Shadows of Power: The Council on Foreign Relations and the American Decline [Paperback]

The book is a very compelling read. The listing of CFR members in the back is quite enlightening too! A 'man of the people' will NEVER rise to the presidency. Even if he has his own money, the 'shadow government' controls the mass media, and thereby profoundly affect candidacies.

Being a republican, I always had a high opinion of President Reagan. The author shows clearly how Reagan's actions did not match his rhetoric. This was not unique to Reagan, either. The average American doesn't understand how our President's policies are shaped by people outside the 'constiutional government'.

This book has 'the other side' of American history of the 20th century, and it's nothing like you or I learned in school! This is, of course, by design. Read this book, and encourage others to do so -- it's the only way we, as ordinary people, can begin to take back our country.

This book could be titled " Suppressed American History of the 20th Century." Perloff traces the history of the American Establishment, through its political arm, the Council on Foreign Relations. The aims of the CFR and the Establishment are clear - a World Government, removal of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. What is more frightening is the Establishment control of the media and education. Please read this book! You will never watch the news the same way again.

I'll start out by saying that this book is a somewhat useful overview of the Council on Foreign Relations, but I would also say that I have reservations as well. Perloff handles the early history of the CFR in some detail and writes very well about his subject. For that reason I gave the book 3 stars. However, as he progresses toward more recent history (1980 and on) he begins generalizing more and more and his bias begins to show.

The CFR was created in 1921 by wealthy old-line families and (primarily) Wall Street power brokers. Membership is invitation only and members follow a strict rule of 'everything is off the record' as far as what is discussed at meetings and dinners. Considering how many CFR members are in the government, the secrecy creates the first big problem. How can you have transparency in a democratic government if key figures are not allowed to reveal issues and strategies discussed 'off the record'. At the very least it creates a conflict of interest. The public record of the CFR is their publication 'Foreign Affairs' -- a very influential journal read by most policy makers in Washington.

To make his point, Perloff notes (p. 7) that as of early 1988 (publication year of the book) there have been 14 secretaries of state, 14 treasury secretaries, 11 defense secretaries, and lots of advisors and less senior officials throughout the legislative and executive branches of government. That's a pretty hefty number of individuals from one organization to occupy such powerful positions in just 67 years. Perloff also points out that many major changes in American policy were not only instigated by CFR members, but were published at some prior point in 'Foreign Policy'. Perloff contends that if you want a preview of foreign policy just pick up a copy of the CFR journal.

Perloff also contends that one of the CFR goals is a single world government. They supported the League of Nations and U.N. almost 100% of the time he says. Where I disagree with Perloff is the relentless references to the 'socialism' desired by the CFR. If you are going to use a label then use it correctly. Stalin's Russia was not socialist by any means. It was a dictatorship. So don't use 'socialism', 'communism' or 'democracy' when referring to a dictatorship. He also contends that the CFR helped oust elected leaders in Central America to put 'socialist' governments in their place. While I cannot address all of the situations in which the U.S. has intervened to the South, one cannot say that this was the case with Nicaragua. Our government unseated socialist Ortega through the training of vicious rebels who killed innocent civilians as well as Nicaraguan soldiers. And who assassinated Chile's President Allende (a progressive)? The U.S. was only too happy to help install a right-wing government after his death. Popularly elected leaders unwilling to bend to U.S. business interests have been removed in multiple coups for many decades.

Perloff seems to forget that the U.S. policy toward its southern neighbors flips back and forth, depending upon who is in the White House. We armed and aided Castro at first and then called him a dangerous man shortly thereafter. Did Castro con us? Well, if he did then the American people should have demanded that the CIA and State Department clean their houses of those who led us down that path. One day Noriega was our 'good buddy' in Panama; the next day he was a menace and we had to invade.

I think the real keys to the CFR are power and money. Perloff spends way too much time worrying about communism and too little time worrying about war profiteering and power grabs. Members of the CFR rarely miss opportunities to create wars for their corporate friends. Korea was certainly a case in point. The horrible mess we have in Iraq today is another example. It is a simple fact that international banks, chemical companies, and weapons-related industries made handsome profits from the bloody horrors of the two world wars. Under the CFR supported Dawes plan of 1924, Germany's I. G. Farben was loaned significant amounts of money by the Rockefeller National Bank after WWI. Who made Hitler's war machine possible? I. G. Farben of course. The American branch of Farben had CFR members on its board. While several German board members were prosecuted as war criminals at Nuremberg, none of the American members ever were.

One positive aspect about Perloff's book is that he doesn't get carried away with 'conspiracy' theories - and I am not a 'coincidence' theory kind of person either. To clarify, yes at times it can be said that the CFR conspires to influence American policy, but Perloff avoids the extremist views of other authors that state that the CFR is but one part of an ancient secret society plan to take over the world. Facts are so much more useful in creating change than theories any day. Skull and Bones is mentioned of course, but we don't have Perloff claiming that Blair and Bush assume alien form when in private like some CFR critics. (Yes, Virginia, there are books out there that propose that!)

And now we come to the major fault of the book. Perloff's last chapter regarding actions and solutions is a complete flop. Nothing personal against any member of the John Birch Society, but Perloff holds up membership in that group as one of his solutions. Huh? I don't think joining any group is necessarily a solution to reducing or eliminating the power of the CFR. The only way to effectively fight the undue influence the CFR has on our government is to expose them by writing to Congress, newspaper editorial pages, and talking about their aims to other citizens. Why? Because secrecy is the key to their success. It's the ultimate 'good old boy' system.