 | |
| Abbreviation | CFR |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1921; 104 years ago (1921) |
| Type | 501(c)3think tank |
| 13-1628168 | |
| Headquarters | Harold Pratt House, 58 East 68th Street,Manhattan |
| Location |
|
President | Michael Froman[1] |
Chairman | David Rubenstein |
| Revenue | $102,605,000[2] (2022) |
| Expenses | $79,073,100[2] (2022) |
| Website | www |
TheCouncil on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an Americanthink tank focused onU.S. foreign policy andinternational relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan501(c)(3)nonprofit organization with longstanding ties to political, corporate, and media elites.[3][4] CFR is based inNew York City, with an additional office inWashington, D.C. Itsmembership has included senior politicians,secretaries of state,CIA directors, bankers, lawyers, professors, corporate directors, CEOs, and prominentmedia figures.
CFR meetings convene government officials, global business leaders, and prominent members of the intelligence and foreign-policy communities to discuss international issues. CFR publishes the bi-monthly journalForeign Affairs since 1922. It also runs theDavid Rockefeller Studies Program, which makes recommendations to presidential administrations and thediplomatic community, testifies beforeCongress, interacts with the media, and publishes research on foreign policy issues.
Michael Froman is the organization's 15th president.
In September 1917, near the end ofWorld War I, PresidentWoodrow Wilson established a working fellowship of about 150scholars called "The Inquiry", tasked with briefing him about options for the postwar world after Germany was defeated. This academic group, directed by Wilson's closest adviser and long-time friend "Colonel"Edward M. House, and withWalter Lippmann as Head of Research, met to assemble the strategy for the postwar world.[6]: 13–14 The team produced more than 2,000 documents detailing and analyzing the political, economic, and social facts globally that would be helpful for Wilson in the peace talks. Their reports formed the basis for theFourteen Points, which outlined Wilson's strategy for peace after the war's end. These scholars then traveled to theParis Peace Conference 1919 and participated in the discussions there.[7]: 1–5
As a result of discussions at the Peace Conference, a small group of British and American diplomats and scholars met on May 30, 1919, at theHotel Majestic in Paris. They decided to create an Anglo-American organization called "The Institute of International Affairs", which would have offices in London and New York.[6]: 12 [7]: 5 Ultimately, the British and American delegates formed separate institutes, with the British developing the Royal Institute of International Affairs (known asChatham House) in London. Due to theisolationist views prevalent in American society at that time, the scholars had difficulty gaining traction with their plan and turned their focus instead to a set of discreet meetings which had been taking place since June 1918 in New York City, under the name "Council on Foreign Relations". The meetings were headed bycorporate lawyerElihu Root, who had served asSecretary of State under PresidentTheodore Roosevelt, and attended by 108 "high-ranking officers of banking, manufacturing, trading and finance companies, together with many lawyers".[citation needed]
The members supported Wilson'sinternationalist vision but were especially concerned about "the effect that the war and the treaty of peace might have on postwar business".[7]: 6–7 Scholars from the Inquiry saw an opportunity to establish an organization that would bring together diplomats, senior government officials, andacademics with lawyers, bankers, andindustrialists to influence public policy. On July 29, 1921, they filed a certification ofincorporation, officially forming the Council on Foreign Relations.[7]: 8–9 Founding members included its first honorary president,Elihu Root, and first elected president,John W. Davis, vice-presidentPaul D. Cravath, and secretary–treasurerEdwin F. Gay.[8][5]
In 1922, Gay, who was a former dean of theHarvard Business School and director of theShipping Board during the war, headed the Council's efforts to begin publication of a magazine that would be the "authoritative" source on foreign policy. He gathered US$125,000 (equivalent to $2,348,161 in 2024) from the wealthy members on the council, as well as by sending letters soliciting funds to "the thousand richest Americans". Using these funds, the first issue ofForeign Affairs was published in September 1922. Within a few years, it had gained a reputation as the "most authoritative American review dealing with international relations".[6]: 17–18
In the late 1930s, theFord Foundation andRockefeller Foundation began financially supporting the Council.[9] In 1938, they created various Committees on Foreign Relations, which later became governed by the American Committees on Foreign Relations inWashington, D.C., throughout the country, funded by a grant from theCarnegie Corporation. Influential men were to be chosen in a number of cities, and would then be brought together for discussions in their own communities as well as participating in an annual conference in New York. These local committees served to influence local leaders and shape public opinion to build support for the Council's policies, while also acting as "useful listening posts" through which the Council and U.S. government could "sense the mood of the country".[6]: 30–31
