What Is The Council on Foreign Relations? : The council, often referred to as CFR, is a very old and very prestigious group of Americans actively engaged in shaping U.S. foreign policy at a professional and/or academic level. The membership includes almost every prominent name in U.S. foreign policy including most presidents and secretaries of state over the last 75 years.
Background : The council was founded in New York City on July 29, 1921. With offices in Manhattan and Washington, DC, the CFR is nonpartisan with membership from a broad spectrum of American political thought on world affairs and the U.S. role in international relations. Current president Richard Haass is a former Bush Administration official. The immediate past president, Leslie Gelb, worked in the Carter Administration before a long career at the New York Times.
What Does The Council on Foreign Relations Do?: Among other things, the CFR publishes Foreign Affairs, a very influential journal which guides and shape much of the foreign policy discussion in the United States. The council sponsors a number activities designed to foster dialogue and analysis of world affairs. These include high profile speaking events, research reports, conferences, and independent task forces on critical and controversial issues.
The Council on Foreign Relations Conspiracy?: The sheer size of the council's impact on U.S. relations with the rest of the world invites claims that the CFR is actually a shadow or secret arm of the U.S. government. Or as other conspiracy theories accuse, the council is part of a larger group of organizations which manipulate world affairs in a way that benefits their rich and powerful memberships. Their is no evidence, however, that the members of the group are unduly or unwittingly influenced by the council's work or that the powerful membership needs the CFR in order to impact foreign policy.
