Wow, there's a lot to follow up here on possible linkages among Kristof and pals at the "Aspen Strategy Group" - though I still suspect that people like Richard Armitage, Marc Grossman, Larry Johnson, VIPS, et al will turn out to be most significant..... but wait, Armitage apparently IS one of the Aspen Strategy Group people......
Their website seems to be down for maintenance right now, but I found some intriguing info on them at this site:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Aspen_Institute_/_Aspen_Strategy_Group
They seem to be a kind of self-appointed "shadow government" for RINOs and Dems to come together and suck up to one another, purporting to discuss their great foreign policy ideas. Kinda like the Council on Foreign Relation, but here they have their very own 1100 acre retreat center.
They don't have to go all the way to Aspen, though - turns out that they own the infamous
"1100-acre Wye River Conference Center in Maryland"
(where Elian Gonzalez was held for a time, before he was sent back to Castro's hellhole)
Would love to know what discussions among RINO weenies and Dems have been held there in the past few years. The ASG is co-chaired by RINO Brent Scowcroft and ultra-lib Joseph Nye (huge proponent of the "soft power" theme for US foreign policy).
Looking over their list of board members, it is mostly corporate types (presumably for fundraising purposes) but most of the policy types from ex-government and academia range from liberal to ultra-left. Madeline Half-bright is on the list, along with LBJ's Jack Valenti, and the nasty lib Ann Richards of Texas.
Pretty sad to see Scowcroft hooked up with this bunch, but he always was quite the RINO and probably loves rubbing elbows with them.
Aspen Institute / Aspen Strategy Group
From SourceWatch
The Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies (AIHS) describes itself as an "international non-profit organization dedicated to informed dialogue and inquiry on issues of global concern."
Founded in 1950 by Walter Paepeke, chair of the Container Corporation, AIHS seeks to bring together leading citizens from private and public sectors of the U. S. and abroad to consider interrelated issues of the human mind and spirit in contemporary society. The group believes that immersion in the Humanist tradition can make participants in its program better decision makers. It Institute holds seminars primarily for business executives "for reflection, rediscovery of personal values, and examination of contemporary issues in the company of some of the best minds in the world" and gives cross-cultural training "to go beyond immediate business issues to the underlying questions faced in all cultures."
AIHS also sponsors the Aspen Strategy Group, a policy program concentrating on strategic relations and arms control issues. The Aspen Strategy Group is currently co-chaired by Joseph Samuel Nye, Jr. and Brent Scowcroft.
The Aspen Institute owns the 1100-acre Wye River Conference Center in Maryland, a park-like retreat that has served as host to a number of historically significant events, including Middle East peace negotiations. It also served as a temporary home to 5-year-old Elián Gonzalez in 2000 during the political controversy in the United States during the custody battle between his Cuban father and his Miami relatives. This in turn made AIHS a target for right-wing conspiracy theorists, who labeled it a "training center for a global army of psycho-social change agents."[1] (
http://www.crossroad.to/text/articles/Aspen.htm) Table of contents [showhide]
1 Henry Crown Fellowship Program (
http://www.aspeninstitute.org/) 2 Board of Trustees
3 Contact information
4 External links
[edit]
Henry Crown Fellowship Program (
http://www.aspeninstitute.org/) The Henry Crown Fellowship Program was established in 1997. It "seeks to develop our next generation of community-spirited leaders, providing them with the tools necessary to meet the challenges of corporate and civic leadership in the 21st century ... A unique mix of intellectual and personal development seminars designed to broaden the perspectives of the participants and hone their skills in values-based leadership. It honors the memory of Chicago industrialist Henry Crown (1896-1990), whose legendary career was marked by a lifelong commitment to honor, integrity, industry and philanthropy."
The two-year program commences each year with a class of 20 Crown Fellows "chosen from among young executives and professionals nominated for their potential to provide leadership at the highest levels of corporate and civic responsibility. The selected candidates are men and women between the ages of 25 and 45 who have already achieved considerable success in the private or public sector."
Board of Overseers
* David T. McLaughlin, Chairman, President Emeritus and Honorary Trustee, The Aspen Institute
* William E. Mayer, Chairman, The Aspen Institute; Partner, Park Avenue Equity Partners
* Lester Crown, Chairman, Material Service Corporation
* Jay Marshall, Principal, AlixPartners, LLC
* Francis R. Hoffman, Founder and Principal, Francis R. Hoffman Architects
* Ann D. McLaughlin Korologos, Chairman Emeritus, The Aspen Institute
* Muriel Hoffman, Trustee, Henry and Gladys Crown Charitable Trust Fund
* Dr. Harry J. Saal, President, Cultural Initiatives Silicon Valley
* Henrietta Holsman Fore, Director, United States Mint
* Keith Berwick, Ex Officio Member; Executive Director, Henry Crown Fellowship Program
[edit]
Board of Trustees
* William E. Mayer, Chairman, Partner, Park Avenue Equity Partners
* Henry E. Catto, Vice Chairman, Former Ambassador to Great Britain; Chair, Atlantic Council of the United States
* Lester Crown, Vice Chairman; Chairman, Material Service Corporation
* Mervyn L. Adelson, Chairman, East-West Capital Associates
* Madelaine K. Albright, Principal, The Albright Group LLC
* Paul F. Anderson, Senior Vice President, Booz-Allen & Hamilton Inc.
* Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States
* Mercedes Bass, Sid R. Bass, Inc.
* Berl Bernhard, Partner, Piper Rudnick LLP
* Stephen L. Carter, Professor of Law, Yale University Law School
* F. Peter Cundill, President, Cundill Investments Research
* Andrea Cunningham, Chief Executive Officer, Citigate Cunningham, Inc.
* Tarun Das, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry
* William L. Davis, Chairman and COO, WLD Davis Holdings, LLC
* James L. Ferguson, Retired Chairman, General Foods Corporation
* Jack D. Furst, Partner, Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst
* David Gergen, Prof/Pol Sci, John F. Kennedy School of Government; Editor-at-Large, US News & World Report
* Alma L. Gildenhorn, Hon Trustee, Kennedy Center; Chairman, National Campaign, Univ MD Ctr/Performing Arts
* Gerald Greenwald, Managing Partner, Greenbriar Equity Group
* Patrick W. Gross, Chairman, The Lovell Group
* Sidney Harman, Chairman and CEO, Harman International Industries, Inc.
* Nina R. Houghton, Chairman, Wye Institute
* Ann Frasher Hudson, Partner, Javelina Partners
* David H. Koch, Executive Vice President, Chemical Technology, Koch Industries, Inc.
* Ann McLaughlin Korologos, Former U. S. Secretary of Labor
* Timothy K. Krauskopf, Principal, Round Lake Designs, LLC
* Leonard A. Lauder, Chairman of the Board of Directors, The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc.
* Gerald M. Levin, Retired CEO, AOL Time Warner, Inc.
* Frederic V. Malek, Chairman, Thayer Capital Partners
* Robert H. Malott, Retired Chairman and CEO, F M C Corporation
* John P. Mascotte, Former President and CEO, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City
* Karlheinz Muhr, Chairman, Volaris Advisors
* Clare Munana, Ancora Associates, Inc.
* Elinor Bunin Munroe, President, Elinor Bunin Productions, Inc.
* William A. Nitze, President, Gemstar Group Inc.
* Olara A. Otunnu, Under-Sec Gen, Spec Rep to UN Sec Gen for Children and Armed Conflict
* Elaine Pagels Greenawalt, Professor of Religion, Princeton University
* Thomas R. Pickering, Senior Vice President, Int'l Relations, The Boeing Company
* Lord Charles Powell, Sagitta Asset Management Limited
* Lynda Resnick, Co-Owner and Vice Chairman, Roll International Corporation
* Ann W. Richards, Former Governor of Texas; Senior Advisor, Public Strategies, Inc.
* Roy S. Roberts, Managing Director, Reliant Equity Investors
* Johnathan Rodgers, President, Discovery Networks, U.S.
* Lloyd G. Schermer, Retired Chairman & CEO, Lee Enterprises
* Albert H. Small, President, Southern Engineering Corp.
* Andrew L. Stern, International President, Service Employees International Union
* Jack Valenti, Chairman and CEO, Motion Picture Association
* Frederick B. Whittemore, Advisory Director, Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc.
* Alice Young, Esq., Chair, Asia Pacific Practice (U.S.) Kaye Scholer LLP
Nine New Members, April 2003 (See announcement (
http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/qtr2_2003/0407-134.html)) * L. John Doerr, general partner, Silicon Valley venture capital firm of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
* Sylvia Earle, marine biologist; explorer-in-residence at National Geographic Society since 1998
* Michael Eisner, established/funded the Eisner Foundation, philanthropic organization headed by his wife, Jane
* Henry Louis Gates Jr., W.E.B. Du Bois Prof of Humanities, Harvard University; Dir, W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research
* Bonnie Palmer McCloskey, vice president, Aspen Center for New Medicine
* Peter Reiling, president and CEO of TechnoServe, Inc.
* Roderick K. von Lipsey, vice president at Goldman, Sachs & Co., Private Wealth Management, Investment Management Division
* Vin Weber, partner with Clark & Weinstock, management consulting firm
* Mortimer Zuckerman, chairman/editor-in-chief, US News & World Report; publisher, New York Daily News
* William H. Donaldson, resigned January 2003; nominated chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission
* Henrietta Holsman Fore, "leave of absence"; Chairman & CEO, Holsman International; Director, U.S. Mint
* Philip Merrill, "leave of absence"; Chairman, Capital-Gazette Communications; appointed head of U.S. Export-Import Bank