Trilateral Commission

Founded in 1973 with the support of David Rockefeller and other notable private citizens, the Trilateral Commission has sought to create a forum for substantive contact between corporate and other social leaders concerned with more closely aligning business and governmental actions in three regions of the world. The Commission hosts an annual meeting and also publishes studies and reports (Triangle Papers) that cover a wide range of topics.

The Commission is one of a number of major organizations whose members influence public policy discussion and formulation, especially in terms of international affairs. Trilateral refers to the three major geographic areas of democracy and wealth: Pacific Asia (particularly Japan), Europe (especially the European Union countries), and North America (the United States and Canada, with Mexico recently added).

Membership in the Trilateral Commission is by invitation. Currently there are about 350 high-level individuals from business, public service (excluding [Page 2109]current political officeholders), media, academia, labor unions, and other nongovernmental organizations. Leadership consists of the regional chairmen, deputy chairmen, and directors, along with an executive committee of approximately 40 other members.

The Commission's mandate has been to encourage its members to build institutional linkages within the major democratic industrialized areas of the world that focus on international collaboration. The Trilateral emphasis on the importance of geopolitical interdependence has in fact borne fruit—helping mitigate friction on a number of issues such as trade between nations—and the Commission is among the leading proponents of greater global integration.

Because so many Trilateral members are also active in similar international business groups working outside the glare of regular news reporting, the organization has been subject to much criticism. For example, the Commission has been seen as a front for large corporate interests more concerned with setting up a global state than in protecting national sovereignty. Thus it is not uncommon to see the Trilaterals linked with the Council on Foreign Relations and the Bilderberger group, among others, as part of a loose-knit “family” of foreign policy conspirators. This, of course, is a matter of dispute. However, a continuing ethical concern involves the substantial amount of behind-the-scenes corporate power-wielding that occurs without much publicity or democratic accountability.