NATO chief, former US intelligence director among Bilderberg elite
RT | May 28, 2014
Some 140 participants representing 22 countries will be attending the 62nd annual Bilderberg meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark. The newly released list is a who’s who of business, academia, and the political world.
As is usually the case with the renowned summit, this year’s Bilderberg – which will take place May 29 to June 1 – has attracted a cadre of influential experts, including notable attendees such as NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former director of the US National Security Agency Keith Alexander, and former US national security advisor to the White House Thomas E. Donilon.
The Bilderberg meeting, which the BBC has referred to as “possibly the most influential discussion network in the world,” first began in 1954, has over the years attracted a considerable amount of media attention, both for its formidable attendee lists as well as the perceived aura as an opportunity for the world’s elite to mingle. In addition to the yearly attendees, the Bilderberg Steering Committee is likewise a list of powerful financiers, which includes Peter D. Sutherland, Chairman of Goldman Sachs International, as well as Peter Thiel, president of Thiel Capital.
Bilderberg operates under the “Chatham House Rule,” which stipulates that neither the identity nor affiliation of a speaker’s quotes may be revealed by other participants, including any media in attendance. Though it may be intended to promote the free exchange of ideas among the well-heeled, such rules have fed directly into what detractors say is an unnecessary cloud of secrecy, as well as a range of conspiracy theories that liken the summit to a shadowy gathering for architects of the “New World Order.”
Already fueling such wild speculation ahead of this year’s summit were the arrests of independent reporters Luke Rudkowski and Dan Dicks, who attempted to confront staff at the Copenhagen hotel where Bilderberg is set to take place. Video of the encounter quickly spread online.
According to an official press release, this year’s summit will be focusing on a variety of topics, including the future of democracy and the “middle class trap,” China’s political and economic outlook, and the ongoing situation in Ukraine. Interestingly, the agenda also includes the topic of privacy, as well as “the relationship in intelligence sharing,” which suggests the meeting may be used to address last year’s onslaught of NSA leaks by former intelligence contractor turned whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Below is a list of participants as released by Bilderberg:
Chairman
FRA | Castries, Henri de | Chairman and CEO, AXA Group |
DEU | Achleitner, Paul M. | Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Deutsche Bank AG |
DEU | Ackermann, Josef | Former CEO, Deutsche Bank AG |
GBR | Agius, Marcus | Non-Executive Chairman, PA Consulting Group |
FIN | Alahuhta, Matti | Member of the Board, KONE; Chairman, Aalto University Foundation |
GBR | Alexander, Helen | Chairman, UBM plc |
USA | Alexander, Keith B. | Former Commander, U.S. Cyber Command; Former Director, National Security Agency |
USA | Altman, Roger C. | Executive Chairman, Evercore |
FIN | Apunen, Matti | Director, Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA |
DEU | Asmussen, Jörg | State Secretary of Labour and Social Affairs |
HUN | Bajnai, Gordon | Former Prime Minister; Party Leader, Together 2014 |
GBR | Balls, Edward M. | Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer |
PRT | Balsemão, Francisco Pinto | Chairman, Impresa SGPS |
FRA | Baroin, François | Member of Parliament (UMP); Mayor of Troyes |
FRA | Baverez, Nicolas | Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP |
USA | Berggruen, Nicolas | Chairman, Berggruen Institute on Governance |
ITA | Bernabè, Franco | Chairman, FB Group SRL |
DNK | Besenbacher, Flemming | Chairman, The Carlsberg Group |
NLD | Beurden, Ben van | CEO, Royal Dutch Shell plc |
SWE | Bildt, Carl | Minister for Foreign Affairs |
NOR | Brandtzæg, Svein Richard | President and CEO, Norsk Hydro ASA |
INT | Breedlove, Philip M. | Supreme Allied Commander Europe |
