swprs | Largely unbeknownst to the general public, executives and top
journalists of almost all major US news outlets have long been members
of the influential Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
Established in 1921 as a private, bipartisan organization to “awaken America to its worldwide responsibilities”,
the CFR and its close to 5000 elite members have for decades shaped
U.S. foreign policy and public discourse about it. As a well-known
Council member once explained, the goal has indeed been to establish a global Empire, albeit a “benevolent” one.
Based on official membership rosters, the following illustration for
the first time depicts the extensive media network of the CFR and its
two main international affiliate organizations: the Bilderberg Group (covering mainly the U.S. and Europe) and the Trilateral Commission (covering North America, Europe and East Asia), both established by Council leaders to foster elite cooperation at the international level.
In a column entitled “Ruling Class Journalists”, former Washington Post
senior editor and ombudsman Richard Harwood once described the Council
and its members approvingly as “the nearest thing we have to a ruling
establishment in the United States”.
