What began with two people in a small London office in 1995 (funny how so many of these roads lead back to UKplc isn't it?) has grown to "130 permanent staff, 49 nationalities speaking 47 different languages and around 20 consultants and 40 interns" - all scattered around the world with its international headquarters in Brussels (where else?)
A few of its cheerleaders are:
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan: ‘a global voice of conscience, and a genuine force for peace’
Ex US President Bill Clinton: ‘in the most troubled corners of the world, the eyes, the ears and the conscience of the global community’
Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: ‘a widely respected and influential organisation’
Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell: ‘a mirror for the conscience of the world’
Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: ‘a full-service conflict prevention organisation’
President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso ‘a highly influential and inspiring voice in the field of conflict prevention’
Former Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos: ‘an indispensible source of information for governments and a wide range of institutions actively working towards peace and conflict resolution’
Former US Special Representative for Afghanistan & Pakistan, the late Richard Holbrooke: ‘a brilliant idea ... beautifully implemented ."
The Group was initially led by Morton Abramowitz (former US Ambassador to Turkey and Thailand, then President of the Carnegie Endowment for Peace), Mark Malloch Brown (later head of the UN Development Programme, UN Deputy Secretary-General and UK Minister), and its first Chairman, Senator George Mitchell.
The Board is co-chaired by Lord (Christopher) Patten, formerly EU Commissioner for External Relations, Governor of Hong Kong and UK Cabinet Minister; and by Ambassador Thomas Pickering, former US Ambassador to the UN, Russia, India, Israel, Jordan, El Salvador and Nigeria and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, and former Senior Vice President for International Relations at Boeing. Their President and CEO has been, since July 2009, Louise Arbour, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda. She succeeded Gareth Evans, former Foreign Minister of Australia (1988-96) and a member of many international panels and commissions, who served as President between January 2000 and July 2009.
In its blurb the Group describes itself as:
"...an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation committed to preventing and resolving deadly conflict."Well, I'd say they've been doing a pretty lousy job of it so far. I can't remember a time when there was so much conflict around the world. In fact, if I were a conspiracy theorist, I'd say they're actually doing the opposite of what they claim. I'd like one of them to explain to me how they have the gall to claim they are a non-governmental organisation when so many ex-Ministers, ex-Ambassadors, ex-Commissioners are on its $17m pa payroll and they're (only overtly) part-funded by governments.
In case you're thinking, 'well, it could be worse, at least she hasn't mentioned George Soros yet', here it is: George Soros. He's a busy little bee, isn't he? Fingers in all the global pies - more fingers in more pies than a leper in a cookery class (Gene Hunt paraphrased). Take a look at the other things Soros is involved in - World Goodwill and the Lucis Trust, see how the same names and the same stated aims crop up over and over again.
It's these people who've made the world what it is today; they've guided, chivvied, nudged, manipulated, brainwashed and coerced people around the globe. What we get in return is wars, unemployment, worthless paper money, scarcity of food and drinking water, land for food being given over to bio-energy, stupid 'carbon capture' theories, a minefield of statute law and regulation, homelessness, pandemics; we get meddling with the weather (HAARP) and heaven-knows-what going on out in space. In short, we get the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Okay, I realise I'm beginning to sound like a loony so I'll leave it there but think about it.
International Crisis Group
Actually, I think I'll set up my own small, 2-man office in London and create an unelected think tank that guides global policy and "seeks to resolve conflict worldwide". I can hardly do a worse job and who knows - I might end up with a $17m pa budget, the latest mobile phone, a hand-tailored suit and an expense account. These will be compulsory officewear though:
Calling England
9 comments:
I'm in.
BYOT (Bring Your Own Thong)
:-) Easy to make - plenty of websites out there showing you how to scrunch your tinfoil into pleasing shapes.
I take it it's just you and me to man the money-making office then?
No doubt you are right about the make up and supporters of yet another international think-tank but to say that there has never been so much conflict in the world is debatable.
Since WW2 decade upon decade have seen less war, less revolution, less international upheaval. Even the current events in North Africa are more on the scale of insurrection than the upheavals that overtook Russia and China in the previous century.
I can't think of a single international war going on at the momement yet struggle to think of a year in the past two millenia when that was so.
GV - You make, I'll count?
Can I forego the thong?
NGO's are the influence for Policies Put Forth At The United Nations!
It's a first! Never before has anyone on this blog mentioned lepers and cookery classes in the same sentence.
I took a cooking class like that once.
Hangings and beatings. And soon.
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