Bilderberg Meeting
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The Bilderberg Group, Bilderberg conference, or Bilderberg Club is an unofficial annual invitation-only conference of around 130 guests, most of whom are persons of influence in the fields of politics, business and banking.
The elite group meets annually at luxury hotels or resorts throughout the world — normally in Europe, and once every four years in the United States or Canada. It has an office in Leiden in the Netherlands.[1] The 2008 conference took place in Chantilly, Virginia.[2][3] and the 2009 meeting will take place from May 14-16 in Athens, Greece.[4]
Origin and purpose
The original Bilderberg conference was held at the Hotel de Bilderberg, near Arnhem in The Netherlands, from May 29 to May 31, 1954. It was initiated by several people, including Joseph Retinger, concerned about the growth of anti-Americanism in Western Europe, who proposed an international conference at which leaders from European countries and the United States would be brought together with the aim of promoting understanding between the cultures of United States of America and Western Europe.[5]
Retinger approached Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, who agreed to promote the idea, together with Belgian Prime Minister Paul Van Zeeland, and the head of Unilever at that time, the Dutchman Paul Rijkens. Bernhard in turn contacted Walter Bedell Smith, then head of the CIA, who asked Eisenhower adviser C. D. Jackson to deal with the suggestion.[6] The guest list was to be drawn up by inviting two attendees from each nation, one each to represent conservative and liberal points of view.[7]
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The success of the meeting led the organizers to arrange an annual conference. A permanent Steering Committee was established, with Retinger appointed as permanent secretary. As well as organizing the conference, the steering committee also maintained a register of attendee names and contact details, with the aim of creating an informal network of individuals who could call upon one another in a private capacity. Conferences were held in France, Germany, and Denmark over the following three years. In 1957, the first U.S. conference was held in St. Simons, Georgia, with $30,000 from the Ford Foundation. The foundation supplied additional funding of $48,000 in 1959, and $60,000 in 1963.[6]
The Dutch economist Ernst van der Beugel took over as permanent secretary in 1960, upon the death of Retinger. Prince Bernhard continued to serve as the meeting's chairman until 1976, the year of his involvement in the Lockheed affair. There was no conference that year, but meetings resumed in 1977 under Alec Douglas-Home, the former British Prime Minister. He was followed in turn by Walter Scheel, ex-President of West Germany, Eric Roll, former head of SG Warburg and Lord Carrington, former Secretary-General of NATO.[8]
Attendees
The steering committee does not publish a list of attendees, though some participants have publicly discussed their attendance. Historically, attendee lists have been weighted towards politicians, bankers, and directors of large businesses.[9]
Heads of state have attended meetings, including Juan Carlos I of Spain[10] and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands[11]. While serving members of government do not usually attend, prominent politicians from North America and Europe are past attendees. In recent years, board members from many large publicly-traded corporations have attended, including IBM, Xerox, Royal Dutch Shell, Nokia and Daimler.[11]
Conspiracy theories
Because of its secrecy and refusal to issue news releases, the group is frequently accused of secretive and nefarious world plots. This thinking has progressively found acceptance within both elements of the populist movement and fringe politics.[12] Critics include the John Birch Society[13], the Canadian writer Daniel Estulin, British writer David Icke, American writer Jim Tucker and radio host Alex Jones. Jones claims the Bilderberg Group intends to dissolve the sovereignty of the United States and other countries into a supra-national structure called the North American Union, similar to the European Union.[citation needed]
Jonathan Duffy, writing in BBC News Online Magazine states:
"No reporters are invited in and while confidential minutes of meetings are taken, names are not noted... In the void created by such aloofness, an extraordinary conspiracy theory has grown up around the group that alleges the fate of the world is largely decided by Bilderberg."[14]
According to the investigative journalist Chip Berlet, the origins of Bilderberger conspiracy theories can be traced to activist Phyllis Schlafly. In his 1994 report Right Woos Left, published by Political Research Associates, he writes:
"The views on intractable godless communism expressed by Schwarz were central themes in three other bestselling books which were used to mobilize support for the 1964 Goldwater campaign. The best known was Phyllis Schlafly's A Choice, Not an Echo which suggested a conspiracy theory in which the Republican Party was secretly controlled by elitist intellectuals dominated by members of the Bilderberger group, whose policies would pave the way for global communist conquest."[15]
Meetings
- 1954 (May 29-31) at the Hotel de Bilderberg in Oosterbeek, Netherlands
- 1955 (March 18-20) at the Hotellerie Du Bas-Breau in Barbizon, France
- 1955 (September 23-25) at the Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, West Germany
- 1956 (May 11-13) at the Hotel Store Kro in Fredensborg, Denmark
- 1957 (February 15-17) at the King and Prince Hotel in St. Simons Island, Georgia, USA
- 1957 (October 4-6) at the Grand Hotel Palazzo della Fonte in Fiuggi, Italy
- 1958 (September 13-15) at the The Palace Hotel in Buxton, United Kingdom
- 1959 (September 18-20) at the Çinar Hotel in Yeşilköy, Istanbul, Turkey
- 1960 (May 28-29) at the Palace Hotel in Bürgenstock, Nidwalden, Switzerland
- 1961 (April 21-23) at the Manoir St. Castin in Lac-Beauport, Quebec, Quebec, Canada
- 1962 (May 18-20) at the Grand Hotel Saltsjöbaden in Saltsjöbaden, Sweden
- 1963 (May 29-31) in Cannes, France
- 1964 (March 20-22) in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
- 1965 (April 2-4) at the Villa d'Este in Cernobbio, Italy
- 1966 (March 25-27) at the Nassauer Hof Hotel Wiesbaden in Wiesbaden, West Germany
- 1967 (March 31-April 2) in Cambridge, United Kingdom
- 1968 (April 26-28) in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada
- 1969 (May 9-11) at the Hotel Marienlyst in Helsingør, Denmark
- 1970 (April 17-19) at the Grand Hotel Quellenhof in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland
- 1971 (April 23-25) at the Woodstock Inn in Woodstock, Vermont, USA
- 1972 (April 21-23) at the La Reserve di Knokke-Heist in Knokke, Belgium
- 1973 (May 11-13) at the Grand Hotel Saltsjöbaden in Saltsjöbaden, Sweden
- 1974 (April 19-21) at the Hotel Mont d'Arbois in Megeve, France
- 1975 (April 22-24) at the Golden Dolphin Hotel in Çeşme, İzmir, Turkey
- 1976 no conference. The 1976 Bilderberg conference was planned for April at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia, USA. Due to the ongoing Lockheed scandal involving Prince Bernhard at the time, it had to be cancelled.
- 1977 (April 22-24) at the Paramount Imperial Hotel in Torquay, United Kingdom
- 1978 (April 21-23) at the Chauncey Conference Center in Princeton, New Jersey, United States
- 1979 (April 27-29) at the Grand Hotel Sauerhof in Baden bei Wien, Austria
- 1980 (April 18-20) at the Dorint Sofitel Quellenhof Aachen in Aachen, West Germany
- 1981 (May 15-17) at the Palace Hotel in Bürgenstock, Nidwalden, Switzerland
- 1982 (May 14-16) at the Rica Park Hotel Sandefjord in Sandefjord, Norway
- 1983 (May 13-15) at the Château Montebello in Montebello, Quebec, Canada[16]
- 1984 (May 11-13) at the Grand Hotel Saltsjöbaden in Saltsjöbaden, Sweden
- 1985 (May 10-12) at the Doral Arrowwood Hotel in Rye Brook, New York, United States
- 1986 (April 25-27) at the Gleneagles Hotel in Gleneagles, Auchterarder, United Kingdom
- 1987 (April 24-26) at the Villa d'Este in Cernobbio, Italy
- 1988 (June 3-5) at the Interalpen-Hotel Tyrol in Telfs-Buchen, Austria
- 1989 (May 12-14) at the Gran Hotel de La Toja in Isla de La Toja, Spain
- 1990 (May 11-13) at the Harrison Conference Center in Glen Cove, New York, United States
- 1991 (June 6-9) at the Steigenberger Badischer Hof Hotel, Schlosshotel Bühlerhöhe in Bühl (Baden) in Baden-Baden, Germany
- 1992 (May 21-24) at the Royal Club Evian Hotel, Ermitage Hotel in Évian-les-Bains, France
- 1993 (April 22-25) at the Nafsika Astir Palace Hotel in Vouliagmeni, Greece
- 1994 (June 2-5) at the Kalastajatorppa Hotel in Helsinki, Finland
- 1995 (June 8-11) at the Palace Hotel in Bürgenstock, Nidwalden, Switzerland
