Secret Societies

Bilderberg

Bilderberg Meets In Georgia
by Charles Overbeck

The global elite have been busy lately, planning a New World Order behind closed doors.

Matrix Editor
easterisle@parascope.com

The global elite have been busy lately. Just last month, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates invited 100 of the world's political and economic heavy-hitters to a "CEO Summit" in Seattle, including Vice President Al Gore and representatives of fourteen corporate members of the Council on Foreign Relations. Representatives of the world's most powerful industrialized nations (and Russia) met in Denver on June 19 for the annual Group of Seven meeting. And on June 12, members of the ultra-secretive Bilderberg Group arrived behind tinted limousine windows for their annual meeting at a Lake Lanier Islands resort near Atlanta, Georgia.

Hillary Clinton was on hand to greet the 120 Bilderberg attendees, drawn from the highest ranks of global business, politics, media, education and finance. Charles Muller, spokesman for the Bilderberg, told the Gainsville Times that the group would be discussing "issues affecting the Western world that include China, NATO, Islam, energy, growth and corporate governance."

"The U.S. Constitution has been violated here today and will be throughout the weekend," said activist Cyndee Parker, who joined a small group of Canadian and American protesters outside the cordoned-off entrance to the hotel grounds. "World policy is being decided behind closed doors and the national news media is nowhere in sight. This is an injustice and insult to the American people."

"If this isn't any big deal, why close the doors?" asked protester Thomas Wethington. "I don't want U.S. public policy decided in private by a group of international financiers."

Security was tight for the secretive four-day conference. Hall County Sheriff's deputies and Secret Service agents heavily guarded the hotel entrance as Georgia State Patrol troopers escorted Bilderbergers up the driveway. A military-style checkpoint called "Operation Sifter" was set up nearby on Interstate I-985, consisting of law enforcement agents in camouflage, police dogs combing nearby woods, Georgia National Guard helicopters providing air support, and Georgia Bureau of Investigation officers directing traffic. Hall County Sheriff Bob Vass said that "Operation Sifter" had nothing to do with the Bilderberg meeting. No word yet on who he thinks he's fooling.

Last year the Bilderberg met in Toronto, Canada; the group last met in Georgia in 1957. This year's attendees included Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger, World Bank president James Wolfensohn, former GATT and WTO director general Peter Sutherland, and David Rockefeller. Lesley Stahl, the CBS News correspondent who made an ass of herself by calling for Internet censorship during a 60 Minutes segment on conspiracy theories, was just one of the many media representatives on hand NOT covering the event. (For a complete list of attendees, see the 1997 Bilderberg Attendee List.)

Sources: Charles Duncan, "First Lady Exits Early; Bilderberg Begins," The Gainsville, Georgia Times, Friday, June 13, 1997; David Morgan, "European and American Elite Gather in U.S. South," Reuter, June 12, 1997; "Bilderberg Meeting of 1997 Assembles," PRNewswire, June 12, 1997.

List of 1997 Bilderberg Meeting in Georgia:

The ultra-secretive Bilderberg held its annual meeting this year at Lake Lanier Islands near Atlanta, Georgia, from June 12 through June 15. The following individuals were reported in attendance:

Chairman:
Peter Carrington (GB)
Former Chairman of the Board, Christies International; Former Secretary General, NATO

Honorary Secretary General:
Victor Halberstadt (NL)
Professor of Public Economics, Leiden University

Giovanni Agnelli (I)
Honorary Chairman, Fiat S.p.A.

Umberto Agnelli (I)
Chairman, IFIL S.p.A.

Paul A. Allaire(USA)
Chairman, Xerox Corporation

Bodil Nyboe Andersen (DK)
Governor, Central Bank of Denmark

Michael H. Armacost (USA)
President, The Brookings Institution

Francisco Pinto Balsemao (P)
Professor of Communication Science,University, Lisbon; Chairman, IMPRESA, S.G.P.S.; Former Prime Minister

Percy Barnevik (S)
Chairman, ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd.

