas Vilsack; secretary of commerce Gina Raimondo; secretary of homeland security Alejandro Mayorkas; chief of staff Ron Klain; climate envoy John Kerry; domestic council chief Susan Rice; Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt M. Campbell; ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield; chief of Council of Economic Advisers Cecilia Rouse; director of science and technology Eric S. Lander; and counselor Jeffery Zients. All have at least a minimum level of commitment to the CFR, in the sense of having the necessary connections, making the effort needed to become a member, and paying expensive annual dues. Several of this group are especially close to the Council. For example, Blinken is not only a CFR member, but his wife, father, and uncle are also members. Since 2004, Blinken has also often donated to the Council’s annual fund drive. Kerry, a Boston Brahman member of the old money plutocracy whose family wealth exceeds a billion dollars, has at least four other family members in the CFR. Rouse has been a director of the Council since 2018. Vilsack was the cochair of a CFR independent task force study group in 2007. Many have spoken at CFR meetings, such as Mayorkas in June 2011.

	{{~~Quote~~\|The CFR is funded and led by members of the old plutocracy. For example, David Rockefeller was the CFR’s chair for fifteen years and has been its leading financial donor historically. No less than seventeen Biden team members (out of thirty total, or 56.7 percent) are members of, have close family ties to, or are otherwise connected to the CFR (see box on page 3). These include: vice president Kamala Harris; secretary of state Antony Blinken; secretary of the treasury Janet Yellen; secretary of defense Lloyd Austin; CIA head William J. Burns; national security advisor Jake Sullivan; secretary of agriculture Thomas Vilsack; secretary of commerce Gina Raimondo; secretary of homeland security Alejandro Mayorkas; chief of staff Ron Klain; climate envoy John Kerry; domestic council chief Susan Rice; Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt M. Campbell; ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield; chief of Council of Economic Advisers Cecilia Rouse; director of science and technology Eric S. Lander; and counselor Jeffery Zients. All have at least a minimum level of commitment to the CFR, in the sense of having the necessary connections, making the effort needed to become a member, and paying expensive annual dues. Several of this group are especially close to the Council. For example, Blinken is not only a CFR member, but his wife, father, and uncle are also members. Since 2004, Blinken has also often donated to the Council’s annual fund drive. Kerry, a Boston Brahman member of the old money plutocracy whose family wealth exceeds a billion dollars, has at least four other family members in the CFR. Rouse has been a director of the Council since 2018. Vilsack was the cochair of a CFR independent task force study group in 2007. Many have spoken at CFR meetings, such as Mayorkas in June 2011.

	Vice President Harris and Chief of Staff Klain are the only ones of the seventeen listed in the box on page 3 who are not members but are tied to the CFR by family. Harris’s sister Maya, who was her campaign manager, has been a Council member since 2013. Klain’s wife, Monica Media, was elected to CFR membership in 2016.3		Vice President Harris and Chief of Staff Klain are the only ones of the seventeen listed in the box on page 3 who are not members but are tied to the CFR by family. Harris’s sister Maya, who was her campaign manager, has been a Council member since 2013. Klain’s wife, Monica Media, was elected to CFR membership in 2016.3
Line 18:		Line 16:
	Although not currently a CFR member, National Security Advisor Sullivan also has close ties to the Council. In recent years, he has written no less than five articles for the CFR’s in-house journal Foreign Affairs, and spoken at the CFR’s New York headquarters.		Although not currently a CFR member, National Security Advisor Sullivan also has close ties to the Council. In recent years, he has written no less than five articles for the CFR’s in-house journal Foreign Affairs, and spoken at the CFR’s New York headquarters.

	Finally, Biden himself was allowed to write an article for Foreign Affairs during the presidential campaign. Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were the only presidential candidates invited to advertise themselves and their ideas in Foreign Affairs during the 2019–20 election period.\|Lawrence Shoup. (2021).[https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/ ''The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes'']}}~~Former CIA director [[Allen Dulles]] was a member of the board from 1927 to 1969.~~<ref ~~name=":7" /~~>		Finally, Biden himself was allowed to write an article for Foreign Affairs during the presidential campaign. Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were the only presidential candidates invited to advertise themselves and their ideas in Foreign Affairs during the 2019–20 election period.}}</ref>

	CFR has credited itself with helping launch the career of [[Henry Kissinger]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05. Quote: ''"CFR invites a young Harvard scholar to oversee a study group on deterrence. The Council publishes Henry Kissinger's resulting book, which becomes an unexpected bestseller and launches one of the most influential diplomatic careers of the century."''</ref> Kissinger was a CFR chairman of the board from 1977 to 1981.<ref name=":7" />		CFR has credited itself with helping launch the career of [[Henry Kissinger]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05. Quote: ''"CFR invites a young Harvard scholar to oversee a study group on deterrence. The Council publishes Henry Kissinger's resulting book, which becomes an unexpected bestseller and launches one of the most influential diplomatic careers of the century."''</ref> Kissinger was a CFR chairman of the board from 1977 to 1981.<ref name=":7" />

Verda.Majo: added additional sources to lede, added additional info to membership and history sections

2025-09-17T14:30:59Z

added additional sources to lede, added additional info to membership and history sections

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:30, 17 September 2025
Line 1:		Line 1:
	The '''Council on Foreign Relations''' ('''CFR''') is an influential [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] organization and [[think tank]] based in the [[United States of America]].<ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street's Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire of Neoliberal Geopolitics, 1976–2014\|city=New York\|publisher=Monthly Review Press\|isbn=978-1-58367-551-9}}</ref> CFR represents the interests of the [[Bourgeoisie\|capitalist]] [[ruling class]] of the US and plays a significant role in shaping US foreign policy in favour of corporate and [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] interests,<ref name=":1">{{Citation\|author=G. William Domhoff\|year=2014\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations and the Grand Area: Case Studies on the Origins of the IMF and the Vietnam War\|title-url=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower/vol2/iss1/1/\|quote=\|publisher=Class, Race and Corporate Power\|doi=10.25148/CRCP.2.1.16092111\|volume=Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 1}}</ref> while downplaying the needs of the [[Proletariat\|working class]] and other marginalized groups. Founded in 1921, the CFR is a private non-profit headquartered in [[New York City]].<ref name=":4">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=Contact Us\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916123223/https://www.cfr.org/contact-us\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16\|quote=The Council on Foreign Relations is headquartered in New York City in the landmarked Harold Pratt House, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.}}</ref> Its funding comes from membership dues, corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, and individual donations.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=About\|url=https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916074216/https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> CFR is the publisher of the magazine ''[[Foreign Affairs]]''.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Foreign Affairs\|title=About Foreign Affairs\|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250908210209/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-date=2025-09-08}}</ref> CFR has been described by some as "[[Wall Street]]'s think tank" or "the think tank of monopoly-finance capital."<ref name=":0" /> Many government officials, policymakers, and media outlets have close ties to the CFR, while the organization itself is not subject to public scrutiny or electoral processes, allowing its members to exert considerable influence on U.S. foreign policy behind closed doors.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />		The '''Council on Foreign Relations''' ('''CFR''') is an influential [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] organization and [[think tank]] based in the [[United States of America]].<ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street's Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire of Neoliberal Geopolitics, 1976–2014\|city=New York\|publisher=Monthly Review Press\|isbn=978-1-58367-551-9}}</ref> CFR represents the interests of the [[Bourgeoisie\|capitalist]] [[ruling class]] of the US and plays a significant role in shaping US foreign policy in favour of corporate and [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] interests,<ref name=":1">{{Citation\|author=G. William Domhoff\|year=2014\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations and the Grand Area: Case Studies on the Origins of the IMF and the Vietnam War\|title-url=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower/vol2/iss1/1/\|quote=\|publisher=Class, Race and Corporate Power\|doi=10.25148/CRCP.2.1.16092111\|volume=Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 1}}</ref> while downplaying the needs of the [[Proletariat\|working class]] and other marginalized groups. Founded in 1921, the CFR is a private non-profit headquartered in [[New York City]].<ref name=":4">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=Contact Us\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916123223/https://www.cfr.org/contact-us\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16\|quote=The Council on Foreign Relations is headquartered in New York City in the landmarked Harold Pratt House, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.}}</ref> Its funding comes from membership dues, corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, and individual donations.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=About\|url=https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916074216/https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> CFR is the publisher of the magazine ''[[Foreign Affairs]]''.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Foreign Affairs\|title=About Foreign Affairs\|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250908210209/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-date=2025-09-08}}</ref> CFR has been described by some as "[[Wall Street]]'s think tank" or "the think tank of monopoly-finance capital."<ref name=":0" /> Many government officials, policymakers, and media outlets have close ties to the CFR,<ref name=":7">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=Historical Roster of Directors and Officers\|url=https://www.cfr.org/historical-roster-directors-and-officers\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250917123102/https://www.cfr.org/historical-roster-directors-and-officers\|archive-date=2025-09-17\|retrieved=2025-09-17}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation\|author=Richard Harwood\|newspaper=The Washington Post\|title=Ruling Class Journalists\|date=1993-10-30\|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1993/10/30/ruling-class-journalists/761e7bf8-025d-474e-81cb-92dcf271571e/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003015242/https://www.washingtonpost.com/web/20171003015242/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1993/10/30/ruling-class-journalists/761e7bf8-025d-474e-81cb-92dcf271571e/?utm_term=.cb4c929c9509\|archive-date=2017-10-30}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|newspaper=Monthly Review\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes: Climate and China\|url=https://monthlyreview.org/articles/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250917123336/https://monthlyreview.org/articles/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/\|archive-date=2025-09-17\|retrieved=2025-09-17}}</ref> while the organization itself is not subject to public scrutiny or electoral processes, allowing its members to exert considerable influence on U.S. foreign policy behind closed doors.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

	The recommendations made by the CFR typically reflect imperialistic goals aimed at maintaining and expanding U.S. global dominance.<ref name=":2">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street’s think tank : the Council on Foreign Relations and the empire of neoliberal geopolitics, 1976–2014\|quote=The Council’s work since the mid-1970s has largely focused on creating, planning, promoting, and defending a U.S.-dominated, world-spanning neoliberal geopolitical empire that, due to the resulting mass poverty of billions of people, has been called “a criminal process of global colonization” by the Brazilian theologian Frei Betto. Samir Amin labels the system as one that imposes a “lumpen development” model of pauperization and super-exploitation on the people of the South, the majority of humankind. This imperialist empire is mostly an informal one, but its rule over and exploitation of a considerable part of the world and its people is nevertheless very real.		The recommendations made by the CFR typically reflect imperialistic goals aimed at maintaining and expanding U.S. global dominance.<ref name=":2">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street’s think tank : the Council on Foreign Relations and the empire of neoliberal geopolitics, 1976–2014\|quote=The Council’s work since the mid-1970s has largely focused on creating, planning, promoting, and defending a U.S.-dominated, world-spanning neoliberal geopolitical empire that, due to the resulting mass poverty of billions of people, has been called “a criminal process of global colonization” by the Brazilian theologian Frei Betto. Samir Amin labels the system as one that imposes a “lumpen development” model of pauperization and super-exploitation on the people of the South, the majority of humankind. This imperialist empire is mostly an informal one, but its rule over and exploitation of a considerable part of the world and its people is nevertheless very real.
Line 18:		Line 18:
	Although not currently a CFR member, National Security Advisor Sullivan also has close ties to the Council. In recent years, he has written no less than five articles for the CFR’s in-house journal Foreign Affairs, and spoken at the CFR’s New York headquarters.		Although not currently a CFR member, National Security Advisor Sullivan also has close ties to the Council. In recent years, he has written no less than five articles for the CFR’s in-house journal Foreign Affairs, and spoken at the CFR’s New York headquarters.

