A secretive cabal of some of the world’s most influential people known as the Bilderberg group will be meeting from June 9 to the 12th in St. Moritz, Switzerland — but this year, more attention than usual is being afforded to the gathering in the world press. The shadowy organization — made up of about 120 central bankers, top CEOs, academics, European royalty, big bankers, high-ranking politicians and even representatives of the establishment media — has been getting together once a year since the mid-1950s. The group of “leading citizens,” as attendees are described on the group’s purported official website, gets its name from the Bilderberg Hotel in Holland where the first meeting was held in 1954.
Until recently, almost the entire international media establishment maintained an apparent information blackout of the yearly gatherings. Despite the fact that representatives of some of the world’s largest news outlets are always present at the conference, the vast majority of event coverage has generally come from the alternative press.
The rise of the Internet and widespread media choice, however, appear to have had a major effect. This year, the Bilderberg conference is attracting far more scrutiny than past gatherings — in line with a steady trend over the last few years of increasing awareness surrounding the affair.
Several major media outlets around the world have already picked up the story. And news of the gathering is expected to continue making headlines in the coming days as the conference kicks off Thursday. Some of the mainstream press coverage thus far, however, has focused primarily on downplaying the meeting’s importance and painting its critics in a negative light.
In a June 8 BBC article, the government-funded media outlet attempted to ridicule concerns about the Bilderberg meeting and the massive power wielded by attendees. Citing various authors, the state reporter desperately tried to link critics of the secretive meetings to “anti-Semitism,” a psychological feeling of alienation or powerlessness, and even belief in a world “governed by alien, reptilian shape shifters” expounded by a former sports journalist named David Icke.
“In fact, many conspiracy theories surrounding cabals hint at an anti-Semitic worldview,” the BBC Bilderberg piece claimed, citing the discredited Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Eventually the article quotes one expert who acknowledges that there could be some kernel of truth to Bilderberg theories about power-hungry conspirators out to rule the planet — and that there is indeed a “very strong move” to erect a one-world government.
But the piece closes with yet another quote blasting critics of the cabal, with a newspaper columnist claiming that a “strong belief in the Bilderberg Group means believing in a fantasy” and is “anti-scientific.” Of course, not believing in the Bilderberg group would be to deny reality and the facts, but presumably the columnist was referring to thinking that the meeting is powerful or nefarious.
Other mainstream reports, however, were more friendly to Bilderberg critics. “It’s a shame the attendees are still so phobic of attention, seeing as how this year there’s shaping up to be more press interest than ever. People and the media have finally started noticing this quiet little conference at the centre of the storm,” noted a piece in the U.K. Guardian, pointing out that the cabal played a crucial role in the creation of the European Union.
While very little information is ever publicly released following the conferences, general topics on the agenda have been compiled on an official website cited by numerous media outlets. In 2007, for example, the first item on the list was “The New World Order.” And with some of the most powerful people on earth attending the meeting, most objective analysts realize that the group wields enormous collective influence.
Last year, as the cabal was gathering in Spain, The New American‘s Charles Scaliger noted that "the Bilderberg gathering is obviously a nerve center of the world’s power-elite network; the security and secrecy are evidence enough of its significance. Whether planning the occupation of Iran or charting the course of the ongoing European financial, economic, and political merger, the men meeting right now behind sniper rifles and locked doors … are planning for their own best interests, which are not likely to coincide with yours or mine."
Though Bilderberg touts itself as a sort of forum where attendees can discuss ideas freely without the spotlight of the press, anecdotal evidence suggests that there is much more going on. Consider: Then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton attended the 1991 Bilderberg conference. He was virtually unknown at that time. The following year, Clinton was elected President.
Numerous other relatively obscure figures who have attended the meetings have ended up meteorically rising to power in a spectacular fashion. Tony Blair is another good example. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were reported to have attended the 2008 Bilderberg meeting in Chantilly, Virginia. Current Treasury Secretary Timothy “TurboTax” Geithner and Federal Reserve boss Ben Bernanke were there that year, too.
The attendee lists for the meetings consist of the veritable “who’s who” of the global elite from across the political spectrum. Bilderberg luminary David Rockefeller, for example, who admitted in his autobiography of conspiring to erect a global economic and political system, is intimately involved with the formal organizational structure. Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who constantly and openly advocates what he calls a “New World Order,” is almost always there too. Supposed “conservatives” and even some “libertarians” are often welcomed as well.
But this year, Kissinger and other members of the world elite are attracting some unwanted attention for the conference. A senior center-right Swiss lawmaker from the nation’s largest political party sent a letter to prosecutors asking them to consider arresting Kissinger — and George W. Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, if they attend — for war crimes. The legislator also requested that prosecutors consider applying the charge of treason for Swiss attendees.
Other critics of the cabal have also argued that Americans who attend should be arrested by U.S. authorities. Citing the Logan Act, which makes it a felony for Americans to formulate government policy with foreign officials, Bilderberg opponents have called for the prosecution of Texas Gov. Rick Perry — who will reportedly also attend the 2011 meeting — and many other American officials.
A small handful of activists around the world have been steadily attempting to expose the influential cabal for decades. And in addition to increased media coverage, this year appears on track to attract a great deal of protesters, too — also in keeping with the awareness trend sparked by the Internet and alternative media sources.
At the 2011 meeting, being held at a luxurious hotel Suvretta House (picture, above), a prominent line-up of notorious critics and anti-New World Order reporters also plan to greet the global power brokers from the moment they start arriving. Among them are author Daniel Estulin, who wrote a book about the Bilderberg group; American Free Press journalist Jim Tucker, who has tracked the meetings for decades; WeAreChange activist Luke Rudkowski; and many others.
One of the Facebook groups organizing protesters has over 750 people listed as “attending,” though it’s unclear how many actually plan to show up. A mini-bus dubbed the “Bilderbus” will be transporting anti-Bilderberg activists from the U.K. to the meeting. Swiss activists from across the political spectrum will reportedly be out in force as well.
Speculation about what may be discussed at the 2011 meeting has been running rampant, as always. Since the Bilderberg group maintains extreme secrecy and meets behind closed doors guarded by heavily armed guards, however, not much concrete information generally gets out. But The New American will be following developments as they emerge and will carry at least one more report later this week. Stay tuned.