Robert L. Bartley (USA)
Editor, Wall Street Journal

Isabel Bassett (CDN)
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Finance, Government of Ontario

Lloyd M. Bentsen (USA)
Former Secretary of the Treasury; Partner, Verner Liipfert Bernhard McPherson and Hand, Chartered

Samuel R Berger (USA)
Assistant to the President for Security Affairs

Maarten A. van den Bergh (NL)
Group Managing Director, Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies

C. Fred Bergsten (USA)
Director, Institute for International Economics

Richard Bernstein (USA)
Book Critic, New York Times

Ernst H. van der Beugel (NL)
Emeritus Professor of International Relations, Leiden University; Former Honorary Secretary General of Meetings for Europe and Canada

Selahattin Beyazit (TR)
Director of Companies

Carl Bildt (INT)
The High Representative

Dinc Bilgin (TR)
Chairman of the Board, Sabah A.S.

Conrad M. Black (CDN)
Chairman, The Telegraph plc

Lajos Bokros (H)
Senior Adviser, The World Bank

Antonio Borges (P)
Dean, INSEAD

E. John P. Browne (GB)
Group Chief Executive, The British Petroleum Company p.l.c.

John H. Bryan (USA)
Chairman and CEO, Sara Lee Corporation

Robin W.T. Buchanan (GB)
Senior Partner, Bain & Company

Hubert Burda (D)
Chairman, Burda Media

Hugo Butler (CH)
Editor in Chief, Neue Zurcher Zeitung

Costa Carras (GR)
Director of Companies

Ulrich Cartellieri (D)
Member of the Supervisory Board, Deutsche Bank AG

Jaime Carvajal Urquijo (E)
Chairman and General Manager, Iberfomento

Bertrand Collomb (F)
Chairman and CEO, Lafarge

Jon S. Corzine (USA)
Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs & Co.

Flavio Cotti (CH)
Federal Councillor and Minister for Foreign Affairs

Robert M.J.C. Cranborne (GB)
Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords

Kenneth W. Dam (USA)
Max Pam Professor of American and Foreign Law, The University of Chicago Law School

George A. David (GR)
Chairman of the Board, Hellenic Company S.A.

Etienne Davignon (B)
Executive Chairman, Societe Generale Belgique; Former Vice Chairman of the Commission of the European Communities

Francois X. de Donnea (B)
Former Minister of Defense; Mayor of Brussels; Member of Parliament

Uffe Ellemann-Jensen (DK)
Chairman, Liberal Party

Gazi Ercel (TR)
Governor, Central Bank of Turkey

Ustun Erguder (TR)
Rector, Bosporus University

David Frum (CDM)
Political Commentator

Orit Gadiesh (USA)
Chairman of the Board, Bain & Company Inc.

Teles, Jose M. Galvao (P)
Lawyer, Member of the Social Party, Member of the Council of State

Jean-Louis Gergorin (F)
Member of the Board of Directors, to the Chairman Strategic Matra Hachette

Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. (USA)
Chairman, IBM Corporation

Lee H. Hamilton (USA)
Congressman (D, Indiana)

Westye Hoegh (N)
Chairman of the Board, Leif Hoegh & ASA; Former President, Norwegian Shipowners' Association

Richard C. Holbrooke (USA)
Former Assistant Secretary for Affairs, Vice chairman, CS First

Will Hutton (GB)
Editor, The Observer

Jan Huyghebaert (B)
Chairman, Almanij-Kredietbank Groep

Jaakko Iloniemi (FIN)
Managing Director, Centre for Finnish Business and Policy Studies; Former Ambassador to the United States of America

H.C. Otmar Issing (D)
Member of the Board, Deutsche

Mary Jo Jacobi (GB)
Head of Group Public Affairs, HSBC Holdings plc; Former US Assistant Secretary of Commerce

Donald J. Johnston (INT)
Secretary-General, OECD

Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. (USA)
Senior Partner, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP (Attorneys-at-Law)

Henry A. Kissinger (USA)
Former Secretary of State; Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc.