AUT | Bronner, Oscar | Publisher, Der STANDARD Verlagsgesellschaft m.b.H. |
SWE | Buskhe, Håkan | President and CEO, Saab AB |
TUR | Çandar, Cengiz | Senior Columnist, Al Monitor and Radikal |
ESP | Cebrián, Juan Luis | Executive Chairman, Grupo PRISA |
FRA | Chalendar, Pierre-André de | Chairman and CEO, Saint-Gobain |
CAN | Clark, W. Edmund | Group President and CEO, TD Bank Group |
INT | Coeuré, Benoît | Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank |
IRL | Coveney, Simon | Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine |
GBR | Cowper-Coles, Sherard | Senior Adviser to the Group Chairman and Group CEO, HSBC Holdings plc |
BEL | Davignon, Etienne | Minister of State |
USA | Donilon, Thomas E. | Senior Partner, O’Melveny and Myers; Former U.S. National Security Advisor |
DEU | Döpfner, Mathias | CEO, Axel Springer SE |
GBR | Dudley, Robert | Group Chief Executive, BP plc |
FIN | Ehrnrooth, Henrik | Chairman, Caverion Corporation, Otava and Pöyry PLC |
ITA | Elkann, John | Chairman, Fiat S.p.A. |
DEU | Enders, Thomas | CEO, Airbus Group |
DNK | Federspiel, Ulrik | Executive Vice President, Haldor Topsøe A/S |
USA | Feldstein, Martin S. | Professor of Economics, Harvard University; President Emeritus, NBER |
CAN | Ferguson, Brian | President and CEO, Cenovus Energy Inc. |
GBR | Flint, Douglas J. | Group Chairman, HSBC Holdings plc |
ESP | García-Margallo, José Manuel | Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation |
USA | Gfoeller, Michael | Independent Consultant |
TUR | Göle, Nilüfer | Professor of Sociology, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales |
USA | Greenberg, Evan G. | Chairman and CEO, ACE Group |
GBR | Greening, Justine | Secretary of State for International Development |
NLD | Halberstadt, Victor | Professor of Economics, Leiden University |
USA | Hockfield, Susan | President Emerita, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
NOR | Høegh, Leif O. | Chairman, Höegh Autoliners AS |
NOR | Høegh, Westye | Senior Advisor, Höegh Autoliners AS |
USA | Hoffman, Reid | Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, LinkedIn |
CHN | Huang, Yiping | Professor of Economics, National School of Development, Peking University |
USA | Jackson, Shirley Ann | President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
USA | Jacobs, Kenneth M. | Chairman and CEO, Lazard |
USA | Johnson, James A. | Chairman, Johnson Capital Partners |
USA | Karp, Alex | CEO, Palantir Technologies |
USA | Katz, Bruce J. | Vice President and Co-Director, Metropolitan Policy Program, The Brookings Institution |
CAN | Kenney, Jason T. | Minister of Employment and Social Development |
GBR | Kerr, John | Deputy Chairman, Scottish Power |
USA | Kissinger, Henry A. | Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc. |
USA | Kleinfeld, Klaus | Chairman and CEO, Alcoa |
TUR | Koç, Mustafa | Chairman, Koç Holding A.S. |
DNK | Kragh, Steffen | President and CEO, Egmont |
USA | Kravis, Henry R. | Co-Chairman and Co-CEO, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. |
USA | Kravis, Marie-Josée | Senior Fellow and Vice Chair, Hudson Institute |
CHE | Kudelski, André | Chairman and CEO, Kudelski Group |
INT | Lagarde, Christine | Managing Director, International Monetary Fund |
BEL | Leysen, Thomas | Chairman of the Board of Directors, KBC Group |
USA | Li, Cheng | Director, John L.Thornton China Center,The Brookings Institution |
SWE | Lifvendahl, Tove | Political Editor in Chief, Svenska Dagbladet |
CHN | Liu, He | Minister, Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs |
PRT | Macedo, Paulo | Minister of Health |
FRA | Macron, Emmanuel | Deputy Secretary General of the Presidency |
ITA | Maggioni, Monica | Editor-in-Chief, Rainews24, RAI TV |
GBR | Mandelson, Peter | Chairman, Global Counsel LLP |
USA | McAfee, Andrew | Principal Research Scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
PRT | Medeiros, Inês de | Member of Parliament, Socialist Party |
GBR | Micklethwait, John | Editor-in-Chief, The Economist |
GRC | Mitsotaki, Alexandra | Chair, ActionAid Hellas |
ITA | Monti, Mario | Senator-for-life; President, Bocconi University |