	Finally, Biden himself was allowed to write an article for Foreign Affairs during the presidential campaign. Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were the only presidential candidates invited to advertise themselves and their ideas in Foreign Affairs during the 2019–20 election period.\|Lawrence Shoup. (2021).[https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/ ''The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes'']}}CFR has credited itself with helping launch the career of [[Henry Kissinger]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05. Quote: ''"CFR invites a young Harvard scholar to oversee a study group on deterrence. The Council publishes Henry Kissinger's resulting book, which becomes an unexpected bestseller and launches one of the most influential diplomatic careers of the century."''</ref>		Finally, Biden himself was allowed to write an article for Foreign Affairs during the presidential campaign. Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were the only presidential candidates invited to advertise themselves and their ideas in Foreign Affairs during the 2019–20 election period.\|Lawrence Shoup. (2021).[https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/ ''The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes'']}}Former CIA director [[Allen Dulles]] was a member of the board from 1927 to 1969.<ref name=":7" />

			CFR has credited itself with helping launch the career of [[Henry Kissinger]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05. Quote: ''"CFR invites a young Harvard scholar to oversee a study group on deterrence. The Council publishes Henry Kissinger's resulting book, which becomes an unexpected bestseller and launches one of the most influential diplomatic careers of the century."''</ref> Kissinger was a CFR chairman of the board from 1977 to 1981.<ref name=":7" />

	[[Francis Fukuyama]], author of "[[The End of History]]", is a member of the CFR<ref name=":6">[https://fukuyama.people.stanford.edu/ "Francis Fukuyama."] Stanford University. [https://web.archive.org/web/20250916124523/https://fukuyama.people.stanford.edu/ Archived] 2025-09-16.</ref> and a frequent contributor to ''Foreign Affairs''.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Foreign Affairs\|title=Francis Fukuyama\|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/authors/francis-fukuyama\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250807160420/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/authors/francis-fukuyama\|archive-date=2025-08-07\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> Fukuyama is also on the board of trustees of the [[RAND Corporation]].<ref name=":6" />		[[Francis Fukuyama]], author of "[[The End of History]]", is a member of the CFR<ref name=":6">[https://fukuyama.people.stanford.edu/ "Francis Fukuyama."] Stanford University. [https://web.archive.org/web/20250916124523/https://fukuyama.people.stanford.edu/ Archived] 2025-09-16.</ref> and a frequent contributor to ''Foreign Affairs''.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Foreign Affairs\|title=Francis Fukuyama\|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/authors/francis-fukuyama\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250807160420/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/authors/francis-fukuyama\|archive-date=2025-08-07\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> Fukuyama is also on the board of trustees of the [[RAND Corporation]].<ref name=":6" />

			Former US president and [[Central Intelligence Agency\|CIA]] director [[George H.W. Bush]] was a CFR member of the board from 1977 to 1979.<ref name=":7" />

			[[Zbigniew Brzezinski]], former [[United States National Security Advisor\|US National Security Advisor]] and author of ''[[The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives]]'' was a CFR chairman of the board from 1972 to 1977.<ref name=":7" />

			[[Madeleine Albright]] was a chairman of the board from 2004 to 2014.<ref name=":7" />

	== History ==		== History ==
	The CFR has its origins in the years following the [[World War I\|First World War]], with rising sentiment among some of the US ruling class that the growing economic power of the US should lead to greater US involvement and "leadership" in world affairs. The CFR was formally founded in 1921 with the merging of a New York businessmen's discussion group with the Institute of International Affairs whose members consisted largely of statesmen and academics.<ref name=":1" /> The early ~~council "~~was restricted to 650 members, 400 from New York and 250 from the rest of the country, and had a membership ~~roster that~~ read like a ''Who's Who'' of American leaders" in which "partners from Wall Street’s [[J.P. Morgan & Co.\|J. P. Morgan and Company]] interacted with professors, international lawyers, corporate leaders, syndicated columnists, clergymen, and State Department officials."<ref name=":1" /> The council regarded "isolationists" as its primary adversaries.<ref name=":1" />		The CFR has its origins in the years following the [[World War I\|First World War]], with rising sentiment among some of the US ruling class that the growing economic power of the US should lead to greater US involvement and "leadership" in world affairs. The CFR was formally founded in 1921 with the merging of a New York businessmen's discussion group (itself called the Council on Foreign Relations, founded in 1918)<ref name=":8">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street's Think Tank\|chapter=Introduction: The Early History of the CFR\|page=16\|quote=The Council had its origins in the uniting of two different fledgling groups during the post—First World War era. The first, established in 1918, was the New York club called the Council on Foreign Relations. It had only 108 members, dominated by high-ranking Wall Street financiers and international lawyers. Its aims were to explore the effect of the war upon business and promote commerce. Its means were networking conferences and dinners hosting prominent foreign visitors. The second organization grew out of the postwar planning body—mainly made up of intellectuals set up by President Wilson's aide Edward House with the help of Walter Lippmann and others for the benefit of the 1919 U.S. peace delegation at the Versailles Conference. This group was called "The Inquiry." Attending the conference, the group of planners met separately with members of the British delegation and decided to continue the Inquiry by forming a permanent Anglo-American Institute of International Affairs with two branches, one in each country.}}</ref> with the US branch of the Anglo-American Institute of International Affairs whose members consisted largely of statesmen and academics.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":8" /> Meanwhile, the British counterpart of the Anglo-American Institute of International Affairs went on to develop into the [[Chatham House\|Royal Institute of International Affairs]], also known as Chatham House.<ref name=":0" />

			The early Council on Foreign Relations was restricted to 650 members, 400 from New York and 250 from the rest of the country,<ref name=":1" /> with a fifteen-man board of directors and Wall Street lawyer and former US Secretary of State and [[United States Department of Defense\|US Secretary of War]] [[Elihu Root]] as its honorary president.<ref name=":0" /> Other influential early figures include the noted outspoken [[antisemitic]], [[Racism\|racist]], [[Eugenics\|eugenisist]], [[Homophobia\|homophobe]] and frequent author on the viability of "[[Settler colonialism\|pioneer settlement]]" projects [[Isaiah Bowman]],<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Morgan Ome\|newspaper=The Johns Hopkins News-Letter\|title=A legacy of anti-Semitism\|date=2016-03-03\|url=https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2016/03/a-legacy-of-anti-semitism\|quote=He was known for his outspoken anti-Semitic views. Bowman served as President of the University from 1935-1948, during the rise of Hitler, the Third Reich, and the aftermath of World War II. [...] In 1942, Bowman instituted a quota on the number of Jewish students admitted to the University and restricted the number of Jewish students allowed to pursue degrees in the fields of science and math. The quota was abolished in the 1950s. In addition to his anti-Semitic beliefs, Bowman also expressed anti-black and homophobic sentiments. [...] “My father had the clear opinion, and this would not have been typical at all for him because he didn’t lightly accuse someone of being anti-Semitic but Bowman had that reputation,” Sachs said.}}</ref><ref>{{Citation\|author=Isaiah Bowman\|year=1931\|title=The Pioneer Fringe\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/pioneerfringe00bowmrich/\|page=1-2\|quote=Millions now live in the pioneer lands, and millions more can be accommodated there. The question of their destiny is a most engaging one to the farmer near the border who has heard of opportunities over the next ridge; to geographers and economists and colonial administrators; to biologists and eugenists intent on improving the breed and aware of the higher birth rate among pioneers; to politicians who, like nature, abhor empty space; and to a certain type of city dweller, that modern thrall, who would exchange a desk for a bark canoe and whose bright vision of a home in the wilderness rarely outlasts the first rainy night.\|publisher=American Geographical Society\|isbn=0836958284}}</ref><ref>{{Citation\|author=Geoffrey J. Martin\|year=1980\|title=The life and thought of Isaiah Bowman\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/lifethoughtofisa0000mart/\|chapter='The Science of Settlement' and Resettlement Schemes\|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/lifethoughtofisa0000mart/page/123/\|publisher=Archon Books}}</ref> and [[Hamilton Fish Armstrong]].<ref>{{Citation\|author=Geoffrey J. Martin\|year=1980\|title=The life and thought of Isaiah Bowman\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/lifethoughtofisa0000mart/\|page=163-4\|quote=A joint British-American organization was sought, but eventually two se arate or anizations were created: the British (now the Royal) Institute of International Affairs in London, and the Councl on Foreign Relations in New York City. Bowman was a founder of the Council, a member of its Board of Directors, an a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of its periodical Foreign Affairs. [...] Bowman's association with the Council on Foreign Relations kept him in touch with others interested in international affairs. In particular, it brought him into a lifelong association with Hamilton Fish Armstrong, longtime editor of Foreign Affairs.\|publisher=Archon Books\|isbn=0-208-01844-1}}</ref> The early CFR's membership rosters "read like a ''Who's Who'' of American leaders"<ref name=":1" /> in which "partners from Wall Street’s [[J.P. Morgan & Co.\|J. P. Morgan and Company]] interacted with professors, international lawyers, corporate leaders, syndicated columnists, clergymen, and State Department officials."<ref name=":1" /> The council regarded "isolationists" as its primary adversaries.<ref name=":1" />

	The Park Avenue mansion of the late oil industrialist [[Harold Pratt]], director of [[ExxonMobil Corporation\|Standard Oil]] (now the ExxonMobil Corporation), became the CFR's headquarters in 1945 and is now known as the [[Harold Pratt House]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05.</ref><ref name=":4" />		The Park Avenue mansion of the late oil industrialist [[Harold Pratt]], director of [[ExxonMobil Corporation\|Standard Oil]] (now the ExxonMobil Corporation), became the CFR's headquarters in 1945 and is now known as the [[Harold Pratt House]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05.</ref><ref name=":4" />

Verda.Majo: added categories

2025-09-16T14:26:48Z

added categories

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:26, 16 September 2025
Line 29:		Line 29:
	== References ==		== References ==
	<references />		<references />
			[[Category:Imperialist organizations]]
			[[Category:Instruments of the bourgeoisie]]
			[[Category:Imperialist think tanks]]
			[[Category:Think tanks]]

Verda.Majo: added information about the CFR's views to lede, noted the membership of Francis Fukuyama and career of Henry Kissinger in members section, added a history section

2025-09-16T13:38:00Z

added information about the CFR's views to lede, noted the membership of Francis Fukuyama and career of Henry Kissinger in members section, added a history section

