Council on Foreign Relations

CFR meetings convene government officials, global business leaders, and prominent members of the intelligence and foreign-policy communities to discuss international issues.It also runs the David Rockefeller Studies Program, which makes recommendations to presidential administrations and the diplomatic community, testifies before Congress, interacts with the media, and publishes research on foreign policy issues.This academic group, directed by Wilson's closest adviser and long-time friend "Colonel" Edward M. House, and with Walter Lippmann as Head of Research, met to assemble the strategy for the postwar world.Due to the isolationist views prevalent in American society at that time, the scholars had difficulty gaining traction with their plan and turned their focus instead to a set of discreet meetings which had been taking place since June 1918 in New York City, under the name "Council on Foreign Relations".[7][4] In 1922, Gay, who was a former dean of the Harvard Business School and director of the Shipping Board during the war, headed the Council's efforts to begin publication of a magazine that would be the "authoritative" source on foreign policy.The security and armaments group was headed by Allen Welsh Dulles, who later became a pivotal figure in the CIA's predecessor, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).[5]: 62–64 In an anonymous piece called "The Sources of Soviet Conduct" that appeared in Foreign Affairs in 1947, CFR study group member George Kennan coined the term "containment".Dulles gave a public address at the Harold Pratt House in New York City in which he announced a new direction for Eisenhower's foreign policy: "There is no local defense which alone will contain the mighty land power of the communist world.Henry Kissinger had continued to publish in Foreign Affairs and was appointed by President Richard Nixon to serve as National Security Adviser in 1969.Nixon went to China in 1972, and diplomatic relations were completely normalized by President Carter's Secretary of State, another Council member, Cyrus Vance.When Hamilton Fish Armstrong announced in 1970 that he would be leaving the helm of Foreign Affairs after 45 years, new chairman David Rockefeller approached a family friend, William Bundy, to take over the position.Anti-war advocates within the Council rose in protest against this appointment, claiming that Bundy's hawkish record in the State and Defense Departments and the CIA precluded him from taking over an independent journal.[10][11] In his book, White House Diary, Carter wrote of the affair, "April 9 [1979] David Rockefeller came in, apparently to induce me to let the shah come to the United States.[22] Fifty-five international relations scholars and Russia experts wrote a letter to the organization's board and CFR president Richard N. Haass: "It is our considered view that Blavatnik uses his 'philanthropy'—funds obtained by and with the consent of the Kremlin, at the expense of the state budget and the Russian people—at leading western academic and cultural institutions to advance his access to political circles.
Elihu Root (1845–1937) served as the first honorary president (1921–1937) of the Council on Foreign Relations. [ 4 ] (Pictured 1902, age 57).
John W. Davis was the first elected CFR president [ 4 ]
First CFR vice-president, attorney Paul Drennan Cravath
David Rockefeller (1915–2017) joined the Council in 1941 and was appointed as a director in 1949.
CFR Headquarters, located in the former Harold Pratt House in New York City
United States Senate Committee on Foreign RelationsEuropean Council on Foreign Relations501(c)3 organizationTax ID no.Harold Pratt HouseManhattanNew York CityNew YorkMichael FromanDavid Rubensteinthink tankU.S. foreign policyinternational relations501(c)(3)nonprofit organizationWashington, D.C.membershipsecretaries of stateForeign AffairsDavid RockefellerdiplomaticCongressElihu RootWorld War IWoodrow WilsonscholarsThe InquiryEdward M. HouseWalter LippmannFourteen PointsParis Peace Conference 1919John W. DavisHotel MajesticChatham Houseisolationistcorporate lawyerSecretary of StateTheodore RooseveltPaul Drennan CravathinternationalismacademicsindustrialistsincorporationPaul D. CravathEdwin F. GayHarvard Business SchoolShipping BoardFord FoundationRockefeller FoundationCarnegie CorporationSecond World WarState DepartmentWar and Peace StudiesarmamentsAllen Welsh DullesOffice of Strategic ServicesclassifiedEisenhower administrationTrumanKennedy administrationJohnson administrationGeorge KennancontainmentWilliam BundyMarshall PlanDwight D. EisenhowerColumbia UniversityJohn Foster DullesHenry KissingerEuropean Coal and Steel CommunityJean MonnetFranceHo Chi MinhViet MinhFirst Indochina WarnationalistSouth VietnamVietnam Warmutual deterrencearms controlnuclear non-proliferationrelations between America and ChinaRichard NixonNational Security AdviserPresident CarterCyrus VanceHamilton Fish Armstrongwar criminalJohn J. McCloyMohammad Reza PahlavilymphomaIran hostage crisisThe New York TimesWhite House DiaryBrzezinskiMembers of the Council on Foreign RelationsDavid M. RubensteinThe Carlyle GroupSmithsonian InstitutionDuke UniversityBrookings InstitutionEconomic Club of WashingtonBaltimore OriolesBlair EffronCenterview PartnersJami MiscikKissinger Associates, Inc.Lehman BrothersBarclays CapitalMastercardBarack ObamaVenrockAfsaneh Mashayekhi BeschlossMargaret BrennanFace the NationCBS NewsSylvia Mathews BurwellAmerican UniversityUnited States Secretary of Health and Human ServicesKenneth I. ChenaultGeneral CatalystCerevel TherapeuticsBlack Economic AllianceCesar CondeNBCUniversal News GroupMichèle FlournoyWestExec AdvisorsCenter for a New American SecurityJane FraserJames P. GormanMorgan StanleyStephen HadleyNational Security AdvisorMargaret (Peggy) HamburgNational Academy of MedicineWilliam HurdU.S. representativeTexas's 23rd congressional districtclandestine officerWarburg PincusJames ManyikaGoogleMcKinsey Global InstituteLaurene Powell JobsEmerson CollectiveWilliam H. McRavenLyndon B. Johnson School of Public AffairsThe University of Texas at AustinJustin MuzinichU.S. Deputy Secretary of the TreasuryJanet NapolitanoGoldman School of Public PolicyUniversity of California, BerkeleyU.S. AttorneyAttorney General of ArizonaGovernor of ArizonaPresidentHomeland Security SecretaryMeghan L. O'SullivanBelfer Center for Science and International AffairsHarvard Kennedy SchoolDeven J. ParekhInsight PartnersCharles PhillipsRichard L. PleplerRuth PoratAlphabetL. Rafael ReifMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyMariko SilverBennington CollegeJames D. TaicletLockheed MartinAmerican Institute of Aeronautics and AstronauticsFrances Fragos TownsendActivision BlizzardEstée Lauder CompaniesFareed ZakariaFareed Zakaria GPSWashington PostAtlanticAmy ZegartHoover InstitutionStanford UniversityCharity NavigatorThe Washington PostLen BlavatnikVladimir PutinRichard N. HaassTobin, Harold J.Savord, RuthBarnett, A. DoakHarper & BrothersNew York University PressBruce HoffmanWayback MachineRothbard, MurrayRockefellerKissingerMother JonesPalgraveColumbia University PressLibrary of CongressProPublica