If a Joan Crawford wannabe like Angelina Jolie can get in, they obviously take anybody.
If a Joan Crawford wannabe like Angelina Jolie can get in, they obviously take anybody.
Jolie was INVITED to join because she could be useful to them as a public relations asset. Your and my personal opinions about Jolie's qualifications and desirability as a member are irrelevant, she still had to go through the process of submitting an application and securing a letter of nomination from an existing CFR member, plus two letters from other Council members seconding her nomination. Once these requirement were satisfied and her application reviewed and approved by the membership committee, she was invited to join. That's how it works. As I said previously, CFR membership is not open to the general public, and you can't just send them $25 or $25,000 and get your shiny new membership card.
They do have something they call Corporate Memberships, but those too have to be applied for and approved (along with some hefty membership dues). In this case as well, however, the same nomination, seconding, committee approval and invitation process applies. However, once a company has its Corporate Membership they don't get to "enroll all their employees". The company is the member, not the individual employees. They merely get to designate certain employees or corporate executives to participate in CFR sponsored meetings, symposiums, etc., receive copies of "Foreign Affairs", and other PR stuff.
You can find all this information easily at http://www.cfr.org/about/membership/
There is nothing secret or mysterious about it, but it does not work the way you said, and it is not true that "anybody" can be a member. "Anybody" can apply, of course, but whether or not you'll be accepted and invited to join depends more on whether or not they feel you'll be a useful asset to them than it does on your personal qualifications. That is how and why people like Angelina Jolie become members.