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:38, 16 September 2025
Line 1:		Line 1:
	The '''Council on Foreign Relations''' ('''CFR''') is an influential [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] organization and [[think tank]] based in the [[United States of America]].<ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street's Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire of Neoliberal Geopolitics, 1976–2014\|city=New York\|publisher=Monthly Review Press\|isbn=978-1-58367-551-9}}</ref> CFR represents the interests of the [[Bourgeoisie\|capitalist]] [[ruling class]] of the US and plays a significant role in shaping US foreign policy in favour of corporate and [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] interests,<ref name=":1">{{Citation\|author=G. William Domhoff\|year=2014\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations and the Grand Area: Case Studies on the Origins of the IMF and the Vietnam War\|title-url=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower/vol2/iss1/1/\|quote=\|publisher=Class, Race and Corporate Power\|doi=10.25148/CRCP.2.1.16092111\|volume=Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 1}}</ref> while downplaying the needs of the [[Proletariat\|working class]] and other marginalized groups. Founded in 1921, the CFR is a private non-profit headquartered in [[New York City]]. Its funding comes from membership dues, corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, and individual donations.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=About\|url=https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916074216/https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> CFR is the publisher of the magazine ''[[Foreign Affairs]]''.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Foreign Affairs\|title=About Foreign Affairs\|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250908210209/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-date=2025-09-08}}</ref> CFR has been described by some as "[[Wall Street]]'s think tank" or "the think tank of monopoly-finance capital."<ref name=":0" /> Many government officials, policymakers, and media outlets have close ties to the CFR, while the organization itself is not subject to public scrutiny or electoral processes, allowing its members to exert considerable influence on U.S. foreign policy behind closed doors.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />		The '''Council on Foreign Relations''' ('''CFR''') is an influential [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] organization and [[think tank]] based in the [[United States of America]].<ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street's Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire of Neoliberal Geopolitics, 1976–2014\|city=New York\|publisher=Monthly Review Press\|isbn=978-1-58367-551-9}}</ref> CFR represents the interests of the [[Bourgeoisie\|capitalist]] [[ruling class]] of the US and plays a significant role in shaping US foreign policy in favour of corporate and [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] interests,<ref name=":1">{{Citation\|author=G. William Domhoff\|year=2014\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations and the Grand Area: Case Studies on the Origins of the IMF and the Vietnam War\|title-url=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower/vol2/iss1/1/\|quote=\|publisher=Class, Race and Corporate Power\|doi=10.25148/CRCP.2.1.16092111\|volume=Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 1}}</ref> while downplaying the needs of the [[Proletariat\|working class]] and other marginalized groups. Founded in 1921, the CFR is a private non-profit headquartered in [[New York City]].<ref name=":4">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=Contact Us\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916123223/https://www.cfr.org/contact-us\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16\|quote=The Council on Foreign Relations is headquartered in New York City in the landmarked Harold Pratt House, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.}}</ref> Its funding comes from membership dues, corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, and individual donations.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=About\|url=https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916074216/https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> CFR is the publisher of the magazine ''[[Foreign Affairs]]''.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Foreign Affairs\|title=About Foreign Affairs\|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250908210209/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-date=2025-09-08}}</ref> CFR has been described by some as "[[Wall Street]]'s think tank" or "the think tank of monopoly-finance capital."<ref name=":0" /> Many government officials, policymakers, and media outlets have close ties to the CFR, while the organization itself is not subject to public scrutiny or electoral processes, allowing its members to exert considerable influence on U.S. foreign policy behind closed doors.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

	The recommendations made by the CFR typically reflect imperialistic goals aimed at maintaining and expanding U.S. global dominance.<ref name=":2">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street’s think tank : the Council on Foreign Relations and the empire of neoliberal geopolitics, 1976–2014\|quote=The Council’s work since the mid-1970s has largely focused on creating, planning, promoting, and defending a U.S.-dominated, world-spanning neoliberal geopolitical empire that, due to the resulting mass poverty of billions of people, has been called “a criminal process of global colonization” by the Brazilian theologian Frei Betto. Samir Amin labels the system as one that imposes a “lumpen development” model of pauperization and super-exploitation on the people of the South, the majority of humankind. This imperialist empire is mostly an informal one, but its rule over and exploitation of a considerable part of the world and its people is nevertheless very real.		The recommendations made by the CFR typically reflect imperialistic goals aimed at maintaining and expanding U.S. global dominance.<ref name=":2">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street’s think tank : the Council on Foreign Relations and the empire of neoliberal geopolitics, 1976–2014\|quote=The Council’s work since the mid-1970s has largely focused on creating, planning, promoting, and defending a U.S.-dominated, world-spanning neoliberal geopolitical empire that, due to the resulting mass poverty of billions of people, has been called “a criminal process of global colonization” by the Brazilian theologian Frei Betto. Samir Amin labels the system as one that imposes a “lumpen development” model of pauperization and super-exploitation on the people of the South, the majority of humankind. This imperialist empire is mostly an informal one, but its rule over and exploitation of a considerable part of the world and its people is nevertheless very real.
Line 5:		Line 5:
	The CFR’s connections to and relationships with economically and politically powerful people and institutions around the world mean that the neoliberal geopolitical worldview of its members and leaders matters a great deal. The Council’s leaders select the intellectuals who set the agendas, shape the critical debates, and design the policies that serve the capitalist class. The CFR also works very hard to produce and disseminate ideas about which policies are best so that the Council/capitalist class view gains “commonsense” acceptance among the public. In this way the framework for policymaking and publicity on a variety of key issues is established. More often than not, CFR leaders and members are the “in-and-outers” who pass through the revolving door of the federal government to high positions of authority, no matter who is elected.\|city=New York\|publisher=Monthly Review Press\|isbn=978-1-58367-551-9}}</ref> It advocates for military interventions, economic sanctions, and other measures that serve the interests of multinational corporations and the capitalist ruling class, even at the expense of other nations and peoples.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> The CFR’s policy recommendations tend to align with [[Neoliberalism\|neoliberal]] economic principles, advocating for [[free trade]], [[deregulation]], and [[privatization]]. As observed by historian Laurence H. Shoup, "the Council’s leaders select the intellectuals who set the agendas, shape the critical debates, and design the policies that serve the capitalist class. The CFR also works very hard to produce and disseminate ideas about which policies are best so that the Council/capitalist class view gains 'commonsense' acceptance among the public." Shoup adds that CFR leaders and members are the "in-and-outers" who pass through the [[revolving door]] of the federal government to high positions of authority, "no matter who is elected."<ref name=":2" />		The CFR’s connections to and relationships with economically and politically powerful people and institutions around the world mean that the neoliberal geopolitical worldview of its members and leaders matters a great deal. The Council’s leaders select the intellectuals who set the agendas, shape the critical debates, and design the policies that serve the capitalist class. The CFR also works very hard to produce and disseminate ideas about which policies are best so that the Council/capitalist class view gains “commonsense” acceptance among the public. In this way the framework for policymaking and publicity on a variety of key issues is established. More often than not, CFR leaders and members are the “in-and-outers” who pass through the revolving door of the federal government to high positions of authority, no matter who is elected.\|city=New York\|publisher=Monthly Review Press\|isbn=978-1-58367-551-9}}</ref> It advocates for military interventions, economic sanctions, and other measures that serve the interests of multinational corporations and the capitalist ruling class, even at the expense of other nations and peoples.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> The CFR’s policy recommendations tend to align with [[Neoliberalism\|neoliberal]] economic principles, advocating for [[free trade]], [[deregulation]], and [[privatization]]. As observed by historian Laurence H. Shoup, "the Council’s leaders select the intellectuals who set the agendas, shape the critical debates, and design the policies that serve the capitalist class. The CFR also works very hard to produce and disseminate ideas about which policies are best so that the Council/capitalist class view gains 'commonsense' acceptance among the public." Shoup adds that CFR leaders and members are the "in-and-outers" who pass through the [[revolving door]] of the federal government to high positions of authority, "no matter who is elected."<ref name=":2" />

	=== Membership ===		CFR is a proponent of the so-called "[[Liberal international order\|rules-based international order]]" of US unipolar hegemony, and frequently makes reference to the concept of "[[authoritarianism]]"<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=Authoritarianism\|url=https://www.cfr.org/authoritarianism\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916131225/https://www.cfr.org/authoritarianism\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> in its analyses of nations and movements which do not align with its aims, typically referring to those who challenge US hegemony with terms such as "authoritarian" or "autocratic".<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Joshua Kurlantzick\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=The New, Broader Alliance of Autocracies\|date=2024-12-09\|url=https://www.cfr.org/blog/new-broader-alliance-autocracies\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250407214758/https://www.cfr.org/blog/new-broader-alliance-autocracies\|archive-date=2025-04-07\|quote=Autocrats and other authoritarian actors have gained new means of mutual support—financially, militarily, and diplomatically. In this environment, a global network of autocratic states has emerged. Among these, China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia have garnered the most attention from policymakers, partly due to fears that they might collaborate to destabilize the international system and foster global chaos. [...] The expanded network includes Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cuba, Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Sudan, Turkey, Venezuela, and Uzbekistan. These nations, some of which are regional powers, have distinct qualities that enable them to form this growing authoritarian bloc.}}</ref> CFR's magazine ''Foreign Affairs'' is noted for introducing the concept of "[[containment]]" of [[communism]] to a wide audience during the [[Cold War]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05. Quote: ''"Ham Armstrong persuades an American diplomat to adapt his State Department telegram about the Soviet Union into a Foreign Affairs article under the pseudonym X [...] George Kennan's article introduces Americans to the concept of containment which would guide America's approach to the Cold War for the next four decades."''</ref> Within the context of ideological factions among the bourgeoisie, the CFR is a proponent of the "internationalist" approach to foreign affairs,<ref name=":5">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05. Quote: ''"As the Great Depression hits, isolationist sentiment surges, and the country embraces protectionism. But Ham Armstrong and the Council continue to advocate for internationalism."''</ref><ref>{{Citation\|author=G. William Domhoff\|year=2014\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations and the Grand Area: Case Studies on the Origins of the IMF and the Vietnam War\|title-url=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower/vol2/iss1/1/\|quote=In short, the council was the sustained and well-financed core of the internationalist perspective that projected a very large role for the United States in the postwar world. Its function was to create and organize the policy goals of the internationalist segment of the dominant class.\|pdf=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1019&context=classracecorporatepower}}</ref> under a bourgeois concept of the term which differs from [[Marxism\|Marxist]] [[proletarian internationalism]]. CFR juxtaposes its imperialist internationalism against US "isolationism" and "protectionism".<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Citation\|author=G. William Domhoff\|year=2014\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations and the Grand Area: Case Studies on the Origins of the IMF and the Vietnam War\|title-url=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower/vol2/iss1/1/\|quote=The council endeavored to realize its internationalist aims through discussion groups, research studies, articles in Foreign Affairs, and book-length monographs on a wide variety of countries and issue. In attempting to foster its perspective, the council saw its primary adversaries as isolationists in Congress and the nationally oriented ultraconservative business executives that did not want the United States to become entangled in world affairs outside the southern half of the Western Hemisphere. In the early 1930s, its leaders vigorously entered a national debate in opposition to "self-sufficiency" and greater government control of the economy, and supported such steps toward internationalism as the Export-Import Bank of 1933.\|pdf=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1019&context=classracecorporatepower}}</ref>

			== Membership ==
	According to CFR's website as of September 2025, CFR is composed of over 5,000 members.<ref name=":3">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=FAQs\|url=https://www.cfr.org/about/faqs\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> Membership is by invitation only (typically proposed by current CFR members), prospective members must undergo a rigorous nomination and vetting process based on their expertise, experience, and potential contributions to the CFR’s mission. Members include government officials, scholars, business leaders, journalists, lawyers, and other "distinguished nonprofit professionals."<ref name=":3" /> CFR also includes a number of "fellows", who are full-time and adjunct and visiting scholars and practitioners under the CFR's [[David Rockefeller Studies Program]] as well as recipients of one-year fellowships. CFR's website states that membership is divided "almost equally among those living in New York, Washington, DC, and across the country and abroad."<ref name=":3" />		According to CFR's website as of September 2025, CFR is composed of over 5,000 members.<ref name=":3">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=FAQs\|url=https://www.cfr.org/about/faqs\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> Membership is by invitation only (typically proposed by current CFR members), prospective members must undergo a rigorous nomination and vetting process based on their expertise, experience, and potential contributions to the CFR’s mission. Members include government officials, scholars, business leaders, journalists, lawyers, and other "distinguished nonprofit professionals."<ref name=":3" /> CFR also includes a number of "fellows", who are full-time and adjunct and visiting scholars and practitioners under the CFR's [[David Rockefeller Studies Program]] as well as recipients of one-year fellowships. CFR's website states that membership is divided "almost equally among those living in New York, Washington, DC, and across the country and abroad."<ref name=":3" />

Line 16:		Line 18:
	Although not currently a CFR member, National Security Advisor Sullivan also has close ties to the Council. In recent years, he has written no less than five articles for the CFR’s in-house journal Foreign Affairs, and spoken at the CFR’s New York headquarters.		Although not currently a CFR member, National Security Advisor Sullivan also has close ties to the Council. In recent years, he has written no less than five articles for the CFR’s in-house journal Foreign Affairs, and spoken at the CFR’s New York headquarters.

