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There is a Chairman (former Speaker of the House Thomas S. Foley is the current North
American Chairman), Deputy Chairman, and Director for each of the three areas, as well as a 44
member Executive Committee, with such recognizable names as: C. Fred Bergsten (former U.S.
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs), Zbigniew Brzezinski, Joseph S.
Nye, Jr. (Dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and former
U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs), and Paul Volcker (former
Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and a former North American Chairman of the Trilateral
Commission, 1991-2001).
An analysis of one of their three-year budgets of $1.67 million, indicated that $644,000 came
from foundations, $530,000 from corporations, $220,000 from individual contributors, $180,000
from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, $150,000 from David Rockefeller’s personal account,
$100,000 from the Rockefeller Foundation, and $84,000 from investment income.
The Commission holds an annual three-day meeting, rotated among the three areas, to
discuss the world monetary situation, and other economic and military issues; and sometimes
have regional meetings. The meetings are closed to the public, and the media is denied access.
There are three headquarters, Washington, D.C. (1156 Fifteenth Street, NW), Paris (5, rue de
Téhéran), and Tokyo (Japan Center for International Exchange, 4-19-17 Minami-Azabu, Minatoku).
Each branch has a small full-time staff.
The organization had published a quarterly magazine, called the Trialogue. The first three
issues of the year were devoted to significant international matters, while the fourth, covered in
detail, their annual meeting. It was discontinued in 1985 to help lower expenses. However, they
do still publish a report about their annual meeting. Their Task Force Reports usually take up to a
year to prepare, and they are always written by at least three experts, representing each region.
The Commission has been served by internationalists drawn from firms like: Wachovia Bank
and Trust Co., Chase Manhattan, Citicorp, Morgan Guaranty, Bank of America, Lloyds of
London, Bank of Tokyo, Barclays Bank, Compagnie Financiere Holding, Brown Brothers,
Harriman and Co., Fuji Bank, Banque de Paris, Provincial Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion
Bank, First City Bancorp, Bank of Italy, Industrial Bank of Japan, Mitsui Bank, Chemical Bank,
Mitsubishi Bank, and the Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Co.
The Commission has been served by corporate officers from companies like: Boeing, Coca-
Cola, Japan Air Lines, Volkswagenwerk, Ford Motor Co., Deere, Caterpillar Tractor, Cargill,
Cummins Engine, Xerox, Sony, Toyota, Johnson & Johnson, Fiat, Dunlop, Rolls-Royce,
Thyssen, Bendix, Texas Instruments, Exxon, Texaco, Mobil, Arco, Pepsico, Rand Corp., RJR
Nabisco, Levi Strauss, Archer Midland Daniels, Coca-Cola, American Express, ITT Corp,
Hewlett-Packard, Kaisar Resources, Shell, Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Nippon Steel, Sears and
Roebuck, Weyerhaeuser, and General Motors.
They have been served by such Union leaders as: Lane Kirkland (President of the AFL-CIO),
I. W. Abel (President of the United Steel Workers of America), Leonard Woodcock (United
Auto Workers), Sol Chaikin (President of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union),
Albert Shanker (American Federation Of Teachers), Jay Mazur (Union of Needletrades,
Industrial and Textile Employees), and Glenn Watts (President of the Communications Workers
of America).
The Commission has some of its members in such branches of the media as: New York
Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Minneapolis Star and Tribune, Los Angeles Times,
Chicago Sun Times, Kyodo News Service, Japan Times, La Stampa, Die Ziet, Financial Times,
Columbia Broadcasting (CBS-TV), The Economist, Japan Broadcasting Corp., Time, Associated