Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Trilateral Commission Keeps Expanding

Launched in 1973, the Trilateral Commission (TC) listed an initial roster of 187 members, all of whom hailed from three areas: Western Europe, North America, and Japan (hence the name Tri-lateral).

Today, the revamped European Group has members from 25 countries, many once part of the Soviet bloc. The North American Group whose members originally came from only Canada and the U.S. now has several from Mexico. And what was once solely a Japanese portion has been re-named the Asian-Pacific Group with 13 countries represented including Australia, New Zealand, India, and China. As a result of reaching out virtually worldwide, TC’s now lists 18 “Participants from Other Areas” such as Russia, Taiwan, Israel, Turkey, Africa, and South America. Total membership in 2010 has grown to 390, more than double the number at inception.

Labeling itself “a non-governmental, policy-oriented discussion group,” TC claims as its purpose “to encourage understanding and closer cooperation among these three regions on shared global problems.” Its own website makes clear that the overall goal is to smooth the path toward “interdependence.” This would be accomplished through annual meetings and a stream of publications designed in part “to counteract economic and political nationalism.” In other words, TC considers interdependence good and any form of nationalism bad. Anyone who scrutinizes TC’s self-description or any of its Trialogue publications will find no support for our nation’s Declaration of Independence or Constitution. It is significant that TC started with an office in mid-Manhattan but is now situated in mid-Washington, D.C., where its influence of America’s government can be wielded more efficiently.

Understanding TC can best be grasped by knowing its roots. The organization arose from Zbigniew Brzezinski’s 1970 book Between Two Ages. Many of this tome’s 300 pages supply undiluted praise for Marxism (“a victory of reason over belief,” “a major advance in man’s ability to conceptualize his relationship to his world,” and “the best available insight into contemporary reality”). A reader is then told that the United States was “undergoing a revolution [which] unmasks its obsolescence.” Hence, according to the man who became TC’s actual godfather, Marxism is good and the United States is old hat.