	Finally, Biden himself was allowed to write an article for Foreign Affairs during the presidential campaign. Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were the only presidential candidates invited to advertise themselves and their ideas in Foreign Affairs during the 2019–20 election period.\|Lawrence Shoup. (2021).[https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/ ''The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes'']}}		Finally, Biden himself was allowed to write an article for Foreign Affairs during the presidential campaign. Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were the only presidential candidates invited to advertise themselves and their ideas in Foreign Affairs during the 2019–20 election period.\|Lawrence Shoup. (2021).[https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/ ''The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes'']}}CFR has credited itself with helping launch the career of [[Henry Kissinger]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05. Quote: ''"CFR invites a young Harvard scholar to oversee a study group on deterrence. The Council publishes Henry Kissinger's resulting book, which becomes an unexpected bestseller and launches one of the most influential diplomatic careers of the century."''</ref>

			[[Francis Fukuyama]], author of "[[The End of History]]", is a member of the CFR<ref name=":6">[https://fukuyama.people.stanford.edu/ "Francis Fukuyama."] Stanford University. [https://web.archive.org/web/20250916124523/https://fukuyama.people.stanford.edu/ Archived] 2025-09-16.</ref> and a frequent contributor to ''Foreign Affairs''.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Foreign Affairs\|title=Francis Fukuyama\|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/authors/francis-fukuyama\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250807160420/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/authors/francis-fukuyama\|archive-date=2025-08-07\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> Fukuyama is also on the board of trustees of the [[RAND Corporation]].<ref name=":6" />

			== History ==
			The CFR has its origins in the years following the [[World War I\|First World War]], with rising sentiment among some of the US ruling class that the growing economic power of the US should lead to greater US involvement and "leadership" in world affairs. The CFR was formally founded in 1921 with the merging of a New York businessmen's discussion group with the Institute of International Affairs whose members consisted largely of statesmen and academics.<ref name=":1" /> The early council "was restricted to 650 members, 400 from New York and 250 from the rest of the country, and had a membership roster that read like a ''Who's Who'' of American leaders" in which "partners from Wall Street’s [[J.P. Morgan & Co.\|J. P. Morgan and Company]] interacted with professors, international lawyers, corporate leaders, syndicated columnists, clergymen, and State Department officials."<ref name=":1" /> The council regarded "isolationists" as its primary adversaries.<ref name=":1" />

			The Park Avenue mansion of the late oil industrialist [[Harold Pratt]], director of [[ExxonMobil Corporation\|Standard Oil]] (now the ExxonMobil Corporation), became the CFR's headquarters in 1945 and is now known as the [[Harold Pratt House]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05.</ref><ref name=":4" />

	== References ==		== References ==
	<references />		<references />

Verda.Majo: Adjusted article to fit ProleWiki's format and style, added references section, reworded and rearranged some of the text, added additional quotes and citations

2025-09-16T08:45:40Z

Adjusted article to fit ProleWiki's format and style, added references section, reworded and rearranged some of the text, added additional quotes and citations

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:45, 16 September 2025
Line 1:		Line 1:
	The CFR is ~~a powerful and~~ influential organization~~, sometimes called “Wall Street’s~~ Think ~~Tank”~~, ~~which~~ represents the interests of the capitalist ruling class in the ~~United States~~ and plays a significant role in shaping ~~U.S.~~ foreign policy in favour of corporate and ~~imperialistic~~ interests, while downplaying the needs of the working class and other marginalized groups. Founded in 1921, the CFR is a private non-profit headquartered in New York City. Its funding comes from membership dues, corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, and individual donations.		The '''Council on Foreign Relations''' ('''CFR''') is an influential [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] organization and [[think tank]] based in the [[United States of America]].<ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street's Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire of Neoliberal Geopolitics, 1976–2014\|city=New York\|publisher=Monthly Review Press\|isbn=978-1-58367-551-9}}</ref> CFR represents the interests of the [[Bourgeoisie\|capitalist]] [[ruling class]] of the US and plays a significant role in shaping US foreign policy in favour of corporate and [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] interests,<ref name=":1">{{Citation\|author=G. William Domhoff\|year=2014\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations and the Grand Area: Case Studies on the Origins of the IMF and the Vietnam War\|title-url=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower/vol2/iss1/1/\|quote=\|publisher=Class, Race and Corporate Power\|doi=10.25148/CRCP.2.1.16092111\|volume=Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 1}}</ref> while downplaying the needs of the [[Proletariat\|working class]] and other marginalized groups. Founded in 1921, the CFR is a private non-profit headquartered in [[New York City]]. Its funding comes from membership dues, corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, and individual donations.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=About\|url=https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916074216/https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> CFR is the publisher of the magazine ''[[Foreign Affairs]]''.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Foreign Affairs\|title=About Foreign Affairs\|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250908210209/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-date=2025-09-08}}</ref> CFR has been described by some as "[[Wall Street]]'s think tank" or "the think tank of monopoly-finance capital."<ref name=":0" /> Many government officials, policymakers, and media outlets have close ties to the CFR, while the organization itself is not subject to public scrutiny or electoral processes, allowing its members to exert considerable influence on U.S. foreign policy behind closed doors.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

	~~Membership is~~ by ~~invitation only (~~typically ~~proposed~~ by ~~current CFR members), prospective members must undergo~~ a ~~rigorous nomination~~ and ~~vetting process based~~ on ~~their expertise~~, ~~experience~~, and ~~potential contributions to~~ the ~~CFR’s mission~~.		The recommendations made by the CFR typically reflect imperialistic goals aimed at maintaining and expanding U.S. global dominance.<ref name=":2">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street’s think tank : the Council on Foreign Relations and the empire of neoliberal geopolitics, 1976–2014\|quote=The Council’s work since the mid-1970s has largely focused on creating, planning, promoting, and defending a U.S.-dominated, world-spanning neoliberal geopolitical empire that, due to the resulting mass poverty of billions of people, has been called “a criminal process of global colonization” by the Brazilian theologian Frei Betto. Samir Amin labels the system as one that imposes a “lumpen development” model of pauperization and super-exploitation on the people of the South, the majority of humankind. This imperialist empire is mostly an informal one, but its rule over and exploitation of a considerable part of the world and its people is nevertheless very real.

	* Imperialist: The ~~recommendations made by~~ the CFR ~~often reflect imperialistic goals aimed at maintaining~~ and ~~expanding U~~.S. ~~global dominance~~. It advocates for military interventions, economic sanctions, and other measures that serve the interests of multinational corporations and the capitalist ruling class, even at the expense of other nations and peoples.		The CFR’s connections to and relationships with economically and politically powerful people and institutions around the world mean that the neoliberal geopolitical worldview of its members and leaders matters a great deal. The Council’s leaders select the intellectuals who set the agendas, shape the critical debates, and design the policies that serve the capitalist class. The CFR also works very hard to produce and disseminate ideas about which policies are best so that the Council/capitalist class view gains “commonsense” acceptance among the public. In this way the framework for policymaking and publicity on a variety of key issues is established. More often than not, CFR leaders and members are the “in-and-outers” who pass through the revolving door of the federal government to high positions of authority, no matter who is elected.\|city=New York\|publisher=Monthly Review Press\|isbn=978-1-58367-551-9}}</ref> It advocates for military interventions, economic sanctions, and other measures that serve the interests of multinational corporations and the capitalist ruling class, even at the expense of other nations and peoples.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> The CFR’s policy recommendations tend to align with [[Neoliberalism\|neoliberal]] economic principles, advocating for [[free trade]], [[deregulation]], and [[privatization]]. As observed by historian Laurence H. Shoup, "the Council’s leaders select the intellectuals who set the agendas, shape the critical debates, and design the policies that serve the capitalist class. The CFR also works very hard to produce and disseminate ideas about which policies are best so that the Council/capitalist class view gains 'commonsense' acceptance among the public." Shoup adds that CFR leaders and members are the "in-and-outers" who pass through the [[revolving door]] of the federal government to high positions of authority, "no matter who is elected."<ref name=":2" />
	* Influential: Government officials, policymakers, and media outlets have very close ties to the CFR. The organization’s concerning influence on foreign policy decisions leads to policies that prioritize capitalist interests over broader social and humanitarian concerns.
	* Undemocratic: There is a lack of transparency and democratic accountability in the CFR’s operations. The organization is not subject to public scrutiny or electoral processes, allowing its members to exert considerable influence on U.S. foreign policy behind closed doors.
	* Neoliberal: The CFR’s policy recommendations tend to align with neoliberal economic principles, advocating for free trade, deregulation, and privatization. ~~This approach is seen as promoting corporate interests at~~ the ~~expense of workers’ rights~~, ~~social welfare~~, and ~~economic equality~~.