During theSecond World War, the Council achieved much greater prominence within the government and theState Department, when it established the strictly confidentialWar and Peace Studies, funded entirely by theRockefeller Foundation.[7]: 23 The secrecy surrounding this group was such that the Council members who were not involved in its deliberations were completely unaware of the study group's existence.[7]: 26 It was divided into four functional topic groups: economic and financial; security andarmaments; territorial; and political. The security and armaments group was headed byAllen Welsh Dulles, who later became a pivotal figure in theCIA's predecessor, theOffice of Strategic Services (OSS). CFR ultimately produced 682 memoranda for the State Department, which were markedclassified and circulated among the appropriate government departments•[7]: 23–26
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A critical study found that of 502 government officials surveyed from 1945 to 1972, more than half were members of the Council.[7]: 48 During theEisenhower administration 40% of the top U.S. foreign policy officials were CFR members (Eisenhower himself had been a council member); underTruman, 42% of the top posts were filled by council members. During theKennedy administration, this number rose to 51%, and peaked at 57% under theJohnson administration.[6]: 62–64
In 1947, CFR study group memberGeorge Kennan anonymously published an article inForeign Affairs titled, "The Sources of Soviet Conduct," in which he introduced the concept of "containment." The essay became highly influential in shaping U.S. foreign policy over the course of the next seven presidential administrations. Forty years later, Kennan remarked that he had never believed the Soviet Union intended to attack the United States, assuming that point was so self-evident it required no explanation in the original essay.William Bundy credited CFR's study groups with helping to lay the framework of thinking that led to theMarshall Plan andNATO. Due to new interest in the group, membership grew towards 1,000.[7]: 35–39
Dwight D. Eisenhower chaired a CFR study group while he served as President ofColumbia University. One member later said, "whatever General Eisenhower knows about economics, he has learned at the study group meetings."[7]: 35–44 The CFR study group devised an expanded study group called "Americans for Eisenhower" to increase his chances for the presidency. Eisenhower would later draw many Cabinet members from CFR ranks and become a CFR member himself. His primary CFR appointment was Secretary of StateJohn Foster Dulles. Dulles gave a public address at theHarold Pratt House in New York City in which he announced a new direction for Eisenhower's foreign policy: "There is no local defense which alone will contain the mighty land power of the communist world. Local defenses must be reinforced by the further deterrent of massive retaliatory power." After this speech, the council convened a session on "Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy" and choseHenry Kissinger to head it. Kissinger spent the following academic year working on the project at Council headquarters. The book of the same name that he published from his research in 1957 gave him national recognition, topping the national bestseller lists.[7]: 39–41
CFR played an important role in the creation of theEuropean Coal and Steel Community.[10] CFR promoted a blueprint of the ECSC and helpedJean Monnet promote the ESCS.[10]
On November 24, 1953, a study group heard a report from political scientist William Henderson regarding the ongoing conflict betweenFrance and Vietnamese Communist leaderHo Chi Minh'sViet Minh forces, a struggle that would later become known as theFirst Indochina War. Henderson argued that Ho's cause was primarilynationalist in nature and that Marxism had "little to do with the current revolution." Further, the report said, the United States could work with Ho to guide his movement away from Communism. State Department officials, however, expressed skepticism about direct American intervention in Vietnam and the idea was tabled. Over the next twenty years, the United States would find itself allied with anti-CommunistSouth Vietnam and against Ho and his supporters in theVietnam War.[7]: 40, 49–67
The Council served as a "breeding ground" for important American policies such asmutual deterrence,arms control, andnuclear non-proliferation.[7]: 40–42
In 1962 the group began a program of bringing select Air Force officers to the Harold Pratt House to study alongside its scholars. The Army, Navy and Marine Corps requested they start similar programs for their own officers.[7]: 46
