Aspen Institute
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The Aspen Institute, founded in 1950 by businessman Walter Paepcke, is a neoconservative think tank. One of its activities is to foster young zionists who are then mentored and placed in policy positions. It also funds zionist activities around the US.
Contents
Activities
The Aspen Institute organizes lectures on the preferred topics currently in vogue among neocon circles: relationship between Islam and terror, Iran and nuclear weapons, etc.
Travel
The Aspen Institute also has funded travel by US policy makers to conferences, events, where neocons propound their policy wishes. Several US Congressmen have been sponsored to attend conferences on "terror" and related topics.[1]
Don't mention Israel
Anatol Lieven relates about the Aspen Institute:
- The writer Anatol Lieven says he reluctantly took on the issue after 9/11 as a matter of "duty"--when the Carnegie Endowment, where he was a senior associate, asked him to. "I knew bloody well it would bring horrible unpopularity.... All my personal loyalties are the other way. I've literally dozens of Jewish friends; I have no Palestinian friends." Lieven says he was a regular at the Aspen Institute till he brought up the issue. "I got kicked out of Aspen.... In early 2002 they held a conference on relations with the Muslim world. For two days nobody mentioned Israel. Finally, I said, 'Look, this is a Soviet-style debate. Whatever you think about this issue, the entire Muslim world is shouting about it.' I have never been asked back."[2]
People
Presidents
- Walter Paepcke (1950 - 1957)
- Robert O. Anderson (1957 - 1963)
- Alvin C. Eurich (1963 - 1967)
- William F. Stevenson (1967 - 1969)
- Joseph E. Slater (1969 - 1986)
- Colin W. William (1986 - 1988)
- David McLaughlin (1988 - 1994)
- S. Frederick Starr (1994 - 1995)
- David McLaughlin (1995 - 1997)
- Charles B. Knapp (1997 - 1999)
- Elmer W. Johnson (1999 - 2003)
- Walter Isaacson (2003 - )[3]
Members
- Sidney Harman - board member
- Charles Powell
- John P Mascotte is reported in 2008 to be Trustee Emeritus of The Aspen Institute[4]. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Wyeth pharmaceutical company, is a Director (and Chairman of the Audit Committees) for Hallmark Cards Inc. and Crown Media Holdings Inc. He is Chairman of Common Cents Inc. (a non-profit organisation focused on the social development of children in U.S. primary schools) and is a Trustee of the Hall Foundation. Mascotte is also the Vice Chairman of the Aspen Community Foundation and is a member of the Board of the National Catholic Reporter. Mascotte's previous involvements include serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City (1997-2001), prior to this he served as Chairman of Johnson and Higgins of Missouri (from 1996) and was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Continental Corporation (1983-1995). Mascotte is also a former Trustee of The New York Public Library and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.
- Vin Weber - Chief Executive Officer of lobbying firm Clark & Weinstock is on the Board of the Aspen Institute (where he serves on the Institute’s Middle East Strategy Group)[5].
Related organisations
Contact, Resources, References
Contact
- Website: www.aspeninstitute.org
Resources
- RightWeb Profile, last updated October 2005.
- Nine Trustees Elected to Aspen Institute Board, U.S. Newswire, 7 April 2003.
Notes
- ↑ Kimberly Geiger, Chronicle Washington Bureau Steep drop in travel spending after congressional scandals, $1.34 million this year, down from $3.9 million in 2003, Sunday, October 15, 2006 San Francisco Chronicle
- ↑ Ferment Over 'The Israel Lobby' by PHILIP WEISS, from the May 15, 2006 issue, The Nation
- ↑ The Aspen Institute: Milestones.
- ↑ Wyeth John P Mascotte Accessed 6th February 2008
- ↑ Clark & Weinstock Vin Weber Accessed 20th March 2008