	Joe ~~Biden’s~~ administration was comprised of a ~~(perhaps) shocking~~ number of CFR members:		=== Membership ===
			According to CFR's website as of September 2025, CFR is composed of over 5,000 members.<ref name=":3">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=FAQs\|url=https://www.cfr.org/about/faqs\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> Membership is by invitation only (typically proposed by current CFR members), prospective members must undergo a rigorous nomination and vetting process based on their expertise, experience, and potential contributions to the CFR’s mission. Members include government officials, scholars, business leaders, journalists, lawyers, and other "distinguished nonprofit professionals."<ref name=":3" /> CFR also includes a number of "fellows", who are full-time and adjunct and visiting scholars and practitioners under the CFR's [[David Rockefeller Studies Program]] as well as recipients of one-year fellowships. CFR's website states that membership is divided "almost equally among those living in New York, Washington, DC, and across the country and abroad."<ref name=":3" />

			The US's [[Joe Biden]] administration was comprised of a number of CFR members:

	{{Quote\|The CFR is funded and led by members of the old plutocracy. For example, David Rockefeller was the CFR’s chair for fifteen years and has been its leading financial donor historically. No less than seventeen Biden team members (out of thirty total, or 56.7 percent) are members of, have close family ties to, or are otherwise connected to the CFR (see box on page 3). These include: vice president Kamala Harris; secretary of state Antony Blinken; secretary of the treasury Janet Yellen; secretary of defense Lloyd Austin; CIA head William J. Burns; national security advisor Jake Sullivan; secretary of agriculture Thomas Vilsack; secretary of commerce Gina Raimondo; secretary of homeland security Alejandro Mayorkas; chief of staff Ron Klain; climate envoy John Kerry; domestic council chief Susan Rice; Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt M. Campbell; ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield; chief of Council of Economic Advisers Cecilia Rouse; director of science and technology Eric S. Lander; and counselor Jeffery Zients. All have at least a minimum level of commitment to the CFR, in the sense of having the necessary connections, making the effort needed to become a member, and paying expensive annual dues. Several of this group are especially close to the Council. For example, Blinken is not only a CFR member, but his wife, father, and uncle are also members. Since 2004, Blinken has also often donated to the Council’s annual fund drive. Kerry, a Boston Brahman member of the old money plutocracy whose family wealth exceeds a billion dollars, has at least four other family members in the CFR. Rouse has been a director of the Council since 2018. Vilsack was the cochair of a CFR independent task force study group in 2007. Many have spoken at CFR meetings, such as Mayorkas in June 2011.		{{Quote\|The CFR is funded and led by members of the old plutocracy. For example, David Rockefeller was the CFR’s chair for fifteen years and has been its leading financial donor historically. No less than seventeen Biden team members (out of thirty total, or 56.7 percent) are members of, have close family ties to, or are otherwise connected to the CFR (see box on page 3). These include: vice president Kamala Harris; secretary of state Antony Blinken; secretary of the treasury Janet Yellen; secretary of defense Lloyd Austin; CIA head William J. Burns; national security advisor Jake Sullivan; secretary of agriculture Thomas Vilsack; secretary of commerce Gina Raimondo; secretary of homeland security Alejandro Mayorkas; chief of staff Ron Klain; climate envoy John Kerry; domestic council chief Susan Rice; Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt M. Campbell; ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield; chief of Council of Economic Advisers Cecilia Rouse; director of science and technology Eric S. Lander; and counselor Jeffery Zients. All have at least a minimum level of commitment to the CFR, in the sense of having the necessary connections, making the effort needed to become a member, and paying expensive annual dues. Several of this group are especially close to the Council. For example, Blinken is not only a CFR member, but his wife, father, and uncle are also members. Since 2004, Blinken has also often donated to the Council’s annual fund drive. Kerry, a Boston Brahman member of the old money plutocracy whose family wealth exceeds a billion dollars, has at least four other family members in the CFR. Rouse has been a director of the Council since 2018. Vilsack was the cochair of a CFR independent task force study group in 2007. Many have spoken at CFR meetings, such as Mayorkas in June 2011.
Line 17:		Line 17:

	Finally, Biden himself was allowed to write an article for Foreign Affairs during the presidential campaign. Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were the only presidential candidates invited to advertise themselves and their ideas in Foreign Affairs during the 2019–20 election period.\|Lawrence Shoup. (2021).[https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/ ''The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes'']}}		Finally, Biden himself was allowed to write an article for Foreign Affairs during the presidential campaign. Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were the only presidential candidates invited to advertise themselves and their ideas in Foreign Affairs during the 2019–20 election period.\|Lawrence Shoup. (2021).[https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/ ''The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes'']}}

			== References ==
			<references />

Charhapiti at 01:24, 16 September 2025

2025-09-16T01:24:17Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:24, 16 September 2025
Line 16:		Line 16:
	Although not currently a CFR member, National Security Advisor Sullivan also has close ties to the Council. In recent years, he has written no less than five articles for the CFR’s in-house journal Foreign Affairs, and spoken at the CFR’s New York headquarters.		Although not currently a CFR member, National Security Advisor Sullivan also has close ties to the Council. In recent years, he has written no less than five articles for the CFR’s in-house journal Foreign Affairs, and spoken at the CFR’s New York headquarters.

	Finally, Biden himself was allowed to write an article for Foreign Affairs during the presidential campaign. Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were the only presidential candidates invited to advertise themselves and their ideas in Foreign Affairs during the 2019–20 election period.\|Lawrence Shoup. (2021).[https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/ ''The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes'']		Finally, Biden himself was allowed to write an article for Foreign Affairs during the presidential campaign. Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were the only presidential candidates invited to advertise themselves and their ideas in Foreign Affairs during the 2019–20 election period.\|Lawrence Shoup. (2021).[https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/ ''The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes'']}}

Charhapiti at 01:23, 16 September 2025

2025-09-16T01:23:52Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:23, 16 September 2025
Line 7:		Line 7:
	* Undemocratic: There is a lack of transparency and democratic accountability in the CFR’s operations. The organization is not subject to public scrutiny or electoral processes, allowing its members to exert considerable influence on U.S. foreign policy behind closed doors.		* Undemocratic: There is a lack of transparency and democratic accountability in the CFR’s operations. The organization is not subject to public scrutiny or electoral processes, allowing its members to exert considerable influence on U.S. foreign policy behind closed doors.
	* Neoliberal: The CFR’s policy recommendations tend to align with neoliberal economic principles, advocating for free trade, deregulation, and privatization. This approach is seen as promoting corporate interests at the expense of workers’ rights, social welfare, and economic equality.		* Neoliberal: The CFR’s policy recommendations tend to align with neoliberal economic principles, advocating for free trade, deregulation, and privatization. This approach is seen as promoting corporate interests at the expense of workers’ rights, social welfare, and economic equality.

			Joe Biden’s administration was comprised of a (perhaps) shocking number of CFR members:

			{{Quote\|The CFR is funded and led by members of the old plutocracy. For example, David Rockefeller was the CFR’s chair for fifteen years and has been its leading financial donor historically. No less than seventeen Biden team members (out of thirty total, or 56.7 percent) are members of, have close family ties to, or are otherwise connected to the CFR (see box on page 3). These include: vice president Kamala Harris; secretary of state Antony Blinken; secretary of the treasury Janet Yellen; secretary of defense Lloyd Austin; CIA head William J. Burns; national security advisor Jake Sullivan; secretary of agriculture Thomas Vilsack; secretary of commerce Gina Raimondo; secretary of homeland security Alejandro Mayorkas; chief of staff Ron Klain; climate envoy John Kerry; domestic council chief Susan Rice; Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt M. Campbell; ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield; chief of Council of Economic Advisers Cecilia Rouse; director of science and technology Eric S. Lander; and counselor Jeffery Zients. All have at least a minimum level of commitment to the CFR, in the sense of having the necessary connections, making the effort needed to become a member, and paying expensive annual dues. Several of this group are especially close to the Council. For example, Blinken is not only a CFR member, but his wife, father, and uncle are also members. Since 2004, Blinken has also often donated to the Council’s annual fund drive. Kerry, a Boston Brahman member of the old money plutocracy whose family wealth exceeds a billion dollars, has at least four other family members in the CFR. Rouse has been a director of the Council since 2018. Vilsack was the cochair of a CFR independent task force study group in 2007. Many have spoken at CFR meetings, such as Mayorkas in June 2011.

			Vice President Harris and Chief of Staff Klain are the only ones of the seventeen listed in the box on page 3 who are not members but are tied to the CFR by family. Harris’s sister Maya, who was her campaign manager, has been a Council member since 2013. Klain’s wife, Monica Media, was elected to CFR membership in 2016.3

			Although not currently a CFR member, National Security Advisor Sullivan also has close ties to the Council. In recent years, he has written no less than five articles for the CFR’s in-house journal Foreign Affairs, and spoken at the CFR’s New York headquarters.

			Finally, Biden himself was allowed to write an article for Foreign Affairs during the presidential campaign. Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were the only presidential candidates invited to advertise themselves and their ideas in Foreign Affairs during the 2019–20 election period.\|Lawrence Shoup. (2021).[https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/ ''The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes'']

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:22, 22 September 2025
Line 1:		Line 1:
	The '''Council on Foreign Relations''' ('''CFR''') is an influential [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] organization and [[think tank]] based in the [[United States of America]].<ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street's Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire of Neoliberal Geopolitics, 1976–2014\|city=New York\|publisher=Monthly Review Press\|isbn=978-1-58367-551-9}}</ref> CFR represents the interests of the [[Bourgeoisie\|capitalist]] [[ruling class]] of the US and plays a significant role in shaping US foreign policy in favour of corporate and [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] interests,<ref name=":1">{{Citation\|author=G. William Domhoff\|year=2014\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations and the Grand Area: Case Studies on the Origins of the IMF and the Vietnam War\|title-url=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower/vol2/iss1/1/\|quote=\|publisher=Class, Race and Corporate Power\|doi=10.25148/CRCP.2.1.16092111\|volume=Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 1}}</ref> while downplaying the needs of the [[Proletariat\|working class]] and other marginalized groups. Founded in 1921, the CFR is a private non-profit headquartered in [[New York City]].<ref name=":4">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=Contact Us\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916123223/https://www.cfr.org/contact-us\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16\|quote=The Council on Foreign Relations is headquartered in New York City in the landmarked Harold Pratt House, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.}}</ref> Its funding comes from membership dues, corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, and individual donations.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=About\|url=https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916074216/https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> CFR is the publisher of the magazine ''[[Foreign Affairs]]''.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Foreign Affairs\|title=About Foreign Affairs\|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250908210209/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-date=2025-09-08}}</ref> CFR has been described by some as "[[Wall Street]]'s think tank" or "the think tank of monopoly-finance capital."<ref name=":0" /> Many government officials, policymakers, and media outlets have close ties to the CFR,<ref name=":7">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=Historical Roster of Directors and Officers\|url=https://www.cfr.org/historical-roster-directors-and-officers\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250917123102/https://www.cfr.org/historical-roster-directors-and-officers\|archive-date=2025-09-17\|retrieved=2025-09-17}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation\|author=Richard Harwood\|newspaper=The Washington Post\|title=Ruling Class Journalists\|date=1993-10-30\|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1993/10/30/ruling-class-journalists/761e7bf8-025d-474e-81cb-92dcf271571e/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003015242/https://www.washingtonpost.com/web/20171003015242/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1993/10/30/ruling-class-journalists/761e7bf8-025d-474e-81cb-92dcf271571e/?utm_term=.cb4c929c9509\|archive-date=2017-10-30}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|newspaper=Monthly Review\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes: Climate and China\|url=https://monthlyreview.org/articles/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250917123336/https://monthlyreview.org/articles/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/\|archive-date=2025-09-17\|retrieved=2025-09-17}}</ref> while the organization itself is not subject to public scrutiny or electoral processes, allowing its members to exert considerable influence on U.S. foreign policy behind closed doors.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />		The '''Council on Foreign Relations''' ('''CFR''') is an influential [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] organization and [[think tank]] based in the [[United States of America]].<ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street's Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire of Neoliberal Geopolitics, 1976–2014\|city=New York\|publisher=Monthly Review Press\|isbn=978-1-58367-551-9}}</ref> CFR represents the interests of the [[Bourgeoisie\|capitalist]] [[ruling class]] of the US and plays a significant role in shaping US foreign policy in favour of corporate and [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] interests,<ref name=":1">{{Citation\|author=G. William Domhoff\|year=2014\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations and the Grand Area: Case Studies on the Origins of the IMF and the Vietnam War\|title-url=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower/vol2/iss1/1/\|quote=\|pdf=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1019&context=classracecorporatepower\|publisher=Class, Race and Corporate Power\|doi=10.25148/CRCP.2.1.16092111\|volume=Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 1}}</ref> while downplaying the needs of the [[Proletariat\|working class]] and other marginalized groups. Founded in 1921, the CFR is a private non-profit headquartered in [[New York City]].<ref name=":4">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=Contact Us\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916123223/https://www.cfr.org/contact-us\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16\|quote=The Council on Foreign Relations is headquartered in New York City in the landmarked Harold Pratt House, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.}}</ref> Its funding comes from membership dues, corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, and individual donations.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=About\|url=https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916074216/https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> CFR is the publisher of the magazine ''[[Foreign Affairs]]''.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Foreign Affairs\|title=About Foreign Affairs\|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250908210209/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-date=2025-09-08}}</ref> CFR has been described by some as "[[Wall Street]]'s think tank" or "the think tank of monopoly-finance capital."<ref name=":0" /> Many government officials, policymakers, and media outlets have close ties to the CFR,<ref name=":7">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=Historical Roster of Directors and Officers\|url=https://www.cfr.org/historical-roster-directors-and-officers\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250917123102/https://www.cfr.org/historical-roster-directors-and-officers\|archive-date=2025-09-17\|retrieved=2025-09-17}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation\|author=Richard Harwood\|newspaper=The Washington Post\|title=Ruling Class Journalists\|date=1993-10-30\|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1993/10/30/ruling-class-journalists/761e7bf8-025d-474e-81cb-92dcf271571e/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003015242/https://www.washingtonpost.com/web/20171003015242/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1993/10/30/ruling-class-journalists/761e7bf8-025d-474e-81cb-92dcf271571e/?utm_term=.cb4c929c9509\|archive-date=2017-10-30}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|newspaper=Monthly Review\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes: Climate and China\|url=https://monthlyreview.org/articles/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250917123336/https://monthlyreview.org/articles/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/\|archive-date=2025-09-17\|retrieved=2025-09-17}}</ref> while the organization itself is not subject to public scrutiny or electoral processes, allowing its members to exert considerable influence on U.S. foreign policy behind closed doors.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