Pieter Korteweg (NL)
President and CEO, Robeco Group

Max Kothbauer (A)
Director of Companies

Yannos Kiranidiotis (GR)
Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs

Andre Levy-Lang (F)
Chairman of the Board of Management, Banque Paribas

William W. Lewis (USA)
Director of McKinsey Global Institute, McKinsey & Company

Robert E. Mabro (GB)
Director, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

William J. McDonough (USA)
President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Peter Mitterbauer (A)
Chairman, Miba AG

Thierry de Montbrial (F)
Director, French Institute of International Relations; Professor of Economics, Ecole Polytechnique

Heather Munroe-Blum (CDN)
Vice-President, Research and International Relations, University of Toronto

Egil Myklebust (N)
Chief Executive, Norsk Hydro

Matthias Nass (D)
Managing Editor, Die Zeit

Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands (NL)

Sauli V. Niinisto (FIN)
Minister of Finance

Sam Nunn (USA)
Former Senator (D, Georgia)

David Oddsson (ICE)
Prime Minister

Andrzej Olechowski (PL)
Chairman, Central Europe Trust, Poland

Jorma Ollila (FIN)
President and CEO, Nokia Corporation

John M. Page, Jr.(USA)
Chief Economist, Middle East and Africa Region, The World Bank

Colin L. Powell (USA)
Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

David de Pury (CH)
Chairman, de Pury Pictet Turrettini & Co. Ltd.

Lochlann Quinn (IRL)
Chairman, Allied Irish Bank Group

Simon Robertson (GB)
Former Chairman, Kleinwort Benson Group plc

David Rockefeller (USA)
Chairman, Chase Manhattan Bank; International Advisory Committee

Sharon Percy Rockefeller (USA)
President and CEO, WETA-TV and FM

Matias Rodriguez Inciarte (E)
Vice Chairman, Banco de Santander

Eric Rell (GB)
Senior Adviser, SBC Warburg

Carlo Rossella (I)
Editor, Editrice La Stampa S.p.A.

Olivier Roy (F)
University Professor and Researcher, Laboratoire Monde Iranien, CNRS

Maureen Sabia (CDN)
Corporate Director and President, Maureen Sabia International

Ricardo Salgado (P)

Espirito Santo
President and CEO, Banco Espirito

Jurgen E. Schrempp (D)
Chairman of the Board of Management, Daimler-Benz AG

Klaus Schwab (INT)
President, World Economic Forum

Toger Seidenfaden (DK)
Editor in Chief, Politiken A/S

Jack Sheinkman (USA)
Chairman of the Board, Amalgamated

Stefano Silvestri (I)
Vice President, Istituto Affari Internazionali; former Undersecretary Defense

Lesley R. Stahl (USA)
National Affairs Correspondent, CBS

George Stephanopoulos (USA)
Visiting Professor, Columbia; Former Senior Advisor to the President for Policy and Strategy

Gyorgy Suryanyi (H)
President, National Bank of Hungary

Peter D. Sutherland (IRL)
Chairman and Managing Director, Sachs International; Former Director General, GATT and WTO

Bjorn Svedberg (S)
President and CEO, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken

Sinan Tara (TR)
Vice President, Enka Construction & Ind. Inc.

J. Martin Taylor (GB)
Chief Executive, Barclays PLC

Andre-Francois H. Villeneuve (GB)
Executive Director, Reuters Group Holdings plc

Ezra F. Vogel (USA)
Henry Ford II Professor of Social Sciences, Harvard University

Paul A. Volcker (USA)
Chairman, BT Wolfensohn

Franz Vranitzky (A)
Former Federal Chancellor

Gijs M. de Vries (INT)
Chairman, Liberal Group, European Parliament

Marcus Wallenberg (S)
Executive Vice President, Investor AB

Stanley A. Weiss (USA)
Chairman, Business Executives for National Security, Inc

John C. Whitehead (USA)
Former Deputy Secretary of State

James D. Wolfensohn (INT)
President, The World Bank

Otto Wolff von Amerongen (D)
Chairman and CEO of Otto Wolff GmbH

Paul Wolfowitz (USA)
Dean, Nitze School of Advanced International Studies; Former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

Herman H.F. Wijffels (NL)
Chairman of the Executive Board, Rabobank Nederland

Michael B. Yahuda (GB)
Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics

Casimir A. Yost (USA)
Director, Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington

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