m Reverted to revision 194018333 by VoABot II; rm commentary. (TW) |
RaiderAspect (talk | contribs) →Origin and purpose: Unreliable sources |
||
Line 35: | Line 35: | ||
|pages=p.412 |
|pages=p.412 |
||
|id=ISBN 0-679-40588-7}}</ref> |
|id=ISBN 0-679-40588-7}}</ref> |
||
The Bilderberg Group's purpose was again described in 1991, by then-Chairman [[David_Rockefeller|David Rockefeller]], in this manner:<ref>{{cite journal |
|||
| last = Grigg |
|||
| first = William |
|||
| title = Behind the Bias |
|||
| journal = The New American |
|||
| volume = 19 |
|||
| issue = 3 |
|||
| publisher = American Opinion Publishing |
|||
| location = Appleton, WI |
|||
| date = 2003-02-10 |
|||
| url = http://www.thenewamerican.com/node/3193 |
|||
| accessdate = 2008-01-29}} |
|||
</ref> <blockquote> |
|||
"We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time magazine, and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. ... It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during these years. But the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government which will never again know war but only peace and prosperity for the whole of humanity." |
|||
</blockquote> |
|||
==Attendees== |
==Attendees== |
Revision as of 04:29, 29 February 2008
The Bilderberg Group or Bilderberg conference is an unofficial annual invitation-only conference of around 130 guests, most of whom are persons of influence in the fields of business, media and politics.
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, South Holland, Netherlands.[1] The 2007 conference took place from May 31 to June 3 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey.[2]
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. The meeting was initiated by several people, including Joseph Retinger, concerned about the growth of anti-Americanism in Western Europe, 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.[3]
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. The guest list was to be drawn up by inviting two attendees from each nation, one each to represent conservative and liberal (both terms used in the American sense) points of view.[3]
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. The declared purpose of the Bilderberg Group was to make a common political line tie between the United States of America and Europe in their opposition to the USSR and the global communist threat to their common monetary interests. 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.[4]
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.[5]
Attendees
Attendees of Bilderberg include central bankers, defense experts, mass media press barons, government ministers, prime ministers, royalty, international financiers and political leaders from Europe and North America.
Some of the Western world's leading financiers and foreign policy strategists attend Bilderberg. Donald Rumsfeld is an active Bilderberger, as is Peter Sutherland from Ireland, a former European Union commissioner and chairman of Goldman Sachs and of British Petroleum. Rumsfeld and Sutherland served together in 2000 on the board of the Swedish/Swiss engineering company ABB. Former U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary and former World Bank head Paul Wolfowitz is also a member. The group's current chairman is Etienne Davignon, the Belgian businessman and politician.
Criticism
The group's secrecy and its connections to power elites has provided fodder for many who believe that the group is part of a conspiracy to create a New World Order.
Radio host Alex Jones promotes the theory that the group intends to dissolve the sovereignty of the United States and other countries into a supra-national structure similar to the European Union.[6] Madrid-based author Daniel Estulin claims that the long-term purpose of Bilderberg is to "Build a One-World Empire". He states the group "is not the end but the means to a future One World Government". [7]
Another opponent of the group, Tony Gosling, has registered the domain name bilderberg.org
, largely hosting material critical of Bilderberg.
Reporter Jonathan Duffy, writing in BBC News Online Magazine states "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." [8]
Denis Healey, a Bilderberg founder and former British chancellor, decries such theories as "crap." He was quoted by BBC News as saying "There's absolutely nothing in it. We never sought to reach a consensus on the big issues at Bilderberg. It's simply a place for discussion.".[8]
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, England
- 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, England
- 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 [1]
- 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, England
- 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[9]
- 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, Scotland
- 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 Bühlerhohe 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, 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, Scotland
- 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[10]
- 2006 (June 8-11) at the Brookstreet Hotel [11] in Kanata, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. See picture of meeting location at time of meeting.
- 2007 (May 31 - June 3) at the Ritz-Carlton hotel[2] in Şişli, Istanbul, Turkey[7]
See also
References
- ^ The masters of the universe, Asia Times, May 22 2003, accessed on August 18 2007
- ^ a b What was discussed at Bilderberg?, Turkish Daily News, June 5 2007, accessed on August 18 2007 Cite error: The named reference "tdn" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b Hatch, Alden (1962). "The Hôtel de Bilderberg". H.R.H.Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands: An authorized biography. London: Harrap. ISBN B0000CLLN4.
- ^ Valerie Aubourg (June 2003). Organizing Atlanticism: the Bilderberg Group and the Atlantic Institute 1952-63.
- ^ Rockefeller, David (2002). Memoirs. Random House. pp. p.412. ISBN 0-679-40588-7.
{{cite book}}
:|pages=
has extra text (help) - ^ http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1070329053600562261&q=end+game&total=37385&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0 ENDGAME - ALEX JONES - Blueprint for Global Enslavement, documentary by Alex Jones (radio).
- ^ a b Bilderberg 2007 - Towards a One World Empire?, Nexus Magazine, Volume 14, Number 5 (August - September 2007), accessed on August 18 2007
- ^ a b Jonathan Duffy (3rd June, 2004). "Bilderberg: The ultimate conspiracy theory". BBC News.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ 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.
- Ronson, Jon (2001). THEM: Adventures with Extremists. London: Picador. ISBN 0-330-37546-6.
- Eringer, Robert (1980). The Global Manipulators. Bristol, England: Pentacle Books. ISBN 0906850046.
External links
Note: the Bilderberg Group does not have a website.[1]
- BBC Interview with Étienne Davignon, September 2005
- Elite power brokers meet in secret BBC News 15 May, 2003
- Robert Eringer writing about Bilderberg, Carroll Quigley
- Extract from the official Bilderberg report on the Fiuggi Conference 4-6 October 1957
- Paper by Sociology Professor (LMU) Mike Peters: "The Bilderberg Group and the Project for European Unification" from Lobster: The Journal of Parapolitics
- Free Press International: Bilderberg video and info
- Guardian article on the group - an excerpt from Jon Ronson's book Them
- CTV.ca - Shadowy group meets amid secrecy in Ottawa
- Minutes from the 1999 Bilderberg meeting from SchNEWS website
- List of recent mainstream news articles and Bilderberg conspiracy gossip
- Historical information on the Bilderberg Group-mentions original location of 1976 meeting