Le Cercle

Le Cercle is a foreign policy think-tank specialising in international security. Set up after World War II, the group has members from twenty-five countries and meets at least bi-annually, in Washington, D.C. The group includes many senior intelligence experts.Fact|date=March 2007

The group's current chairman is Norman Lamont, former British Chancellor of the Exchequer. Lamont worked at Rothschild's and is a member of the Privy Council. He also is chairman of the Oil ClubFact|date=March 2007.

Le Cercle is often compared to BilderbergFact|date=March 2007, as both are private initiatives that focus on European integration and establishing transatlantic relationships. David Rockefeller and Henry Kissinger were involved with both groups, although Rockefeller's associates prevailed upon him to withdraw from Le Cercle as they saw it as "consorting with reactionaries" Fact|date=March 2007.

History

At some point in the 1950s, Le Cercle was established by former French prime minister Antoine Pinay and French intelligence agent Jean Violet under the name 'Cercle Pinay'. Dr. Otto von Habsburg - at the very least an early member of the Cercle - is seen by some as having been the driving force behind the creation of the Cercle, and is known to have been a very close associate of Jean VioletFact|date=March 2007.

In later years, the British took over the chairmanship of Le Cercle and a number of American officials began attending its meetings. Many of these visitors have worked for MI6 and the CIA, or have been linked to these agencies in one way or anotherFact|date=March 2007.

Le Cercle has operated in almost complete anonymity since its creation with only a handful of articles having been written about it. As of this writing, no American sources have been identified. The Cercle was mentioned in the early 1980s by Der Spiegel in Germany as a result of the controversy surrounding Franz Josef Strauß, one of the regular attendants of the Cercle. In the late 1990s, the Cercle received some attention after a scandal had broken out involving Jonathan Aitken, at the time chairman of Le Cercle. Members that were contacted by newspapers refused to answer any questions about the group and sometimes simply put down the phone.

Although Le Cercle has been mentioned (very briefly) a number of times in the British press since 1997, it has mainly been the conspiracy movement that has been responsible for bringing an increased amount of attention to this group. The most comprehensive study known first appeared in 2005 on the internet, and was published on a website naming itself the "Institute for the Study of Globalization and Covert Politics" [http://www.isgp.eu/] Fact|date=March 2007.

External links

* [http://www.isgp.eu/organisations/Le_Cercle.htm "Le Cercle and the struggle for the European continent"] , by Joël van der Reijden for the Institute for the Study of Globalization and Covert Politics. Although this article itself is unlikely to be cited by academics, its sources, at least strictly pertaining to Le Cercle, are hard to dispute. On top of that, it appears to be the only comprehensive study done on Le Cercle since its founding in the 1950s.
* [http://www.isgp.eu/organisations/Le_Cercle_membership_list.htm Le Cercle Membership List (Institute for the Study of Globalization and Covert Politics)]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/saudi/050621-turki.htm Transcript of presentation to Le Cercle] by Turki bin Faisal Al Saud (from [http://www.globalsecurity.org/ www.globalsecurity.org] )