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Wall Street's Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire of Neoliberal Geopolitics, 1976-2014
Traces the expansive influence of The Council of Foreign Relations in advancing Wall Street's foreign policy agendas and U.S. influence abroad
The Council on Foreign Relations is the most influential foreign-policy think tank in the United States, claiming among its members a high percentage of government officials, media figures, and establishment elite. For decades it kept a low profile even while it shaped policy, advised presidents, and helped shore up U.S. hegemony following the Second World War. In 1977, Laurence H. Shoup and William Minter published the first in-depth study of the CFR, Imperial Brain Trust, an explosive work that traced the activities and influence of the CFR from its origins in the 1920s through the Cold War.
Now, Laurence H. Shoup returns with this long-awaited sequel, which brings the story up to date. Wall Street’s Think Tank follows the CFR from the 1970s through the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union to the present. It explains how members responded to rapid changes in the world globalization, the rise of China, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the launch of a “War on Terror,” among other major developments. Shoup argues that the CFR now operates in an era of “Neoliberal Geopolitics,” a worldwide paradigm that its members helped to establish and that reflects the interests of the U.S. ruling class, but is not without challengers. Wall Street’s Think Tank is an essential guide to understanding the Council on Foreign Relations and the shadow it casts over recent history and current events.
The Council on Foreign Relations is the most influential foreign-policy think tank in the United States, claiming among its members a high percentage of government officials, media figures, and establishment elite. For decades it kept a low profile even while it shaped policy, advised presidents, and helped shore up U.S. hegemony following the Second World War. In 1977, Laurence H. Shoup and William Minter published the first in-depth study of the CFR, Imperial Brain Trust, an explosive work that traced the activities and influence of the CFR from its origins in the 1920s through the Cold War.
Now, Laurence H. Shoup returns with this long-awaited sequel, which brings the story up to date. Wall Street’s Think Tank follows the CFR from the 1970s through the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union to the present. It explains how members responded to rapid changes in the world globalization, the rise of China, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the launch of a “War on Terror,” among other major developments. Shoup argues that the CFR now operates in an era of “Neoliberal Geopolitics,” a worldwide paradigm that its members helped to establish and that reflects the interests of the U.S. ruling class, but is not without challengers. Wall Street’s Think Tank is an essential guide to understanding the Council on Foreign Relations and the shadow it casts over recent history and current events.
400 pages, Paperback
First published August 22, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 7, 2020
Laurence H. Shoup’s Wall Street’s Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire of Neoliberal Geopolitics, 1976–2014 is a significant sequel to the earlier landmark co-authored work Imperial Brain Trust (1977). In this solo volume, Shoup offers a sustained and empirically rich analysis of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and its evolving role in shaping the global strategy of the United States across the neoliberal period. The book is not only an extension of his earlier arguments but a more comprehensive indictment of the entrenchment of elite power and corporate-driven internationalism in the post-Vietnam and post-Cold War era.
Shoup’s central thesis remains consistent with the Marxist-influenced framework of his previous work: the CFR operates as a core institution of ruling-class consensus formation, bridging the gap between corporate interests, academic expertise, and state power. However, in Wall Street’s Think Tank, he updates this analysis for the era of globalization, financialization, and the militarization of neoliberal capitalism. The CFR, he argues, continues to serve as “Wall Street’s think tank” by producing policy frameworks that promote U.S. global hegemony under the banner of free markets, interventionism, and international institutions that privilege transnational capital.
The book is organized chronologically and thematically. The first sections trace the CFR’s reorientation following the Vietnam debacle and the erosion of public trust in elite institutions. Rather than decline, Shoup argues, the CFR adapted—expanding its membership, diversifying its intellectual base, and reaffirming its commitment to a globalist worldview. Crucial to this process was the CFR’s alignment with the ideological project of neoliberalism, reflected in its enthusiastic embrace of deregulation, privatization, and austerity-oriented global governance.
Shoup pays particular attention to the CFR’s internal structures and influence networks, documenting how its membership overlaps with corporate boards, government appointments, media institutions, and elite universities. This prosopographical approach—echoing C. Wright Mills’s power elite model—enables Shoup to argue persuasively that the CFR is not merely a forum for debate but a mechanism for class cohesion and strategic planning. The meticulous mapping of member affiliations underscores the deep entanglement of the Council with sectors such as finance (notably JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs), defense contracting, and fossil fuels.
A key contribution of the book is its analysis of the CFR’s publications and policy initiatives, especially the influential Foreign Affairs journal and the Council’s Task Force reports. Shoup demonstrates how these outputs serve as instruments for manufacturing elite consensus and shaping bipartisan discourse. He explores the CFR’s role in crafting policy narratives around globalization, the “war on terror,” the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and U.S. responses to the rise of China. In each case, the CFR is shown to articulate a vision of liberal internationalism that justifies U.S. military and economic dominance under the guise of multilateral cooperation.
Critically, Shoup addresses the contradictions inherent in the CFR’s agenda: while advocating free markets and democratic governance abroad, the Council supports strategies that undermine sovereignty, entrench inequality, and reinforce authoritarian allies when convenient. He is especially scathing in his critique of the CFR’s complicity in the militarization of U.S. foreign policy and the financialization of its global strategy. The book thus positions the CFR not as a neutral arbiter but as an ideological and practical architect of U.S. empire in the neoliberal age.
