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BILDERBERG GROUP
Famous Members: Henry Kissinger, Jon Corzine, Henry Heinz, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Katherine Graham, George Stephanopolous, Paul Wolfowitz
Founded: 1954

The Bilderberg Group is similar to the Trilateral Commission: It convenes yearly to informally discuss matters of international policy. However, unlike the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderbergers do not publicize their membership, reveal their agenda, or hold press conferences. An invitation to a Bilderberg Group powwow is even more coveted than a Trilateral bid in rarified circles. According to Secret Societies by Philip Gardiner, the first meeting of the Bilderberg Group, arranged by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, was at the Hotel de Bilderberg in Holland in 1954. C.D. Jackson, Eisenhower's psychological warfare coordinator, was behind the formation of the American wing of the Bilderbergers. Gardiner reports that the CIA provided the original funding for the meeting, and subsequent funding was mostly from the Ford Foundation.

Since there is so little known for certain about what goes on during the Bilderberg conventions, the conspiracy theories are vast and histrionic. The most violent anti-government types, including Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, Osama bin Laden, and London nail-bomber David Copeland are all said to believe that the Bilderbergers control all international governments. In 2004, the BBC noted that some Serbs think the Bilderbergers are responsible "for triggering the war which led to the downfall of Slobodan Milosevic." Another popular theory among the tinfoil hat—wearing set is that international support for the Iraq war stemmed from the 2002 Bilderberg Group meeting. Only attendees know for sure what goes on at these soirees, but they probably have excellent caviar.

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