A four-year-long study ofrelations between America and China was conducted by the Council between 1964 and 1968. One study published in 1966 concluded that American citizens were more open to talks with China than their elected leaders. Henry Kissinger had continued to publish inForeign Affairs and was appointed by PresidentRichard Nixon to serve asNational Security Adviser in 1969. In 1971, he embarked on a secret trip to Beijing to broach talks with Chinese leaders. Nixon went to China in 1972, and diplomatic relations were completely normalized byPresident Carter's Secretary of State, another Council member,Cyrus Vance.[7]: 42–44
The Vietnam War created a rift within the organization. WhenHamilton Fish Armstrong announced in 1970 that he would be leaving the helm ofForeign Affairs after 45 years, new chairmanDavid Rockefeller approached a family friend,William Bundy, to take over the position. Anti-war advocates within the Council rose in protest against this appointment, claiming that Bundy's hawkish record in the State and Defense Departments and the CIA precluded him from taking over an independent journal. Some considered Bundy awar criminal for his prior actions.[7]: 50–51
In November 1979, while chairman of CFR, David Rockefeller became embroiled in an international incident when he and Henry Kissinger, along withJohn J. McCloy and Rockefeller aides, persuaded President Jimmy Carter through the State Department to admit the Shah of Iran,Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, into the US for hospital treatment forlymphoma. This action directly precipitated what is known as theIran hostage crisis and placed Rockefeller under intense media scrutiny (particularly fromThe New York Times) for the first time in his public life.[11][12]
In his book,White House Diary, Carter wrote of the affair, "April 9 [1979] David Rockefeller came in, apparently to induce me to let the shah come to the United States. Rockefeller, Kissinger, andBrzezinski seem to be adopting this as a joint project".[13]
The CFR has two types of membership: life membership; and term membership, which lasts for 5 years and is available only to those between the ages of 30 and 36. Only U.S. citizens (native born or naturalized) and permanent residents who have applied for U.S. citizenship are eligible. A candidate for life membership must be nominated in writing by one Council member and seconded by a minimum of three others. Visiting fellows are prohibited from applying for membership until they have completed their fellowship tenure.[14]
Corporate membership is divided into "Associates", "Affiliates", "President's Circle", and "Founders". All corporate executive members have opportunities to hear speakers, including foreign heads of state, chairmen and CEOs of multinational corporations, and U.S. officials and Congressmen. President and premium members are also entitled to attend small, private dinners or receptions with senior American officials and world leaders.[15]
The CFR has a Young Professionals Briefing Series designed for young leaders interested in international relations to be eligible for term membership.[16]
Women were excluded from membership until the 1960s.[17]
As of 2025,[update] members of CFR's board of directors include:[18]
The Council on Foreign Relations received a three-star rating (out of four stars) fromCharity Navigator in fiscal year 2016, as measured by an analysis of the council's financial data and "accountability and transparency".[19] In fiscal year 2023, the council received a four-star rating (98 percent) from Charity Navigator.[20]
In an article forThe Washington Post, Richard Harwood described the membership of the CFR as "the nearest thing we have to a ruling establishment in the United States".[21]
The CFR has been criticized for its perceivedelitism and influence over U.S. foreign policy, with detractors arguing that it serves as a networking hub for government officials, corporate executives, and media figures, reinforcing an establishment consensus that prioritizesglobalist policies overnational interests.[4][22][23]
In 2019, CFR was criticized for accepting a donation fromLen Blavatnik, a Ukrainian-born billionaire with close links toVladimir Putin.[24] The council was reported to be under fire from its own members and dozens of international affairs experts over its acceptance of a $12 million gift to fund an internship program.[24] Fifty-five international relations scholars and Russia experts wrote a letter to the organization's board and CFR presidentRichard N. Haass:
"It is our considered view that Blavatnik uses his 'philanthropy'—funds obtained by and with the consent of the Kremlin, at the expense of the state budget and the Russian people—at leading western academic and cultural institutions to advance his access to political circles. We regard this as another step in the longstanding effort of Mr. Blavatnik—who ... has close ties to the Kremlin and its kleptocratic network—to launder his image in the West."[25]
Critics have accused the CFR of promotinginterventionist foreign policies, stating that its reports and recommendations have often supported U.S. military interventions andregime-change efforts. Some opponents say that its influence contributes to abipartisan consensus that favors global military engagement,economic neoliberalism, and the interests ofmultinational corporations.[26][27][28]
MONDAY, APRIL 9 David Rockefeller came in, apparently to induce me to let the shah come to the United States.Rockefeller,Kissinger, andBrzezinski seem to be adopting this as a joint project.