While the book is rich in empirical detail, its analytic framework may draw criticism for its structural determinism. Shoup’s narrative tends to ascribe to the CFR a near-totalizing influence over foreign policy, leaving limited room for contingency, policy failure, internal dissent, or alternative epistemic communities. This limitation, however, is partly offset by the clarity of the author’s methodological commitments: Wall Street’s Think Tank is a work of critical political economy, not pluralist political science. Its value lies in its exposure of how elite institutions translate class interests into governing paradigms.
Shoup’s book is a powerful and well-documented contribution to the critical study of foreign policy formation. It extends the tradition of elite analysis in the vein of Mills, Domhoff, and Harvey, while adding fresh insights into the neoliberal reconfiguration of global governance. For scholars of international relations, political economy, and American imperialism, Wall Street’s Think Tank is an essential resource—offering not only a history of an institution but a diagnosis of an epoch.
GPT
Shoup’s central thesis remains consistent with the Marxist-influenced framework of his previous work: the CFR operates as a core institution of ruling-class consensus formation, bridging the gap between corporate interests, academic expertise, and state power. However, in Wall Street’s Think Tank, he updates this analysis for the era of globalization, financialization, and the militarization of neoliberal capitalism. The CFR, he argues, continues to serve as “Wall Street’s think tank” by producing policy frameworks that promote U.S. global hegemony under the banner of free markets, interventionism, and international institutions that privilege transnational capital.
The book is organized chronologically and thematically. The first sections trace the CFR’s reorientation following the Vietnam debacle and the erosion of public trust in elite institutions. Rather than decline, Shoup argues, the CFR adapted—expanding its membership, diversifying its intellectual base, and reaffirming its commitment to a globalist worldview. Crucial to this process was the CFR’s alignment with the ideological project of neoliberalism, reflected in its enthusiastic embrace of deregulation, privatization, and austerity-oriented global governance.
Shoup pays particular attention to the CFR’s internal structures and influence networks, documenting how its membership overlaps with corporate boards, government appointments, media institutions, and elite universities. This prosopographical approach—echoing C. Wright Mills’s power elite model—enables Shoup to argue persuasively that the CFR is not merely a forum for debate but a mechanism for class cohesion and strategic planning. The meticulous mapping of member affiliations underscores the deep entanglement of the Council with sectors such as finance (notably JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs), defense contracting, and fossil fuels.
A key contribution of the book is its analysis of the CFR’s publications and policy initiatives, especially the influential Foreign Affairs journal and the Council’s Task Force reports. Shoup demonstrates how these outputs serve as instruments for manufacturing elite consensus and shaping bipartisan discourse. He explores the CFR’s role in crafting policy narratives around globalization, the “war on terror,” the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and U.S. responses to the rise of China. In each case, the CFR is shown to articulate a vision of liberal internationalism that justifies U.S. military and economic dominance under the guise of multilateral cooperation.
Critically, Shoup addresses the contradictions inherent in the CFR’s agenda: while advocating free markets and democratic governance abroad, the Council supports strategies that undermine sovereignty, entrench inequality, and reinforce authoritarian allies when convenient. He is especially scathing in his critique of the CFR’s complicity in the militarization of U.S. foreign policy and the financialization of its global strategy. The book thus positions the CFR not as a neutral arbiter but as an ideological and practical architect of U.S. empire in the neoliberal age.
While the book is rich in empirical detail, its analytic framework may draw criticism for its structural determinism. Shoup’s narrative tends to ascribe to the CFR a near-totalizing influence over foreign policy, leaving limited room for contingency, policy failure, internal dissent, or alternative epistemic communities. This limitation, however, is partly offset by the clarity of the author’s methodological commitments: Wall Street’s Think Tank is a work of critical political economy, not pluralist political science. Its value lies in its exposure of how elite institutions translate class interests into governing paradigms.
Shoup’s book is a powerful and well-documented contribution to the critical study of foreign policy formation. It extends the tradition of elite analysis in the vein of Mills, Domhoff, and Harvey, while adding fresh insights into the neoliberal reconfiguration of global governance. For scholars of international relations, political economy, and American imperialism, Wall Street’s Think Tank is an essential resource—offering not only a history of an institution but a diagnosis of an epoch.
GPT
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June 17, 2016327.73 S55991 2015
June 22, 2020
There's quite a bit of cruft here, as the author offers endless lists of who's who in various projects of the CFR. However, there are some interesting narrative bits where the CFR's projects and methodologies are discussed. To me, the most interesting question not addressed in this book (publication date was 2015) is the whether Trump's animus against the 'deep state' reflects a serious division within the ruling class backers of the CFR, or if it's just a reflection of Trump's idiosyncrasies. This volume really needs to be updated to cover the rise of Trump.
June 19, 2021
A bit tedious at times, but well written and the conclusions are spot on.
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January 21, 2016Prn.fm 16119 ###% PROJECTCENSORED Laurence Shoup, 'Wall Street's Think Tank,' study of Council on Foreign Relations, 'The most influential private organization in the country'.mp3
August 17, 2016
说来说去这是一个看钱的社会。Money buys brain power.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews