In 2001 I and my wife were invited to a meeting at the council foreign relations. How we got invited is a long and complex story. The short version, is that I had a close friend, someone I also mentored and this person, who was an Appellate Court Judge appointed by Ronald Reagan, knew that my wife and I were critical thinkers, knew the facts, and had an interest in history. He assumed that we would enjoy the experience of attending a meeting, and he was correct.

I assumed, when he invited us, that the meeting would be one of those 92nd Street Y events where the bigshots were on the stage talking, and we would be invited guests, sitting in the audience, tithe New Republic-New Yorker-Atlantic Monthly crowd watching some presentation, or interview unfold.

This is not what happened. When we arrive at the front desk of the Council there was much security that we had to go through, with ID’s and ID badges and a personal security person, who looked as if he was in the secret Service or from central casting for one for the Men in Black movies.

Then we were lead into a boardroom with a long, wide and very shiny mahogany table in the middle, with large leather chairs surrounding that table. The others were seated, and as introductions were made, it became clear that most of the other invited guests/attendees already knew each other.

We soon knew who all of these people were and none of them were political or diplomatic lightweights.

Here is a short list of who they were. They were each a representative from: