Council on Foreign Relations.
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is one of the least known organizations but probably the one that has the most influenced U.S. and world policies for almost a century.
Founded in1921, its original members included prominent financiers and businessmen in direct line from the “Robber Barons”. Some of them were at the origin of the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank in 1913, and all were either in government positions or in businesses that influenced decision-making during WWI.
Since its foundation, the CFR has included in its membership prominent personalities at the highest level of government (several U.S. Presidents and Secretaries of State), banking (Warburg, Morgan, Rockefeller), media (New York Times), and most major corporations in America.
It has close ties with England’s Royal Institute of International Affairs, considered as its sister organization. Together, they have been instrumental in building-up the arms race during the Cold War and there is almost no part of the world that hasn’t been affected by their influence.
Below are articles with additional information on the Council on Foreign Relations:
SourceWatch: Council on Foreign Relations.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Council_on_Foreign_Relations
Wikipedia: Council on foreign Relations.
This article appears to have been written with a bias toward CFR.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_on_Foreign_Relations
RightWeb:
This profile of CFR is from 1989, but has information that is still relevant.
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/gw/1586
NNDB: List of members of CFR since its foundation.
This list shows the diversity of high-profile members at the international level.
http://www.nndb.com/org/505/000042379/
Wikipedia: Elihu Root, founder of CFR (former Morgan lawyer).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elihu_Root