No one is quite sure why the Trilateral Commission exists, and less clear about what it does, but critics from the lumpen (non-elite) Right as well as the scholarly Left are certain that it's important. If you feel that the Democrats and Republicans are two wings of the same party, and that someone else is pulling the strings and laughing all the way to the bank, then Trilateralism is your cup of conspiracy tea. When Reagan pointed out on February 7, 1980 that 19 key members of the Carter administration were Trilateralists, George Bush gingerly dropped his membership. And by 1992 some observers were getting curious about Bill Clinton's membership.
The Commission is an alliance of top political and economic leaders
from North America, Japan, and Western Europe. Their aim is to manage global
interdependence between these Big Three in a way that allows the rich to
stay rich -- probably by discouraging protectionism, nationalism, or any
response that would pit the elites of one against the elites of another.
The anticipated economic pressures will be deflected downward rather than
laterally. Trilateralist Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker put it more
bluntly: "The standard [of living] of the average American has to decline."
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Name index for Trilateral Commission. List of Members. 1992-04-06