USA | Mundie, Craig J. | Senior Advisor to the CEO, Microsoft Corporation |
CAN | Munroe-Blum, Heather | Professor of Medicine and Principal (President) Emerita, McGill University |
USA | Murray, Charles A. | W.H. Brady Scholar, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research |
NLD | Netherlands, H.R.H. Princess Beatrix of the | |
ESP | Nin Génova, Juan María | Deputy Chairman and CEO, CaixaBank |
FRA | Nougayrède, Natalie | Director and Executive Editor, Le Monde |
DNK | Olesen, Søren-Peter | Professor; Member of the Board of Directors, The Carlsberg Foundation |
FIN | Ollila, Jorma | Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell, plc; Chairman, Outokumpu Plc |
TUR | Oran, Umut | Deputy Chairman, Republican People’s Party (CHP) |
GBR | Osborne, George | Chancellor of the Exchequer |
FRA | Pellerin, Fleur | State Secretary for Foreign Trade |
USA | Perle, Richard N. | Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute |
USA | Petraeus, David H. | Chairman, KKR Global Institute |
CAN | Poloz, Stephen S. | Governor, Bank of Canada |
INT | Rasmussen, Anders Fogh | Secretary General, NATO |
DNK | Rasmussen, Jørgen Huno | Chairman of the Board of Trustees, The Lundbeck Foundation |
INT | Reding, Viviane | Vice President and Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, European Commission |
USA | Reed, Kasim | Mayor of Atlanta |
CAN | Reisman, Heather M. | Chair and CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc. |
NOR | Reiten, Eivind | Chairman, Klaveness Marine Holding AS |
DEU | Röttgen, Norbert | Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committee, German Bundestag |
USA | Rubin, Robert E. | Co-Chair, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Secretary of the Treasury |
USA | Rumer, Eugene | Senior Associate and Director, Russia and Eurasia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |
NOR | Rynning-Tønnesen, Christian | President and CEO, Statkraft AS |
NLD | Samsom, Diederik M. | Parliamentary Leader PvdA (Labour Party) |
GBR | Sawers, John | Chief, Secret Intelligence Service |
NLD | Scheffer, Paul J. | Author; Professor of European Studies, Tilburg University |
NLD | Schippers, Edith | Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport |
USA | Schmidt, Eric E. | Executive Chairman, Google Inc. |
AUT | Scholten, Rudolf | CEO, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG |
USA | Shih, Clara | CEO and Founder, Hearsay Social |
FIN | Siilasmaa, Risto K. | Chairman of the Board of Directors and Interim CEO, Nokia Corporation |
ESP | Spain, H.M. the Queen of | |
USA | Spence, A. Michael | Professor of Economics, New York University |
FIN | Stadigh, Kari | President and CEO, Sampo plc |
USA | Summers, Lawrence H. | Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard University |
IRL | Sutherland, Peter D. | Chairman, Goldman Sachs International; UN Special Representative for Migration |
SWE | Svanberg, Carl-Henric | Chairman, Volvo AB and BP plc |
TUR | Taftalı, A. Ümit | Member of the Board, Suna and Inan Kiraç Foundation |
USA | Thiel, Peter A. | President, Thiel Capital |
DNK | Topsøe, Henrik | Chairman, Haldor Topsøe A/S |
GRC | Tsoukalis, Loukas | President, Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy |
NOR | Ulltveit-Moe, Jens | Founder and CEO, Umoe AS |
INT | Üzümcü, Ahmet | Director-General, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons |
CHE | Vasella, Daniel L. | Honorary Chairman, Novartis International |
FIN | Wahlroos, Björn | Chairman, Sampo plc |
SWE | Wallenberg, Jacob | Chairman, Investor AB |
SWE | Wallenberg, Marcus | Chairman of the Board of Directors, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB |
USA | Warsh, Kevin M. | Distinguished Visiting Fellow and Lecturer, Stanford University |
GBR | Wolf, Martin H. | Chief Economics Commentator, The Financial Times |
USA | Wolfensohn, James D. | Chairman and CEO, Wolfensohn and Company |
NLD | Zalm, Gerrit | Chairman of the Managing Board, ABN-AMRO Bank N.V. |
GRC | Zanias, George | Chairman of the Board, National Bank of Greece |
USA | Zoellick, Robert B. | Chairman, Board of International Advisors, The Goldman Sachs Group |
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