	The recommendations made by the CFR typically reflect imperialistic goals aimed at maintaining and expanding U.S. global dominance.<ref name=":2">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street’s think tank : the Council on Foreign Relations and the empire of neoliberal geopolitics, 1976–2014\|quote=The Council’s work since the mid-1970s has largely focused on creating, planning, promoting, and defending a U.S.-dominated, world-spanning neoliberal geopolitical empire that, due to the resulting mass poverty of billions of people, has been called “a criminal process of global colonization” by the Brazilian theologian Frei Betto. Samir Amin labels the system as one that imposes a “lumpen development” model of pauperization and super-exploitation on the people of the South, the majority of humankind. This imperialist empire is mostly an informal one, but its rule over and exploitation of a considerable part of the world and its people is nevertheless very real.		The recommendations made by the CFR typically reflect imperialistic goals aimed at maintaining and expanding U.S. global dominance.<ref name=":2">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street’s think tank : the Council on Foreign Relations and the empire of neoliberal geopolitics, 1976–2014\|quote=The Council’s work since the mid-1970s has largely focused on creating, planning, promoting, and defending a U.S.-dominated, world-spanning neoliberal geopolitical empire that, due to the resulting mass poverty of billions of people, has been called “a criminal process of global colonization” by the Brazilian theologian Frei Betto. Samir Amin labels the system as one that imposes a “lumpen development” model of pauperization and super-exploitation on the people of the South, the majority of humankind. This imperialist empire is mostly an informal one, but its rule over and exploitation of a considerable part of the world and its people is nevertheless very real.
Line 33:		Line 33:
	The CFR has its origins in the years following the [[World War I\|First World War]], with rising sentiment among some of the US ruling class that the growing economic power of the US should lead to greater US involvement and "leadership" in world affairs. The CFR was formally founded in 1921 with the merging of a New York businessmen's discussion group (itself called the Council on Foreign Relations, founded in 1918)<ref name=":8">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street's Think Tank\|chapter=Introduction: The Early History of the CFR\|page=16\|quote=The Council had its origins in the uniting of two different fledgling groups during the post—First World War era. The first, established in 1918, was the New York club called the Council on Foreign Relations. It had only 108 members, dominated by high-ranking Wall Street financiers and international lawyers. Its aims were to explore the effect of the war upon business and promote commerce. Its means were networking conferences and dinners hosting prominent foreign visitors. The second organization grew out of the postwar planning body—mainly made up of intellectuals set up by President Wilson's aide Edward House with the help of Walter Lippmann and others for the benefit of the 1919 U.S. peace delegation at the Versailles Conference. This group was called "The Inquiry." Attending the conference, the group of planners met separately with members of the British delegation and decided to continue the Inquiry by forming a permanent Anglo-American Institute of International Affairs with two branches, one in each country.}}</ref> with the US branch of the Anglo-American Institute of International Affairs whose members consisted largely of statesmen and academics.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":8" /> Meanwhile, the British counterpart of the Anglo-American Institute of International Affairs went on to develop into the [[Chatham House\|Royal Institute of International Affairs]], also known as Chatham House.<ref name=":0" />		The CFR has its origins in the years following the [[World War I\|First World War]], with rising sentiment among some of the US ruling class that the growing economic power of the US should lead to greater US involvement and "leadership" in world affairs. The CFR was formally founded in 1921 with the merging of a New York businessmen's discussion group (itself called the Council on Foreign Relations, founded in 1918)<ref name=":8">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street's Think Tank\|chapter=Introduction: The Early History of the CFR\|page=16\|quote=The Council had its origins in the uniting of two different fledgling groups during the post—First World War era. The first, established in 1918, was the New York club called the Council on Foreign Relations. It had only 108 members, dominated by high-ranking Wall Street financiers and international lawyers. Its aims were to explore the effect of the war upon business and promote commerce. Its means were networking conferences and dinners hosting prominent foreign visitors. The second organization grew out of the postwar planning body—mainly made up of intellectuals set up by President Wilson's aide Edward House with the help of Walter Lippmann and others for the benefit of the 1919 U.S. peace delegation at the Versailles Conference. This group was called "The Inquiry." Attending the conference, the group of planners met separately with members of the British delegation and decided to continue the Inquiry by forming a permanent Anglo-American Institute of International Affairs with two branches, one in each country.}}</ref> with the US branch of the Anglo-American Institute of International Affairs whose members consisted largely of statesmen and academics.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":8" /> Meanwhile, the British counterpart of the Anglo-American Institute of International Affairs went on to develop into the [[Chatham House\|Royal Institute of International Affairs]], also known as Chatham House.<ref name=":0" />

	The early Council on Foreign Relations was restricted to 650 members, 400 from New York and 250 from the rest of the country,<ref name=":1" /> with a fifteen-man board of directors and Wall Street lawyer and former US Secretary of State and [[United States Department of Defense\|US Secretary of War]] [[Elihu Root]] as its honorary president.<ref name=":0" /> Other influential early figures include the noted outspoken [[antisemitic]], [[Racism\|racist]], [[Eugenics\|eugenisist]], [[Homophobia\|homophobe]] and frequent author on the viability of "[[Settler colonialism\|pioneer settlement]]" projects [[Isaiah Bowman]],<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Morgan Ome\|newspaper=The Johns Hopkins News-Letter\|title=A legacy of anti-Semitism\|date=2016-03-03\|url=https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2016/03/a-legacy-of-anti-semitism\|quote=He was known for his outspoken anti-Semitic views. Bowman served as President of the University from 1935-1948, during the rise of Hitler, the Third Reich, and the aftermath of World War II. [...] In 1942, Bowman instituted a quota on the number of Jewish students admitted to the University and restricted the number of Jewish students allowed to pursue degrees in the fields of science and math. The quota was abolished in the 1950s. In addition to his anti-Semitic beliefs, Bowman also expressed anti-black and homophobic sentiments. [...] “My father had the clear opinion, and this would not have been typical at all for him because he didn’t lightly accuse someone of being anti-Semitic but Bowman had that reputation,” Sachs said.}}</ref><ref>{{Citation\|author=Isaiah Bowman\|year=1931\|title=The Pioneer Fringe\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/pioneerfringe00bowmrich/\|page=1-2\|quote=Millions now live in the pioneer lands, and millions more can be accommodated there. The question of their destiny is a most engaging one to the farmer near the border who has heard of opportunities over the next ridge; to geographers and economists and colonial administrators; to biologists and eugenists intent on improving the breed and aware of the higher birth rate among pioneers; to politicians who, like nature, abhor empty space; and to a certain type of city dweller, that modern thrall, who would exchange a desk for a bark canoe and whose bright vision of a home in the wilderness rarely outlasts the first rainy night.\|publisher=American Geographical Society\|isbn=0836958284}}</ref><ref>{{Citation\|author=Geoffrey J. Martin\|year=1980\|title=The life and thought of Isaiah Bowman\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/lifethoughtofisa0000mart/\|chapter='The Science of Settlement' and Resettlement Schemes\|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/lifethoughtofisa0000mart/page/123/\|publisher=Archon Books}}</ref> and [[Hamilton Fish Armstrong]].<ref>{{Citation\|author=Geoffrey J. Martin\|year=1980\|title=The life and thought of Isaiah Bowman\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/lifethoughtofisa0000mart/\|page=163-4\|quote=A joint British-American organization was sought, but eventually two se arate or anizations were created: the British (now the Royal) Institute of International Affairs in London, and the Councl on Foreign Relations in New York City. Bowman was a founder of the Council, a member of its Board of Directors, an a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of its periodical Foreign Affairs. [...] Bowman's association with the Council on Foreign Relations kept him in touch with others interested in international affairs. In particular, it brought him into a lifelong association with Hamilton Fish Armstrong, longtime editor of Foreign Affairs.\|publisher=Archon Books\|isbn=0-208-01844-1}}</ref> ~~The~~ early CFR~~'s membership rosters~~ "~~read like a ''Who~~'s ~~Who''~~ of ~~American leaders~~"<ref name=":1" /> ~~in which "partners from Wall Street’s~~ [[J.P. ~~Morgan & Co~~.\|J. P. ~~Morgan~~ and ~~Company~~]] ~~interacted~~ with ~~professors~~, ~~international lawyers, corporate leaders, syndicated columnists, clergymen~~, and ~~State Department officials~~."<ref name=":1" /> The ~~council~~ regarded "isolationists" as its primary adversaries.<ref name=":1" />		The early Council on Foreign Relations was restricted to 650 members, 400 from New York and 250 from the rest of the country,<ref name=":1" /> with a fifteen-man board of directors and Wall Street lawyer and former US Secretary of State and [[United States Department of Defense\|US Secretary of War]] [[Elihu Root]] as its honorary president.<ref name=":0" /> Shoup notes that in his various positions of power, Root had played a central role in designing [[Colonialism\|colonial]] and [[Neocolonialism\|neocolonial]] policies in places such as the [[Republic of the Philippines\|Philippines]] and [[Republic of Cuba\|Cuba]] during the imperialist expansion of the US at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth century.<ref name=":0" />