- 1996 (May 30-June 2) at the CIBC Leadership Centre aka The Kingbridge Centre in King City, Ontario, Canada
- 1997 (June 12-15) at the Pine Isle resort in Lake Lanier, Georgia, United States
- 1998 (May 14-17) at the Turnberry Hotel in Turnberry, United Kingdom
- 1999 (June 3-6) at the Caesar Park Hotel Penha Longa in Sintra, Portugal
- 2000 (June 1-4) at the Chateau Du Lac Hotel in Genval, Brussels, Belgium
- 2001 (May 24-27) at the Hotel Stenungsbaden in Stenungsund, Sweden
- 2002 (May 30-June 2) at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia, United States
- 2003 (May 15-18) at the Trianon Palace Hotel in Versailles, France
- 2004 (June 3-6) at the Grand Hotel des Iles Borromees in Stresa, Italy
- 2005 (May 5-8) at the Dorint Sofitel Seehotel Überfahrt in Rottach-Egern, Germany[17]
- 2006 (June 8-11) at the Brookstreet Hotel in Kanata, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada[18]
- 2007 (May 31 - June 3) at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel,[19] in Şişli, Istanbul, Turkey.[20]
- 2008 (June 5-8) at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia, United States[2][3]
- 2009 (May 14-16) in Athens,Greece[4]
References
- ^ The masters of the universe, Asia Times, May 22, 2003, accessed on August 18, 2007
- ^ a b "Balkenende to Meet Bush in Washington". NIS News Bulletin. 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
- ^ a b "Bilderberg Announces 2008 Conference". BusinessWire. 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
- ^ a b "The most powerful elite will meet in Athens". GRReporter. 23 March 2009.
the club will organize its meeting in Athens between 14th and 16th of May
- ^ Hatch, Alden (1962). "The Hôtel de Bilderberg". H.R.H.Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands: An authorized biography. London: Harrap. ISBN B0000CLLN4.
- ^ a b Valerie Aubourg (2003). Organizing Atlanticism: the Bilderberg Group and the Atlantic Institute 1952-63.
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ignored (help) - ^ Hatch, Alden (1962). "The Hôtel de Bilderberg". H.R.H.Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands: An authorized biography. London: Harrap. ISBN B0000CLLN4.
The idea was to get two people from each country who would give the conservative and liberal slant
- ^ Rockefeller, David (2002). Memoirs. Random House. p. 412. ISBN 0-679-40588-7.
- ^ Caroline Moorehead (April 18, 1977). "An exclusive club, perhaps without power, but certainly with influence: The Bilderberg group". The Times.
- ^ Mark Oliver (June 4, 2004). "The Bilderberg group". The Guardian.
- ^ a b "Bilderberg Meeting of 1997 Assembles". PR Newswire. June 13, 1997.
- ^ [http://www.publiceye.org/rightwoo/rwooz9.html#P8_45 "Right Woos Left"
- ^ John Birch Society: “the Bilderberg” http://www.publiceye.org/rightwoo/rwooz9-04.html
- ^ Jonathan Duffy (2004-06-03). "Bilderberg: The ultimate conspiracy theory". BBC News.
- ^ Chip Berlet (1994). "The New Right & The Secular Humanism Conspiracy Theory".
- ^ High-security fences surround resort town in preparation for summit, Edmonton Journal, August 18, 2007, accessed on August 19, 2007
- ^ "Asia Times Online :: Asian News, Business and Economy". Retrieved 2007-08-22.
- ^ Panetta, Alexander (2006). "Secretive Bilderbergers meet". www.thestar.com. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
- ^ What was discussed at Bilderberg?, Turkish Daily News, June 5, 2007, accessed on August 18, 2007
- ^ Bilderberg 2007 - Towards a One World Empire?, Nexus Magazine, Volume 14, Number 5 (August - September 2007), accessed on August 18, 2007
Further reading
- Jon Ronson (2001). THEM: Adventures with Extremists. London: Picador. ISBN 0-330-37546-6.
- Eringer, Robert (1980). The Global Manipulators. Bristol, England: Pentacle Books. ISBN 0906850046.
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value: checksum (help) - Estulin, Daniel (2007). The True Story of the Bilderberg Club (illustrated edition). Walterville OR: Trine Day. ISBN 0977795349.
External links
- "Inside the secretive Bilderberg Group". BBC News. 2005-09-29. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
- "Elite power brokers meet in secret". BBC News. 2003-05-15. Retrieved 2008-08-05. BBC News May 15, 2003
- Guardian article on the group - an excerpt from Jon Ronson's book Them
- CTV.ca - Shadowy group meets amid secrecy in Ottawa
- The world's most powerful secret society - 1998 article from Punch magazine