The meetings of the G8 and the World Economic Forum in Davos are the focus of massive attention from the media and no-global movements. Those of the Trilateral Commission, far more crucial, take place in almost complete media silence. No one knows when they take place, no one talks about them, and no one protests against this private body for planning global politics, consisting of the political and economic elite of the United States, Europe, and Japan (hence the name): two hundred heads of state, government ministers, bankers, directors of multinational corporations, economists, and generals meet every year for four days in one of the cities of the triad to decide, behind closed doors, the guidelines for the international politics and economics that the member governments are to follow. This year the meeting was held in Washington, beginning on April 25^th and ending on the 28^th.

World Government of the "Best." The Trilateral Commission was founded in 1973 by the current honorary president of the organization, David Rockefeller, patriarch of the powerful banking dynasty and fervent globalist, together with Zbigniew Brzezinski, one of the principle architects of the war on terror since September 11, and currently an advisor to Barack Obama. The US press of that era defined the Trilateral Commission as a "direct descendant" of the Bilderberg Group, an international secret society which shares many Trilateral members and goals, especially that of a world order managed by a restricted, super-national political and economic aristocracy. French philosopher and sociologist Gilbert Larochelle has commented, "The Trilateral citadel is a protected zone where the "best," in their inspired superiority, elaborate regulations to be passed down to those below."

A Sort of International Masons. The Trilateral Commission is not secret, but is characterized by an extreme reserve typical of Masonic organizations. It maintains a very discreet website providing dates and places of their meetings, and where viewers can order texts of the "Trialogues" - the public records of their meetings - which, however, take place behind closed doors. The names of the members are protected by great reserve: in theory, the lists of current members are available to t he public, but we placed a request for the list quite some time ago and have yet to receive a response. The lists of past members are easier to obtain (see below the list of Italian members).

Guidelines for Global Politics. The "Trialogues" published up to now announce "frameworks" for the globalization of markets, energy policy, international finance, and economic liberalization. They also cover international crises and war, the management of dissent, and placing limits on "democratic excesses." The theme of each report depends of historical contingency. For example, after the September 11 attacks, the annual meeting in 2002 was dominated by Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, and Alan Greenspan, who demanded a "global response" to terrorism, with all the western nations following the lead of the United States.

Enlightened Sages. Foreign and military affairs, and the social, economic and financial policy of each nation must follow the directives imposed by these "experts." In a November 2003 article in Le Monde, the author of an article on the Trilateral Commission, professor Olivier Boiral, wrote, "Like the philosopher kings of the Platonic Republic who contemplated the realm of Ideas to sow their transcendent wisdom into worldly affairs, the elite of this hardly democratic institution work to define the criteria of international "good government." They are a vehicle of a Platonic ideal of order and control maintained by a privileged class of technocrats who consider their expertise and experience to grant them authority over the profane claims of simple citizens."