			The early CFR's membership rosters "read like a ''Who's Who'' of American leaders"<ref name=":1" /> in which "partners from Wall Street’s [[J.P. Morgan & Co.\|J. P. Morgan and Company]] interacted with professors, international lawyers, corporate leaders, syndicated columnists, clergymen, and State Department officials."<ref name=":1" /> Other influential early figures include the noted outspoken [[antisemitic]], [[Racism\|racist]], [[Eugenics\|eugenisist]], [[Homophobia\|homophobe]] and frequent author on the viability of "[[Settler colonialism\|pioneer settlement]]" projects [[Isaiah Bowman]],<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Morgan Ome\|newspaper=The Johns Hopkins News-Letter\|title=A legacy of anti-Semitism\|date=2016-03-03\|url=https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2016/03/a-legacy-of-anti-semitism\|quote=He was known for his outspoken anti-Semitic views. Bowman served as President of the University from 1935-1948, during the rise of Hitler, the Third Reich, and the aftermath of World War II. [...] In 1942, Bowman instituted a quota on the number of Jewish students admitted to the University and restricted the number of Jewish students allowed to pursue degrees in the fields of science and math. The quota was abolished in the 1950s. In addition to his anti-Semitic beliefs, Bowman also expressed anti-black and homophobic sentiments. [...] “My father had the clear opinion, and this would not have been typical at all for him because he didn’t lightly accuse someone of being anti-Semitic but Bowman had that reputation,” Sachs said.}}</ref><ref>{{Citation\|author=Isaiah Bowman\|year=1931\|title=The Pioneer Fringe\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/pioneerfringe00bowmrich/\|page=1-2\|quote=Millions now live in the pioneer lands, and millions more can be accommodated there. The question of their destiny is a most engaging one to the farmer near the border who has heard of opportunities over the next ridge; to geographers and economists and colonial administrators; to biologists and eugenists intent on improving the breed and aware of the higher birth rate among pioneers; to politicians who, like nature, abhor empty space; and to a certain type of city dweller, that modern thrall, who would exchange a desk for a bark canoe and whose bright vision of a home in the wilderness rarely outlasts the first rainy night.\|publisher=American Geographical Society\|isbn=0836958284}}</ref><ref>{{Citation\|author=Geoffrey J. Martin\|year=1980\|title=The life and thought of Isaiah Bowman\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/lifethoughtofisa0000mart/\|chapter='The Science of Settlement' and Resettlement Schemes\|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/lifethoughtofisa0000mart/page/123/\|publisher=Archon Books}}</ref> and [[Hamilton Fish Armstrong]].<ref>{{Citation\|author=Geoffrey J. Martin\|year=1980\|title=The life and thought of Isaiah Bowman\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/lifethoughtofisa0000mart/\|page=163-4\|quote=A joint British-American organization was sought, but eventually two se arate or anizations were created: the British (now the Royal) Institute of International Affairs in London, and the Councl on Foreign Relations in New York City. Bowman was a founder of the Council, a member of its Board of Directors, an a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of its periodical Foreign Affairs. [...] Bowman's association with the Council on Foreign Relations kept him in touch with others interested in international affairs. In particular, it brought him into a lifelong association with Hamilton Fish Armstrong, longtime editor of Foreign Affairs.\|publisher=Archon Books\|isbn=0-208-01844-1}}</ref> [[Archibald Cary Coolidge]] is another early CFR figure, whose family wealth "went back to involvement in the nineteenth-century [[People's Republic of China\|China]] trade"<ref name=":0" /> during an era of prolific Western [[gunboat diplomacy]] directed at forcibly "opening" world nations for trade,<ref name=":9">{{Web citation\|author=Marc DeSantis\|newspaper=Military History Matters\|title=War of Words – ‘Gunboat Diplomacy’\|date=2020-05-25\|url=https://www.military-history.org/feature/modern-articles/war-of-words-gunboat-diplomacy.htm\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250922110416/https://www.military-history.org/feature/modern-articles/war-of-words-gunboat-diplomacy.htm\|archive-date=2025-09-22}}</ref> and during China's historical "[[History of China#First Opium War and arrival of European imperialism\|century of humiliation]]" and the [[First Opium War]],<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":10">{{Web citation\|author=Irina Matchavariani and Tiziana Dearing\|newspaper=WBUR\|title=How Boston profited from the opium trade in the 19th century\|date=2023-06-18\|url=https://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2023/06/20/boston-profited-from-the-opium-trade-in-the-19th-century-now-the-city-is-reckoning-with-its-pastn\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240703003931/https://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2023/06/20/boston-profited-from-the-opium-trade-in-the-19th-century-now-the-city-is-reckoning-with-its-pastn\|archive-date=2024-07-03\|quote=Prominent families, known as Boston Brahmins built their fortunes shipping — and in this case, on smuggling opium to China. The shipments caused clashes known as the Opium Wars and fueled addiction across China.}}</ref> and who was part of the so-called "[[Boston Brahmins]]" who had profited from smuggling [[opium]] into China.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":10" /><ref>{{Web citation\|author=Martha Bebinger\|newspaper=WBUR\|title=How Profits From Opium Shaped 19th-Century Boston\|date=2017-07-31\|url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2017/07/31/opium-boston-history\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250731232738/https://www.wbur.org/news/2017/07/31/opium-boston-history\|archive-date=2025-07-31}}</ref>

			The CFR regarded "isolationists" in Congress as well as "nationally oriented ultraconservative business executives that did not want the United States to become entangled in world affairs outside the southern half of the Western Hemisphere" to be its primary adversaries.<ref name=":1" />

	The Park Avenue mansion of the late oil industrialist [[Harold Pratt]], director of [[ExxonMobil Corporation\|Standard Oil]] (now the ExxonMobil Corporation), became the CFR's headquarters in 1945 and is now known as the [[Harold Pratt House]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05.</ref><ref name=":4" />		The Park Avenue mansion of the late oil industrialist [[Harold Pratt]], director of [[ExxonMobil Corporation\|Standard Oil]] (now the ExxonMobil Corporation), became the CFR's headquarters in 1945 and is now known as the [[Harold Pratt House]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05.</ref><ref name=":4" />

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:30, 17 September 2025
Line 1:		Line 1:
	The '''Council on Foreign Relations''' ('''CFR''') is an influential [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] organization and [[think tank]] based in the [[United States of America]].<ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street's Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire of Neoliberal Geopolitics, 1976–2014\|city=New York\|publisher=Monthly Review Press\|isbn=978-1-58367-551-9}}</ref> CFR represents the interests of the [[Bourgeoisie\|capitalist]] [[ruling class]] of the US and plays a significant role in shaping US foreign policy in favour of corporate and [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] interests,<ref name=":1">{{Citation\|author=G. William Domhoff\|year=2014\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations and the Grand Area: Case Studies on the Origins of the IMF and the Vietnam War\|title-url=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower/vol2/iss1/1/\|quote=\|publisher=Class, Race and Corporate Power\|doi=10.25148/CRCP.2.1.16092111\|volume=Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 1}}</ref> while downplaying the needs of the [[Proletariat\|working class]] and other marginalized groups. Founded in 1921, the CFR is a private non-profit headquartered in [[New York City]].<ref name=":4">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=Contact Us\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916123223/https://www.cfr.org/contact-us\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16\|quote=The Council on Foreign Relations is headquartered in New York City in the landmarked Harold Pratt House, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.}}</ref> Its funding comes from membership dues, corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, and individual donations.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=About\|url=https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916074216/https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> CFR is the publisher of the magazine ''[[Foreign Affairs]]''.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Foreign Affairs\|title=About Foreign Affairs\|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250908210209/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-date=2025-09-08}}</ref> CFR has been described by some as "[[Wall Street]]'s think tank" or "the think tank of monopoly-finance capital."<ref name=":0" /> Many government officials, policymakers, and media outlets have close ties to the CFR, while the organization itself is not subject to public scrutiny or electoral processes, allowing its members to exert considerable influence on U.S. foreign policy behind closed doors.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />		The '''Council on Foreign Relations''' ('''CFR''') is an influential [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] organization and [[think tank]] based in the [[United States of America]].<ref name=":0">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street's Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire of Neoliberal Geopolitics, 1976–2014\|city=New York\|publisher=Monthly Review Press\|isbn=978-1-58367-551-9}}</ref> CFR represents the interests of the [[Bourgeoisie\|capitalist]] [[ruling class]] of the US and plays a significant role in shaping US foreign policy in favour of corporate and [[Imperialism\|imperialist]] interests,<ref name=":1">{{Citation\|author=G. William Domhoff\|year=2014\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations and the Grand Area: Case Studies on the Origins of the IMF and the Vietnam War\|title-url=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower/vol2/iss1/1/\|quote=\|publisher=Class, Race and Corporate Power\|doi=10.25148/CRCP.2.1.16092111\|volume=Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 1}}</ref> while downplaying the needs of the [[Proletariat\|working class]] and other marginalized groups. Founded in 1921, the CFR is a private non-profit headquartered in [[New York City]].<ref name=":4">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=Contact Us\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916123223/https://www.cfr.org/contact-us\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16\|quote=The Council on Foreign Relations is headquartered in New York City in the landmarked Harold Pratt House, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.}}</ref> Its funding comes from membership dues, corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, and individual donations.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=About\|url=https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916074216/https://www.cfr.org/about\|archive-date=2025-09-16\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> CFR is the publisher of the magazine ''[[Foreign Affairs]]''.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Foreign Affairs\|title=About Foreign Affairs\|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250908210209/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/about-foreign-affairs\|archive-date=2025-09-08}}</ref> CFR has been described by some as "[[Wall Street]]'s think tank" or "the think tank of monopoly-finance capital."<ref name=":0" /> Many government officials, policymakers, and media outlets have close ties to the CFR,<ref name=":7">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Council on Foreign Relations\|title=Historical Roster of Directors and Officers\|url=https://www.cfr.org/historical-roster-directors-and-officers\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250917123102/https://www.cfr.org/historical-roster-directors-and-officers\|archive-date=2025-09-17\|retrieved=2025-09-17}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation\|author=Richard Harwood\|newspaper=The Washington Post\|title=Ruling Class Journalists\|date=1993-10-30\|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1993/10/30/ruling-class-journalists/761e7bf8-025d-474e-81cb-92dcf271571e/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003015242/https://www.washingtonpost.com/web/20171003015242/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1993/10/30/ruling-class-journalists/761e7bf8-025d-474e-81cb-92dcf271571e/?utm_term=.cb4c929c9509\|archive-date=2017-10-30}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|newspaper=Monthly Review\|title=The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes: Climate and China\|url=https://monthlyreview.org/articles/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250917123336/https://monthlyreview.org/articles/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/\|archive-date=2025-09-17\|retrieved=2025-09-17}}</ref> while the organization itself is not subject to public scrutiny or electoral processes, allowing its members to exert considerable influence on U.S. foreign policy behind closed doors.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

	The recommendations made by the CFR typically reflect imperialistic goals aimed at maintaining and expanding U.S. global dominance.<ref name=":2">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street’s think tank : the Council on Foreign Relations and the empire of neoliberal geopolitics, 1976–2014\|quote=The Council’s work since the mid-1970s has largely focused on creating, planning, promoting, and defending a U.S.-dominated, world-spanning neoliberal geopolitical empire that, due to the resulting mass poverty of billions of people, has been called “a criminal process of global colonization” by the Brazilian theologian Frei Betto. Samir Amin labels the system as one that imposes a “lumpen development” model of pauperization and super-exploitation on the people of the South, the majority of humankind. This imperialist empire is mostly an informal one, but its rule over and exploitation of a considerable part of the world and its people is nevertheless very real.		The recommendations made by the CFR typically reflect imperialistic goals aimed at maintaining and expanding U.S. global dominance.<ref name=":2">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street’s think tank : the Council on Foreign Relations and the empire of neoliberal geopolitics, 1976–2014\|quote=The Council’s work since the mid-1970s has largely focused on creating, planning, promoting, and defending a U.S.-dominated, world-spanning neoliberal geopolitical empire that, due to the resulting mass poverty of billions of people, has been called “a criminal process of global colonization” by the Brazilian theologian Frei Betto. Samir Amin labels the system as one that imposes a “lumpen development” model of pauperization and super-exploitation on the people of the South, the majority of humankind. This imperialist empire is mostly an informal one, but its rule over and exploitation of a considerable part of the world and its people is nevertheless very real.
Line 18:		Line 18:
	Although not currently a CFR member, National Security Advisor Sullivan also has close ties to the Council. In recent years, he has written no less than five articles for the CFR’s in-house journal Foreign Affairs, and spoken at the CFR’s New York headquarters.		Although not currently a CFR member, National Security Advisor Sullivan also has close ties to the Council. In recent years, he has written no less than five articles for the CFR’s in-house journal Foreign Affairs, and spoken at the CFR’s New York headquarters.

