About the Organization

Purpose

The Trilateral Commission was formed in 1973 by private citizens of Japan, Europe (European Union countries), and North America (United States and Canada) to foster closer cooperation among these core democratic industrialized areas of the world with shared leadership responsibilities in the wider international system. Originally established for three years, our work has been renewed for successive triennia (three-year periods), most recently for a triennium to be completed in 2012.

When the first triennium of the Trilateral Commission was launched in 1973, the most immediate purpose was to draw together—at a time of considerable friction among governments—the highest-level unofficial group possible to look together at the key common problems facing our three areas. At a deeper level, there was a sense that the United States was no longer in such a singular leadership position as it had been in earlier post-World War II years, and that a more shared form of leadership—including Europe and Japan in particular—would be needed for the international system to navigate successfully the major challenges of the coming years.

The “growing interdependence” that so impressed the founders of the Trilateral Commission in the early 1970s has deepened into “globalization.” That interdependence also has ensured that the current financial crisis has been felt in every nation and region. It has fundamentally shaken confidence in the international system as a whole. The Commission sees in these unprecedented events a stronger need for shared thinking and leadership by the Trilateral countries, who (along with the principal international organizations) have been the primary anchors of the wider international system. Doubts about whether and how this primacy will change do not diminish, and, if anything, have intensified the need to take into account the dramatic transformation of the international system. As relations with other countries become more mature—and power more diffuse—the leadership tasks of the original Trilateral countries need to be carried out with others to an increasing extent.

As our conviction has strengthened that the Commission remains more important than ever in helping our countries fulfill their shared leadership responsibilities in the wider international system, we too have changed. Our membership has widened to reflect broader changes in the world. Thus, the Japan Group has become a Pacific Asian Group, including in 2009 both Chinese and Indian members. Mexican members have been added to the North American Group. The European Group continues to widen in line with the enlargement of the EU. We are also continuing in this triennium our practice of inviting a number of participants from other key areas.

Membership

There are 390 members of the Trilateral Commission today—160 from Europe, 120 from North American, and 110 from Pacific Asia. They are distinguished leaders in business, media, academia, public service (excluding current national government leaders), labor unions, and other non-governmental organizations from the three regions. The regional chairmen, deputy chairmen, and directors constitute the leadership of the Trilateral Commission, along with an Executive Committee including about 45 other members.

The three regional groups are each responsible for selecting their members within a range established by the chairmen and deputy chairmen. There are shared membership selection criteria, but each regional group, and sometimes each national membership group, varies in their regulation of length of membership.

Annual Meetings

The annual meeting of Trilateral Commission members rotates among the three regions. It was held in Washington, D.C. in 2008, Tokyo in 2009, and is scheduled to be held in Dublin in 2010. The agendas for these meetings have addressed a wide range of issues, an indication of how broadly we see the partnership among our countries. In the past, reports on annual meetings were published as the Trialogue series. Portable Document Formats (PDFs) of those reports are posted on the Commission's web site under Publications. Recently, papers and presentations from the annual meetings have been posted on the Commission's web site along with the meeting agendas under Recent Activity.

The program for each year's plenary meeting is discussed initially at the Executive Committee meeting that occurs at the previous plenary meeting. The program is then constructed and refined by the chairmen and directors, who consult regularly with members from their regions. The program that emerges is truly a trilateral product.

Plenary meeting programs usually offer four or five sessions on major topics. There are speakers at lunches and dinners as well. Typically, the politics and economy of the host country are considered, but the rest of the session topics can deal with the full range of global issues. During the current triennium, the Commission seeks to place particular emphasis on major rising economies and the operation of international institutions and mechanisms for global problem solving.

All Commission proceedings are conducted under rules that do not permit attribution of any part of the proceedings to any person without permission.

Regional Activities

The regional groups within the Trilateral Commission carry on some activities of their own. Each has an annual weekend meeting each fall. The European Group, with its secretariat based in Paris, held its 2008 regional meeting in Paris and its 2009 meeting in Oslo and will hold its 2010 meeting in Bucharest. The North American Group, with its secretariat based in Washington D.C., had its regional meeting in Washington in 2009 and will hold its 2010 regional meeting in Monterrey, Mexico. The Pacific Asian Group, with its secretariat based in Tokyo, held its 2009 meeting in Seoul. In addition, the groups occasionally gather with a special speaker for a dinner or luncheon event. Each region carries on its own fund-raising to provide the financial support needed for the Trilateral Commission's work.

Reports

The major project work of the Trilateral Commission generally involves teams of authors from our three regions working together for a year or so on reports which are discussed in draft form in the annual meeting and then published in final form as part of the series known as the Triangle Papers. The authors typically consult with many others in the course of their work. Their reports are made to the Commission, but the Commission itself, because of its size, does not take formal positions on them. The task force reports to the Trilateral Commission have covered a wide range of topics. The most recent reports may be ordered from Brookings Press, and PDFs of previous reports have been posted on the Commission's web site under Publications.