	Finally, Biden himself was allowed to write an article for Foreign Affairs during the presidential campaign. Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were the only presidential candidates invited to advertise themselves and their ideas in Foreign Affairs during the 2019–20 election period.\|Lawrence Shoup. (2021).[https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/ ''The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes'']}}CFR has credited itself with helping launch the career of [[Henry Kissinger]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05. Quote: ''"CFR invites a young Harvard scholar to oversee a study group on deterrence. The Council publishes Henry Kissinger's resulting book, which becomes an unexpected bestseller and launches one of the most influential diplomatic careers of the century."''</ref>		Finally, Biden himself was allowed to write an article for Foreign Affairs during the presidential campaign. Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren were the only presidential candidates invited to advertise themselves and their ideas in Foreign Affairs during the 2019–20 election period.\|Lawrence Shoup. (2021).[https://monthlyreview.org/2021/05/01/the-council-on-foreign-relations-the-biden-team-and-key-policy-outcomes/ ''The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes'']}}Former CIA director [[Allen Dulles]] was a member of the board from 1927 to 1969.<ref name=":7" />

			CFR has credited itself with helping launch the career of [[Henry Kissinger]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05. Quote: ''"CFR invites a young Harvard scholar to oversee a study group on deterrence. The Council publishes Henry Kissinger's resulting book, which becomes an unexpected bestseller and launches one of the most influential diplomatic careers of the century."''</ref> Kissinger was a CFR chairman of the board from 1977 to 1981.<ref name=":7" />

	[[Francis Fukuyama]], author of "[[The End of History]]", is a member of the CFR<ref name=":6">[https://fukuyama.people.stanford.edu/ "Francis Fukuyama."] Stanford University. [https://web.archive.org/web/20250916124523/https://fukuyama.people.stanford.edu/ Archived] 2025-09-16.</ref> and a frequent contributor to ''Foreign Affairs''.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Foreign Affairs\|title=Francis Fukuyama\|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/authors/francis-fukuyama\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250807160420/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/authors/francis-fukuyama\|archive-date=2025-08-07\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> Fukuyama is also on the board of trustees of the [[RAND Corporation]].<ref name=":6" />		[[Francis Fukuyama]], author of "[[The End of History]]", is a member of the CFR<ref name=":6">[https://fukuyama.people.stanford.edu/ "Francis Fukuyama."] Stanford University. [https://web.archive.org/web/20250916124523/https://fukuyama.people.stanford.edu/ Archived] 2025-09-16.</ref> and a frequent contributor to ''Foreign Affairs''.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Foreign Affairs\|title=Francis Fukuyama\|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/authors/francis-fukuyama\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250807160420/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/authors/francis-fukuyama\|archive-date=2025-08-07\|retrieved=2025-09-16}}</ref> Fukuyama is also on the board of trustees of the [[RAND Corporation]].<ref name=":6" />

			Former US president and [[Central Intelligence Agency\|CIA]] director [[George H.W. Bush]] was a CFR member of the board from 1977 to 1979.<ref name=":7" />

			[[Zbigniew Brzezinski]], former [[United States National Security Advisor\|US National Security Advisor]] and author of ''[[The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives]]'' was a CFR chairman of the board from 1972 to 1977.<ref name=":7" />

			[[Madeleine Albright]] was a chairman of the board from 2004 to 2014.<ref name=":7" />

	== History ==		== History ==
	The CFR has its origins in the years following the [[World War I\|First World War]], with rising sentiment among some of the US ruling class that the growing economic power of the US should lead to greater US involvement and "leadership" in world affairs. The CFR was formally founded in 1921 with the merging of a New York businessmen's discussion group with the Institute of International Affairs whose members consisted largely of statesmen and academics.<ref name=":1" /> The early ~~council "~~was restricted to 650 members, 400 from New York and 250 from the rest of the country, and had a membership ~~roster that~~ read like a ''Who's Who'' of American leaders" in which "partners from Wall Street’s [[J.P. Morgan & Co.\|J. P. Morgan and Company]] interacted with professors, international lawyers, corporate leaders, syndicated columnists, clergymen, and State Department officials."<ref name=":1" /> The council regarded "isolationists" as its primary adversaries.<ref name=":1" />		The CFR has its origins in the years following the [[World War I\|First World War]], with rising sentiment among some of the US ruling class that the growing economic power of the US should lead to greater US involvement and "leadership" in world affairs. The CFR was formally founded in 1921 with the merging of a New York businessmen's discussion group (itself called the Council on Foreign Relations, founded in 1918)<ref name=":8">{{Citation\|author=Laurence H. Shoup\|year=2015\|title=Wall Street's Think Tank\|chapter=Introduction: The Early History of the CFR\|page=16\|quote=The Council had its origins in the uniting of two different fledgling groups during the post—First World War era. The first, established in 1918, was the New York club called the Council on Foreign Relations. It had only 108 members, dominated by high-ranking Wall Street financiers and international lawyers. Its aims were to explore the effect of the war upon business and promote commerce. Its means were networking conferences and dinners hosting prominent foreign visitors. The second organization grew out of the postwar planning body—mainly made up of intellectuals set up by President Wilson's aide Edward House with the help of Walter Lippmann and others for the benefit of the 1919 U.S. peace delegation at the Versailles Conference. This group was called "The Inquiry." Attending the conference, the group of planners met separately with members of the British delegation and decided to continue the Inquiry by forming a permanent Anglo-American Institute of International Affairs with two branches, one in each country.}}</ref> with the US branch of the Anglo-American Institute of International Affairs whose members consisted largely of statesmen and academics.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":8" /> Meanwhile, the British counterpart of the Anglo-American Institute of International Affairs went on to develop into the [[Chatham House\|Royal Institute of International Affairs]], also known as Chatham House.<ref name=":0" />

			The early Council on Foreign Relations was restricted to 650 members, 400 from New York and 250 from the rest of the country,<ref name=":1" /> with a fifteen-man board of directors and Wall Street lawyer and former US Secretary of State and [[United States Department of Defense\|US Secretary of War]] [[Elihu Root]] as its honorary president.<ref name=":0" /> Other influential early figures include the noted outspoken [[antisemitic]], [[Racism\|racist]], [[Eugenics\|eugenisist]], [[Homophobia\|homophobe]] and frequent author on the viability of "[[Settler colonialism\|pioneer settlement]]" projects [[Isaiah Bowman]],<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Morgan Ome\|newspaper=The Johns Hopkins News-Letter\|title=A legacy of anti-Semitism\|date=2016-03-03\|url=https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2016/03/a-legacy-of-anti-semitism\|quote=He was known for his outspoken anti-Semitic views. Bowman served as President of the University from 1935-1948, during the rise of Hitler, the Third Reich, and the aftermath of World War II. [...] In 1942, Bowman instituted a quota on the number of Jewish students admitted to the University and restricted the number of Jewish students allowed to pursue degrees in the fields of science and math. The quota was abolished in the 1950s. In addition to his anti-Semitic beliefs, Bowman also expressed anti-black and homophobic sentiments. [...] “My father had the clear opinion, and this would not have been typical at all for him because he didn’t lightly accuse someone of being anti-Semitic but Bowman had that reputation,” Sachs said.}}</ref><ref>{{Citation\|author=Isaiah Bowman\|year=1931\|title=The Pioneer Fringe\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/pioneerfringe00bowmrich/\|page=1-2\|quote=Millions now live in the pioneer lands, and millions more can be accommodated there. The question of their destiny is a most engaging one to the farmer near the border who has heard of opportunities over the next ridge; to geographers and economists and colonial administrators; to biologists and eugenists intent on improving the breed and aware of the higher birth rate among pioneers; to politicians who, like nature, abhor empty space; and to a certain type of city dweller, that modern thrall, who would exchange a desk for a bark canoe and whose bright vision of a home in the wilderness rarely outlasts the first rainy night.\|publisher=American Geographical Society\|isbn=0836958284}}</ref><ref>{{Citation\|author=Geoffrey J. Martin\|year=1980\|title=The life and thought of Isaiah Bowman\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/lifethoughtofisa0000mart/\|chapter='The Science of Settlement' and Resettlement Schemes\|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/lifethoughtofisa0000mart/page/123/\|publisher=Archon Books}}</ref> and [[Hamilton Fish Armstrong]].<ref>{{Citation\|author=Geoffrey J. Martin\|year=1980\|title=The life and thought of Isaiah Bowman\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/lifethoughtofisa0000mart/\|page=163-4\|quote=A joint British-American organization was sought, but eventually two se arate or anizations were created: the British (now the Royal) Institute of International Affairs in London, and the Councl on Foreign Relations in New York City. Bowman was a founder of the Council, a member of its Board of Directors, an a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of its periodical Foreign Affairs. [...] Bowman's association with the Council on Foreign Relations kept him in touch with others interested in international affairs. In particular, it brought him into a lifelong association with Hamilton Fish Armstrong, longtime editor of Foreign Affairs.\|publisher=Archon Books\|isbn=0-208-01844-1}}</ref> The early CFR's membership rosters "read like a ''Who's Who'' of American leaders"<ref name=":1" /> in which "partners from Wall Street’s [[J.P. Morgan & Co.\|J. P. Morgan and Company]] interacted with professors, international lawyers, corporate leaders, syndicated columnists, clergymen, and State Department officials."<ref name=":1" /> The council regarded "isolationists" as its primary adversaries.<ref name=":1" />

	The Park Avenue mansion of the late oil industrialist [[Harold Pratt]], director of [[ExxonMobil Corporation\|Standard Oil]] (now the ExxonMobil Corporation), became the CFR's headquarters in 1945 and is now known as the [[Harold Pratt House]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05.</ref><ref name=":4" />		The Park Avenue mansion of the late oil industrialist [[Harold Pratt]], director of [[ExxonMobil Corporation\|Standard Oil]] (now the ExxonMobil Corporation), became the CFR's headquarters in 1945 and is now known as the [[Harold Pratt House]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVL-x_7C_Mo "The Council on Foreign Relations at 100: The History."] Council on Foreign Relations. YouTube, 2021-01-05.</ref><ref name=":4" />